וַיְהִי כָל הָאָרֶץ שָׂפָה אֶחָת וּדְבָרִים אֲחָדִים (בראשית יא, א
I was born and lived the first twenty-one years of my life in South Africa. In all that time, I never thought of myself as a "South African", I considered myself "Jewish". This all changed when I made aliyah. Suddenly, being a Jew amongst other Jews in Israel, the thing that now distinguished me from everyone else was - that I was "South African", not only amongst the sabra Israelis, but also amongst the other Anglo Saxon olim.
Suddenly, English speaking people could not understand me when I spoke – in English! They had a hard time understanding my accent and the unique South African English dialect that I had grown up with. I would say to my American neighbor "I'll be over just now" and five minutes later I got a call asking where I was ("just now" in South African English means – later, an unspecified time, in American English it means – now, immediately).
Similarly, when I mentioned words like "robot" (traffic light ”bioscope" (movies), "pavement" (sidewalk), "garage" (gas station), etc. people looked at me like I had just landed from Mars.
Language/dialect is a fascinating field of anthropology and it all began - in this week's parsha. Everyone knows the story (or thinks they do) of the Tower of Babel. A group of people banded together to build a city and a tower that soared up to the Heavens. HKB"H saw them building this tower and came down and "muddled" up their one common language into different languages so that one could not understand the other and He dispersed them all over the world.
Unlike the previous generation, דּוֹר הַמַּבּוּל, where the Torah clearly specifies their sin וַתִּשָּׁחֵת הָאָרֶץ לִפְנֵי הָאֱ-לֹקִים וַתִּמָּלֵא הָאָרֶץ חָמָס (בראשית ו, יא), with the דּוֹר הַפַּלָּגָה it is not so clear what they did wrong. The psukkim are very "vague" about the whole story and the Mefarshim are, for the most part, similarly vague.
Look at the Ramban, for example - his perush is extremely "cryptic", כִּי הָיוּ קוֹצְצִים בַּנְּטִיעוֹת. What does that mean??! Another interesting phenomenon I discovered is that if you look online (Youtube) for shiurim on Noach and the generation of the flood, there is a veritable "flood" of shiurim available, hundreds, even thousands perhaps.
However, if you search online for shiurim on the דּוֹר הַפַּלָּגָה, they are few and far between. It is as if the subject is "hidden" almost, that it is to be discussed "quietly", and not in clear, plain language – but rather in hints, "muddled" language, like the story itself.
It is impossible to fully understand the sin of the דּוֹר הַפַּלָּגָה, without delving into the Kabbalistic sources, which the Ramban does (which is why it sounds cryptic). My understanding of Kabbalah is very limited, but I will attempt to at least scratch the surface and try to understand the concepts as they apply to the דּוֹר הַפַּלָּגָה. It is vital to understand the essence of these two generations mentioned in our parsha - דּוֹר הַמַּבּוּל and דּוֹר הַפַּלָּגָה – because this is not ancient, primordial folklore, events that happened 4,000 years ago. The characteristics of these two generations are "alive and kicking" in our generation and to fully understand the times we are living in, we need to understand their origins.
Every great "story" has two main characters - the villain and the hero. This episode is no different and to fully understand it we need to briefly explore our two main characters - Nimrod and Avraham.
Nimrod was the great grandson of Noach, grandson of Cham and son of Kush. The Mefarshim describe him as an עֶבֶד בֶּן עֶבֶד, referring to the curse that Noach cursed his son Cham's descendants עֶבֶד עֲבָדִים יִהְיֶה לְאֶחָיו (בראשית ט, כד). Nimrod inherited the "wayward" genes of his grandfather Cham, who the Gemara (Sanhedrin 108b) tells us, against HKB"H's command, had familial relations while in the Ark. Cham, it appears, had "father figure" issues, not only with his Father in Heaven, but also with his biological father, as we read about in the episode when Noach became drunk and Cham disrespected him.
When Noach and his family boarded the Ark, they took with them the things that HKB"H commanded them to take, to preserve the essentials of HKB"H's Creation. All the species of animals, special seeds from Gan Eden to replant after the flood (from which Noach planted a vineyard which instantly grew and bore fruit). Another item that went on the Ark and was saved from the flood, were the special garments that HKB"H made for Adam HaRishon after he sinned, the כָּתְנוֹת עוֹר. When they left the Ark, Cham took these garments and they eventually landed up with Nimrod (פרקי דרבי אליעזר, כד).
