~ Thoughts on the Parsha ~
Parshas Noach
Peace Is Not So Easily Disturbed
By: Daniel Listhaus
וַיְהִי כָל הָאָרֶץ שָׂפָה אֶחָת וּדְבָרִים אֲחָדִים
“The whole earth was of one language and of unified words.”
-Noach 11:1
The Torah[1] tells us that a mere 340 years after the mabbul (great flood), the people of the world joined together with a plan of action to rebel against Hashem. As Rashi[2] elaborates, the people blasphemously declared, “G-d does not have the right to select the Higher realms for Himself alone. We will go up to the firmament and wage war with him”. In response to their thoughts and actions, Hashem said, “Behold one people, and there is one language for all of them, and this is what they begin to do! And now, should it not be withheld from them all they proposed to do? Come, let us descend and confuse their language, that they should not understand one another’s language.”
Rashi[3] points out that the sin of the dor haflagah (Generation of the Disunion) by building Migdal Bavel (Tower of Babylon) and arrogantly rebelling against Hashem was a far worse sin than the sins committed by the dor ha’mabul (Generation of the Flood). After all, the members of the dor haflagah went against fundamental beliefs in Hashem, whereas the people living at the time of the mabul just had no respect for one another. With this difference in mind it is difficult to understand why it is that the dor ha’mabul was completely obliterated from the world while those who lived during the dor haflagah were kept alive. Rashi explains that the reason for this is because there was a big difference between the two generations. The people living during the dor ha’mabul were robbers and there was much hostility between them, whereas the dor haflagah behaved toward one another amiably. This teaches us the amount of credit that Hashem gives those who are at peace as opposed to those who are constantly engaged in conflict.
As one reads about the actual punishment given to the dor haflagah and the immediate results of the punishment a question comes to mind. Rashi[4] tells us that immediately after Hashem confused their languages, things quickly went out of control. As Rashi writes, “This one would ask for a brick, and that one would bring him plaster, and the first one would rise against him and split open his head for not bringing him the brick he asked for.” The question which begs to be asked is why would Hashem punish the dor haflagah in this way by not only foiling their plans but also ruining the peace that they had maintained, which Hashem Himself commended? The fact that the dor haflagah got along well with each other was their one redeeming quality which was the reason Hashem chose not to wipe them out as He had done during the dor ha’mabul. So why did Hashem’s intervention to stop them from building Migdal Bavel have to include disturbing the peace? Instead of causing them to not speak the same language why not stop them through others means such as making them forget what they were doing, cause them to get sick, or turn the ground into quicksand and cause their project to repeatedly fail until they give up? Surely Hashem could have chosen one of countless other ways to ruin their agenda without disturbing the peace and putting into motion a community of conflicts harboring thieves and murderers as the dor ha’mabul had been?
Imagine the scene which Rashi illustrated that occurred at Migdal Bavel seconds after Hashem confused their languages. One person, who suddenly finds himself only able to speak Chinese, asks for a brick. The other, suddenly only able to comprehend Swahili, looks at his friend with a look of absolute confusion but makes an effort and brings him plaster. Caught in frustration and rage, the Chinese-speaking asker kills his friend for not getting him what he had asked for. Why should that have happened? These two guys were friends with each other just moments earlier and they both understood quite well what had happened at this point – Hashem had intervened and caused them all to only remember how to speak one language[5] – each different from each other. If so, why could they not just understand this and stop the project with the realization that they would be unable to effectively continue? Why did they begin fighting with one another?
Perhaps the answer is quite simple. Hashem did not cause them to become hostile toward each other; all Hashem did was foil their plans by making them all understand different languages. The result of them becoming argumentative and hot-tempered was something which had really been there all along. Their conflicts were put aside and their patience with each other lasted as long as they had a common goal that they needed each other’s help with. However the peace was selfish. It may have been a better environment than the one generated from the dor ha’mabul, but it was only on the surface. As soon as Hashem removed their ability to complete their plans, they went back to their default of allowing their extreme selfishness – a selfishness encapsulated by the event of a clear inability to communicate leading to murder – to express itself openly. It’s not that Hashem punished above and beyond and not only ruined their blasphemous scheme but also disturbed the peace, rather it was the foiling of the plan alone which lifted the temporary peace which the people had as they put aside their conflicts to join for a common goal. Although that temporary serenity might have been enough for them to escape total annihilation that the dor ha’mabul received, it was still not real shalom (peace), because had it been real shalom, the friendships and peace would have held despite the language barriers.[6]
This idea is one we should think about regarding our own relationships. Are our current relationships being maintained only because of selfish reasons or a common goal? What would happen if the goal would be reached or abandoned? What would happen if there would be a miscommunication, would things be worked out or would the parties just blame each other? Is the relationship weakly surviving remaining as a step above conflict in order to fight a common enemy or is the relationship thriving irrespective of anything other than pure love and care for the other?
Unfortunately through the ages K’lal Yisroel has needed constant reminders via attacks on Jews, albeit out of love of Hashem, that we as a nation are not segmented but rather one unit. Now as the extreme Arab community threatens us again, as crazy as they are and as horrible as the actions they do, the one good that comes out is that they remind us loud and clear that they are not makpid (particular) what country a Jew comes from or what his or her background might be. We must adopt this policy upon ourselves as well – except with its application to peace and not twisted violence. We must love and care for all of K’lal Yisroel not just during the times when we have selfish ulterior motives or when we share a common goal or enemy, but rather by default. It should not be an external factor uniting us, as was the case by the dor haflagah, instead we should feel internally and eternally united on levels much deeper than any worldly shared goal or common enemy.
May Hashem help us keep in mind, as we daven and learn for peace in Yerushalayim and the world, that despite the 12 windows which could be found in our shuls and batei medrashos representing the different angles and personalities of the shevatim (tribes), that all the tefillos (prayers) go to the same place. We all have our slight differences in minhagim (customs) and mehalchim (ways) how we best serve Hashem, learn His Torah, and lead our lives, but deep down we must never forget that we are all one unit and that when there is any sort of tension within the unit, it is on each person to take responsibility out of love and care and not selfishly transfer the blame upon others. In this zechus (merit) of uniting out of love and not just as a result of sharing a common enemy may Hashem see that His children are indeed ready to greet the Moshiach.
[1] Beraishis 11:1
[2] Rashi ibid.
[3] Rashi Beraishis 11:9
[4] Rashi Beraishis 11:7
[5] See Chizkuni who writes that Hashem didn’t create the 70 languages then and there, rather all languages already existed and everyone spoke and fully understood all the languages. When Hashem confused the languages He caused each person to forget all languages except one.
[6] This is what the passuk means when it describes their unity as, “…of one language and of unified words…” It was the words alone which unified them.
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