קהלת פרק י - "כי עוף השמים יוליך", מקהלת ועד טוויטר

(1) Dead flies turn the perfumer’s ointment fetid and putrid; so a little folly outweighs massive wisdom. (2) A wise man’s mind tends toward the right hand, a fool’s toward the left. (3) A fool’s mind is also wanting when he travels, and he lets everybody know he is a fool. (4) If the wrath of a lord flares up against you, don’t give up your post; for when wrath abates, grave offenses are pardoned. (5) Here is an evil I have seen under the sun as great as an error committed by a ruler: (6) Folly was placed on lofty heights, while rich men sat in low estate. (7) I have seen slaves on horseback, and nobles walking on the ground like slaves. (8) He who digs a pit will fall into it; he who breaches a stone fence will be bitten by a snake. (9) He who quarries stones will be hurt by them; he who splits wood will be harmed by it. (10) If the ax has become dull and he has not whetted the edge, he must exert more strength. Thus the advantage of a skill [depends on the exercise of] prudence. (11) If the snake bites because no spell was uttered, no advantage is gained by the trained charmer. (12) A wise man’s talk brings him favor, but a fool’s lips are his undoing. (13) His talk begins as silliness and ends as disastrous madness. (14) Yet the fool talks and talks! A man cannot know what will happen; who can tell him what the future holds? (15) A fool’s exertions tire him out, for he doesn’t know how to get to a town. (16) Alas for you, O land whose king is a lackey and whose ministers dine in the morning! (17) Happy are you, O land whose king is a master and whose ministers dine at the proper time—with restraint, not with guzzling! (18) Through slothfulness the ceiling sags, Through lazy hands the house caves in. (19) They make a banquet for revelry; wine makes life merry, and money answers every need. (20) Don’t revile a king even among your intimates. Don’t revile a rich man even in your bedchamber; For a bird of the air may carry the utterance, And a winged creature may report the word.

The Sages taught in a baraita: A person has two kidneys; one advises him to do good and one advises him to do evil. And it stands to reason that the one advising him to do good is to his right and the one that advises him to do evil is to his left, as it is written: “A wise man’s understanding is at his right hand, but a fool’s understanding is at his left” (Ecclesiastes 10:2). Tangential to the subject of kidneys, the Gemara cites that which the Sages taught in a baraita with regard to the roles of various organs: The kidneys advise, the heart understands, the tongue shapes the sounds that emerges from the mouth, the mouth completes the shaping of the voice, the esophagus takes in and lets out all kinds of food, the trachea produces the voice, and the lungs draw all kinds of liquids, the liver becomes angry, the gall bladder injects a drop of gall into the liver and allays anger, the spleen laughs, the maw grinds the food, and the stomach brings sleep, the nose awakens. If they reversed roles such that the organ which brings on sleep were to awaken, or the organ which awakens were to bring on sleep, the individual would gradually deteriorate. It was taught: If both bring on sleep or both awaken, the person immediately dies.

(21) At that time, when Mordecai was sitting in the palace gate, Bigthan and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs who guarded the threshold, became angry, and plotted to do away with King Ahasuerus. (22) Mordecai learned of it and told it to Queen Esther, and Esther reported it to the king in Mordecai’s name. (23) The matter was investigated and found to be so, and the two were impaled on stakes. This was recorded in the book of annals at the instance of the king.

(3) Taking up his theme, he said: Word of Balaam son of Beor, Word of the man whose eye is true, (4) Word of him who hears God’s speech, Who beholds visions from the Almighty, Prostrate, but with eyes unveiled: (5) How fair are your tents, O Jacob, Your dwellings, O Israel!

שכן לשבטיו DWELLING ACCORDING TO HIS TRIBES — He saw each tribe dwelling by itself not intermingled one with another; he saw that the entrances of their tents were not exactly facing each other so that one could not peer into the other's tent (Bava Batra 60a).