The Sfat Emet (נח, כו, תרנ"ו), quoting the Zohar (וישב), says that before the דּוֹר הַמַּבּוּל began to sin they had superhuman powers and cast fear into all living creatures. This ended after the flood. Anyone wearing the כָּתְנוֹת עוֹר of Adam HaRishon, however, still held power over all the animals. Since Nimrod wore these garments, the animal kingdom succumbed to him and he did not need to work hard to hunt or capture animals for food (after Noach it was permitted to eat meat, until then mankind was vegetarian).
When people saw that Nimrod possessed this special power, they feared him and made him into their leader. This is what the passuk means וְכוּשׁ יָלַד אֶת נִמְרֹד הוּא הֵחֵל לִהְיוֹת גִּבֹּר בָּאָרֶץ (בראשית י, ח). We read much later (פרקי דרבי אליעזר, כד) that Eisav killed Nimrod to take these garments.
Nimrod, over impressed by his so-called powers, made himself into a self-proclaimed deity (much like Pharaoh did later in Egypt - לִי יְאֹרִי וַאֲנִי עֲשִׂיתִנִי [יחזקאל כט, ג]). Nimrod, the villain in our story, was the leader of the דּוֹר הַפַּלָּגָה and the "brains" behind the Tower of Babel.
Sefer סֵדֶר הַדּוֹרוֹת (אלף השני) says that Kush gave birth to Nimrod when he was very old and that Nimrod was a בֶּן זְקוּנִים. When Nimrod was 20-years-old Kush gave him the כָּתְנוֹת עוֹר and when the sons of Kush saw his powers, they made him their leader. When Nimrod was 40, the sons of Kush waged war with the sons of Yefet and Kush won the war. They enslaved the sons of Yefet and crowned Nimrod king in year 1788 from בְּרִיאַת הָעוֹלָם. According to Seder HaDorot the story of the Tower of Babel took place three years later (135 years after the flood), in the year 1791. At some point Nimrod appointed Terach, father of Avraham, as his chief of staff.
The hero of our story is Avram (not yet Avraham), although he is only mentioned many psukkim later. Shlomo HaMelech (קהלת ז, יד) tells us that when HKB"H creates a power in the world, at the same time He creates the antithesis to that power. If Nimrod was the negative pole of the magnet, the כֹּחַ הַטֻּמְאָה, then Avraham was the positive pole, the כֹּחַ הַטָּהֳרָה.
According to Seder HaDorot, Avraham was only born in year 1948, which makes Nimrod two hundred years older than Avraham and from Seder HaDorot it appears that Avraham was not alive yet when the story of the Tower of Babel took place.
It is not easy to reconcile the age difference between Nimrod and Avraham. Nimrod was the 3rd generation after Noach (Cham, Kush, Nimrod). Avraham was the 10th generation after Noach (Shem, Arpachshad, Shelach, Ever, Peleg, Reu, Serug, Nachor, Terach, Avraham). That is a gap of seven generations!
The timeline of Seder HaDorot also conflicts with opinion of the Radak (בראשית י, א) who says that Avram at the time of דּוֹר הַפַּלָּגָה was 45-years-old. I do not know the Radak's source for this. Perhaps the Radak is basing himself on the premise זֶה לְעֻמַּת זֶה עָשָׂה הָאֱ-לֹקִים (קהלת ז, יד) and that if Nimrod died at the same time as Avraham, he must have also been born in close proximity. Also, the Seder Olam Rabba (פרק א) which precedes the Radak, says that Avraham was 48 years-old at the time of the Tower of Babel, which took place 340 years after the flood, not 135 like Seder HaDorot says.
Since the Seder Olam and the Radak precede Seder HaDorot by over 500 years, I am inclined to respect their seniority and go with the opinion that both Nimrod and Avraham were alive during the episode of the Tower of Babel.
Nimrod and Avraham were arch-rivals and of equal intelligence. We tend to think of Nimrod as some kind of barbarian, but the Zohar (פרשת נח) says that just as we have the Sefira of בִּינָה in the Ten Sefirot, there is something called the קְלִיפָּה דְּבִּינָה which is the counterpart in the כֹּחַ הַטֻּמְאָה.
While Nimrod was perpetuating idol worship, you have Avraham on the opposite side of the scale disseminating the message of HKB"H in a predominantly idol worshipping world. This is why he is called אַבְרָם הָעִבְרִי – because כָּל הָעוֹלָם כֻּלּוֹ לְעֵבֶר אֶחָד וְהוּא הָיָה לְעֵבֶר אֶחָד (פסיקתא רבתי פיסקא לג, "אנכי אנכי").
