” But why should this stop you from the truth that all our earthly desires are hevel havalim (emptiness of emptiness”
I have to disagree with you somewhat. Not all of our earthly desires are bad, nor are they hevel. Hashem gave us earthly desires for a reason. We are put ont his earth to enjoy the life we are given, and not to disdain the beauty and earthly pleasures that Hashem bestows. We even make brachas on so many of those things. The danger is in forgetting the source of this earthly pleasure and letting the desire for it prevent us from being Torah-observant Jews. To view everything as hevel, is to be a kofeh batov. So, I would amend what you posted to state that SOME of our earthly desires are hevel (the need to own more and more possessions,for example, when we already have plenty – i.e., three Lexuses in the garage when there is only one driver, a country estate in the mountains, E”Y, AND Florida, besides the fancy mansion in the Five Towns). Some pursuits are shtuss, it’s true,but to tar ALL earthly pursuits and pleasures with the same brush is not only unfair, it is a potch in panim kivyachol to the One who gives us everything we have and wants us to enjoy our lives within Torah guidelines. Yes, there is a lot of shtuss, but one man’s shtuss is another man’s appreciation of beautiful music, an exquisite painting, good literature.
When Shlomo Hamelech wrote hakol hevel, it was not meant to teach us that we have no right to enjoy life. We are on a spiritual journey and need to recognize that ultimately nothing is lasting but Torah. Beauty fades, we age, friends come and go, children grow up and go their own way, fortunes are made and lost. Nothing is constant except for the Torah. Appreciating the life that we are given, is a strong component of being able to live a Torah life. JMO