Who knows what the meaning of "a thing" is?
פשר דבר - מי יודע?
Kohelet 8:1 expresses uncertainty about the meaning of "a thing":
... וּמִ֥י יוֹדֵ֖עַ פֵּ֣שֶׁר דָּבָ֑ר ...
... and who knows the meaning of "a thing"? ...
Is there a traditional Jewish answer to this apparently age-old question?
If so, it could have been very useful in a recent US Supreme Court case, Yates v. United States, in which some of the brightest legal minds in the United States argued about whether a fish is a thing or not and concluded, by a narrow vote, that a fish is not a thing. Justice Elana "Einekle?" Kagan, apparently lacking any Torah sources, was reduced to trying to argue against the prevailing opinion by citing One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish, by Dr. Seuss.
Please address both the general question and the more specific question raised by this case and by the alternative reading of Kohelet uncovered by Yates:
... and who knows "a fisher-thing"? ...