We tend to think of the generations of דּוֹר הַמַּבּוּל and דּוֹר הַפַּלָּגָה as "primitive" civilizations, but the opposite is true. Archeology is only now discovering technologies from these periods that surpass even modern technology. If they were so technologically advanced, it is likely that they were equally intellectually advanced.
After that background, we can now begin to dive into the story of the Tower of Babel and understand its essence.
To understand this episode according to the shita of literalists like Rashi, for example, who say that the tower was a "countermeasure" to the flood is problematic. According to this shita, this generation witnessed the aftermath of the flood and wanted to protect themselves from it, so they built a tower to rise above the water level so they would not drown if another flood occurred, or according to Breishit Rabba, to "prop up" Heaven, so that the Heavens would not "fall" again and wipe out the earth with another flood. The problem with this shita is if that was the case, why did they build the tower in a valley and not on top of the highest mountain they could find? וַיְהִי בְּנָסְעָם מִקֶּדֶם וַיִּמְצְאוּ בִקְעָה בְּאֶרֶץ שִׁנְעָר וַיֵּשְׁבוּ שָׁם (בראשית יא, ב). Did they honestly think they could "prop up" Heaven with a man-made structure and "control" the weather? These were people of super intelligence!
The דּוֹר הַפַּלָּגָה, like the דּוֹר הַמַּבּוּל before them indeed had superhuman powers, but they both used them to rebel against HKB"H.
The generation of the flood had superhuman strength and intelligence, but they could not overcome their תַּאֲווֹת, their physical desires. Instead of living their lives in constant battle against their yetzer hara, as HKB"H requires from mankind to do, they succumbed to their yetzer hara. In the resulting conflict of guilt between what they desired and what HKB"H permitted, they eliminated the guilt by rejecting HKB"H completely and removing Him from the equation. Anything goes, no inhibitions.
Whatever you feel - you do. Same sex marriages, no problem. Marriages between humans and animals, no problem. Extramarital sex, no problem. Genetic engineering (actually, more like Dr. Mengele יש"ו style experiments of trial and error) between species, mating one species of animal with another, humans with animals, plants with other species of plants. Stealing other peoples' property, etc.
A total lack of inhibition – no limits, and … no guilt. The דּוֹר הַמַּבּוּל was a "meltdown of morality", but in a physical sense. Since HKB"H punishes מִדָּה כְּנֶגֶד מִדָּה, this generation was physically punished, in this physical world, by being wiped out in the flood. Everything that they managed to pervert, animals, plants … it too was wiped out and the slate wiped clean.
The דּוֹר הַפַּלָּגָה was the generation "post flood". They were all descended from a Tzaddik – Noach! They all spoke one language וַיְהִי כָל הָאָרֶץ שָׂפָה אֶחָת, Lashon HaKodesh. They were the קְלִיפָּה דְּבִּינָה, they possessed the knowledge of using the 22 letters of Lashon HaKodesh to create things (Avraham later recorded this knowledge in Sefer HaYetzirah) which supersedes even modern technology. These were not the diabolical "scientists" of the דּוֹר הַמַּבּוּל who conducted wild experiments of trial and error.
These were real scientists who developed new, advanced technologies through rigorous study of the natural laws and their properties, empirical experimentation and implementation. However, instead of using their knowledge to strengthen their bond with HKB"H, they used it to rebel against Him.
וַיְהִי בְּנָסְעָם מִקֶּדֶם וַיִּמְצְאוּ בִקְעָה בְּאֶרֶץ שִׁנְעָר וַיֵּשְׁבוּ שָׁם, what does בְּנָסְעָם מִקֶּדֶם mean? The Yalkut Shimoni (ibid.) says הִסִּיעוּ עַצְמָן מִקַּדְמוֹנוֹ שֶׁל עוֹלָם. They repeated the sin of Adam HaRishon. Just like Adam believed the lies of the נָחָשׁ who said that the Tree of Knowledge preceded HKB"H and if you eat from it you will become like Him and be able to create worlds - the דּוֹר הַפַּלָּגָה also believed that there was a reality that preceded HKB"H and if you dig deep enough you will eventually find it. They spent their lives studying the natural world and trying to discover this "source".
HKB"H created our natural world for one purpose – that if you dig deep enough, you will eventually discover the One true Source - HKB"H, the "center of focus" out of which everything else emanates. If you indulge in "science" from this perspective, then science will eventually lead you to realization of HKB"H.
However, if you flip things around and make yourself the focus out of which everything else emanates, then anything you cannot see or understand "does not exist". If you are the focus, then reality becomes a projection of your human limitations - which leads to a denial of anything beyond your comprehension. This was the דּוֹר הַפַּלָּגָה.
