Fatal Fly in the Ointment of Fools

Kohelet 10:1

What my mother remembers most vividly from the only meditation retreat that I once got her to attend was the relentless fly that managed to disturb her few precious moments of meditative silence. That fly has been a joke between us ever since -- related to the odd idiom “a fly in the ointment” that has its origin in today’s chapter of Kohelet.

The expression indicates a drawback or minor irritation that ruins an otherwise successful experience, achievement or event - a small error or unplanned interruption that spoils what’s otherwise flawless - or meditative. One can argue - and I tried - that the buzzing fly is part of the process and that overcoming the distraction is part of the meditation - but when it comes to flies in the soup or similar sorts of defilement - what the poet likely meant was in the context of reflecting on wise ways with which we should better respond to all that life has to offer us, including the occasional misplaced fly.

Kohelet guides us, from the top of chapter ten, to beware of fleeting folly and embrace wholehearted wisdom:

זְבוּבֵי מָוֶת יַבְאִישׁ יַבִּיעַ שֶׁמֶן רוֹקֵחַ יָקָר מֵחׇכְמָה מִכָּבוֹד סִכְלוּת מְעָט׃

Dead flies turn the perfumer’s ointment fetid and putrid; so a little folly outweighs massive wisdom.

Kohelet 10:1

Perfume, way back when, and still today, is a precious and valuable luxury, and yet this too can be destroyed by something small like a dead bug - just as one act or word of foolishness can outweigh wisdom and disrupt a moment or a relationship.

Rashi, the 11th century commentator, digs deeper into the moralistic metaphor:

“In the winter season, flies have no strength and are near death; nevertheless, if they fall into a perfumer’s oil and become mingled with the perfumes, they cause it to become putrid and it assumes a foamlike presence… So an insignificant thing spoils a precious thing, just as a little foolishness can outweigh wisdom and honor. If a person were equally divided between transgressions and merits but committed one transgression, it could tip the scale toward guilt. The result is that this act of foolishness, which was relatively minor, collectively outweighs all the wisdom and honor that he once possessed.”

Rashi’s word are based on the classical rabbinic thought on this verse, already mentioned in the Talmud:

“Rav taught: The evil inclination is like a fly, and it sits between the two entrances of the heart, as it is stated: ‘Dead flies turn the perfumer’s ointment fetid and putrid’ (Eccl. 10:1).”

But when does this perfectionist approach to life become too purist and even puritanical?

In "Ecclesiastes And the Search for Meaning Erica Brown, sharp as ever, digs a little deeper into the jar to extract the dead bug and determine its relative insignificance - and our bias:

“Deeper reflection raises the question of whether this metaphor is indeed accurate. A dead fly or even several can easily be removed from ointment without changing the smell, unlike minor errors or foolish behavior that can do untold damage…The shallow perception is that flies that pool in perfumed ointment destroy it, but perhaps the flies only appear to influence the smell because they ruin the look of the perfume, as if to say that appearances may be more significant than reality. The verse also challenges the reader to question his or her mindset, as if to ask why we are hardwired to look for the fly in the otherwise delightful ointment. This small fly causes us to lose perspective by focusing our attention on the one minor upset rather than the larger picture of perfection or enjoyment, asking us to rethink our perspective.

Did the fly really ruin the ointment?

If a person has one bad meal over the course of a wonderful, multiday holiday, notices a small stain in an otherwise beautiful garment, or hears one mistake in an otherwise inspiring speech, then perhaps hyper-focusing on the fly in the ointment demonstrates a negatively skewed viewpoint and a problem in our capacity to evaluate people and situations honestly and fairly. Like the annoyance of its buzzing, maybe we have given the fly too much power and sway over our perception and our experiences?”

Can we train ourselves to aspire to perfect harmony but also not be seduced by perfectionism that may make even our meditative attempt appear futile?

The quest for wisdom calls on us to honor what we learn and also to question the absolute validity of even these hallowed words. As Brown suggests -- perspective and attention requires us to be as thoughtful and present as possible, knowing that even the wisest among us will sometimes fail, and still be held in high regard, and with love. The rest of chapter ten takes a turn to explore what happens in the royal court - where every small mistake may be magnified and more of a problem. Kohelet - well familiar with the tropes of power, gives us guidance here on how to handle complex social and political realities, not just the inner making of our own hearts.

The chapter that opens with a fly ends with a bird. Beware of all that flies, the old king warns us, as even rumors fly and secrets have their ways of getting around through walls:

גַּם בְּמַדָּעֲךָ מֶלֶךְ אַל־תְּקַלֵּל וּבְחַדְרֵי מִשְׁכָּבְךָ אַל־תְּקַלֵּל עָשִׁיר כִּי עוֹף הַשָּׁמַיִם יוֹלִיךְ אֶת־הַקּוֹל וּבַעַל כְּנָפַיִם יַגֵּיד דָּבָר׃

Don’t revile a king even among your intimates.

Don’t revile someone who is rich even in your bedchamber;

For a bird of the air may carry the utterance,

And a winged creature may report the word.

Kohelet 10:20

Flies and birds, all wings of feather, buzz and fly as this scroll near its end, reminding us that wisdom is a way of life, always a choice, and sometimes a gift that waits for us to look beyond the superficial facts even and especially when life’s not perfect — way beyond the bother - and the buzz.

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