It began with Nimrod, (which literally means "we will rebel" against HKB"H) who observed the cause and effect of wearing Adam HaRishon's כָּתְנוֹת עוֹר. Instead of being a true scientist and delving deeper to discover the true source of the power of this garment, Nimrod preferred to make himself the center of focus, attributed the power to himself and became a self-declared deity.
Nimrod was not an imbecile, he knew that HKB"H existed – he personally witnessed the aftermath of the flood. However, his ego (like Pharaoh's) drove him to rebel against and defy HKB"H, by doing the very antithesis to what HKB"H requires from us. הַכֹּל בִּידֵי שָׁמַיִם חוּץ מִיִּרְאַת שָׁמַיִם, Nimrod tried to battle with HKB"H by making as many people as he possibly could - rebel against HKB"H.
Nimrod was super smart. He learned the lessons of the flood. To his way of thinking, the failure of the דּוֹר הַמַּבּוּל was not their hashkafa, but the way they went about it. Instead of all working together to rebel against HKB"H, the דּוֹר הַמַּבּוּל was the antithesis to unity, they were a fragmented society. Everyone was stealing from everyone else, killing each other, sleeping with their neighbors' wives (or animals). Nimrod thought - the only way to wage war against HKB"H is through the strength of unity. How does one foster unity? You rally people around a common, noble cause and make them all feel wanted/needed.
Nimrod proposed the establishment of an idyllic society, a united society centered around the "search for truth" and "betterment of mankind", in which each individual is equally valuable and part of the collective. וַיְהִי כָל הָאָרֶץ שָׂפָה אֶחָת וּדְבָרִים אֲחָדִים. The foundation principle of this society is the elimination of HKB"H as the center of focus and making the collective the center of focus. Everything that HKB"H wants us to do, we will do the opposite.
HKB"H likes "mountains". He let the Ark land on Mount Ararat. He gave the Torah on Har Sinai, He told David HaMelech to build the Beit HaMikdash on Har HaMoriah, etc. So, if HKB"H likes mountains, we will do the opposite, we will establish our society in a valley וַיִּמְצְאוּ בִקְעָה בְּאֶרֶץ שִׁנְעָר וַיֵּשְׁבוּ שָׁם. Instead of settling in Eretz Yisrael which is the epicenter of טָּהֳרָה in the world, we will settle in שִׁנְעָר (which was later named Bavel) the place where all the corpses of the דּוֹר הַמַּבּוּל were concentrated under layers of sediment שֶׁשָּׁם נִנְעֲרוּ מְתֵי דּוֹר הַמַּבּוּל (ב"ר, לז, ה), the epicenter of טֻּמְאָה in the world.
Instead of using materials provided by HKB"H and nature for building our society, we will eliminate HKB"H from the equation and create our own building materials הָבָה נִלְבְּנָה לְבֵנִים וְנִשְׂרְפָה לִשְׂרֵפָה וַתְּהִי לָהֶם הַלְּבֵנָה לְאָבֶן וְהַחֵמָר הָיָה לָהֶם לַחֹמֶר. Our society will not be established on anything that is G-d given, it will be only our own creation, כֹּחִי וְעֹצֶם יָדִי.
The Ramban says that this generation הָיוּ קוֹצְצִים בַּנְּטִיעוֹת. What does this mean? It means that they "chopped down the 'tree' which was the source of their being". Just like Adam HaRishon thought that the Tree of Knowledge could provide something missing that HKB"H could not (or didn't want to), so too did דּוֹר הַפַּלָּגָה think that their own human intellect could replace the infinite "intellect" of HKB"H.
Did the "sales plan" work? Indeed it did, it galvanized a lot of people to join the enterprise, but it did not live up to its hype. Instead of being an idyllic society with the individual as the center of focus, it became a society where the idea was the deity and the individual was dispensable. If during the building someone fell to their death, they would not mourn for them. But if a brick fell and broke, it was a national tragedy. It failed on both ends – it angered HKB"H and it contradicted the humanistic ideal that it proposed.
Unlike the דּוֹר הַמַּבּוּל whose sin was "physical" and were punished with a physical punishment, the sin of the דּוֹר הַפַּלָּגָה was "metaphysical" and they were appropriately punished מִדָּה כְּנֶגֶד מִדָּה. They were allowed to continue living physically in this world, but they were denied עוֹלָם הַבָּא (Sanhedrin 109a).
There was only one "positive" thing that permeated this debacle and that was a sense of unity. This was the only thing Nimrod had right – there is strength in unity, HKB"H appreciates unity even if the cause is unjust. As a result, HKB"H did not kill them like He did דּוֹר הַמַּבּוּל, He spared their lives, but He dissolved the unity between them, by demolishing their common thread – communication.
This is the essence of the דּוֹר הַפַּלָּגָה.
Why is it then that this is not openly discussed in the psukkim in plain language, why is it "veiled" behind hidden meanings and hints?
The answer is because the דּוֹר הַפַּלָּגָה was not a one-off event in the beginning of history, it is an event that will repeat once more … at the end of history. The second manifestation of the דּוֹר הַפַּלָּגָה is a precursor to the era of Mashiach.
Now that we understand the essence of the sin of the דּוֹר הַפַּלָּגָה above, I am going to describe another reality to you and see if you recognize any similarities.
Something monumental began in Europe in the 15th and 16th centuries. It is called the Renaissance. It was a massive departure from the dogma of classical antiquity (וַיְהִי בְּנָסְעָם מִקֶּדֶם) and an "explosion" of new thought, in the areas of art, literature, architecture, politics and most notably … science. There was a major paradigm shift in the way we understand the natural world which resulted from intense research and discovery by notables such as Copernicus, Galileo, Newton, Gutenberg, Van Leeuwenhoek, Pasteur, etc. This scientific revolution accelerated exponentially in the 20th and 21st centuries giving rise to technologies unprecedented in the annals of mankind. There has been more technological advancement in the last century alone than in the 3000+ years preceding it.
This revolution gave birth to a new "religion" – science. In addition to all prior existing religions, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, etc. this new "religion" took root in Europe and spread to the "colonies", north America, Australia, etc. This "religion" is in fact anti-religion, atheistic, and based on the premise that if you cannot scientifically prove something - it doesn't exist, i.e. unless you can prove that HKB"H exists, then He doesn't exist (Rachmana litzlan). This school of thought is basically another version of קִצּוּץ בִּנְטִיעוֹת and placing the center of focus on us humans, rather than on the Creator of us humans.
I would like to make a distinction between the "scientific method" and the "scientific religion". The former is a means to an end, a search to discover the truth. The latter is an end in itself - the "method" has become the "deity".
Not surprisingly, with the advancement of the scientific revolution, we have seen an increased departure from faith in G-d and some of the greatest atrocities perpetrated against mankind in history, two world wars in one century, nuclear proliferation with the threat of destroying mankind in its entirety.
The premise is idealistic – the betterment of mankind. To be sure there are things that modern technology has contributed to the betterment of mankind. Longevity for one, increased ability to save lives by combating illness and disease, facilitating instant communication on a global scale, unifying the world in a "global village", under the "Cloud", run by AI, etc. The question is if the ideal lives up to its hype? Is the value of human life greater today than it was 600 years ago? Or have we just found new and better ways to kill and repress each other? This is the modern manifestation of the דּוֹר הַפַּלָּגָה.
In the last century another revolution has begun, called the Progressive Revolution. It began with lofty ideals of improving society and mankind. Identifying "faults" in society and eliminating/repairing/improving them. Social injustice – balancing "haves" and "have-nots" and equalizing societal opportunities. Eliminating discrimination and repression of minorities. Reducing violence against weaker elements in society, etc.
Noble ideals, but let us examine the "aftermath" of the application of this revolution in our modern age, to date. The center of focus has shifted to the individual, the individual's rights. Whatever the individual wants he/she/it is entitled to have. Anything goes. You are what you think you are, not what you physically are. If you think you are a woman, you are a woman, even if your biology doesn't corroborate your feelings. If your biology doesn't correlate with your self-image, change the biology by surgery or chemicals.
If a man wants to marry a man, no problem. A woman wants to marry a woman, no problem. A woman wants to marry a dolphin, no problem. In fact, why bother with the terminology man/woman at all – let's rather make it parent 1, parent 2, 3, 4, etc. Equal opportunity in everything, in the workplace, in the bathroom, in the military, in the Olympic stadium, on the tennis court, in the boxing ring.
Men calling themselves women competing in women's sport (interestingly we don't find much of the opposite??). If anyone tries to resist this societal reorientation they are cancelled. By improving the individual rights of the minority, we have begun to trample the rights of the majority. It is simply reverse repression and violence. This is the modern manifestation of the דּוֹר הַמַּבּוּל. Have you noticed that the symbol of the progressive LGBT movement is a … rainbow?
What is the common denominator between these two "revolutions"? Their departure and disassociation from G-d, וַיְהִי בְּנָסְעָם מִקֶּדֶם. The "science religion" does not believe in G-d and the "progressive religion" cannot coexist with G-d, so they both try to eliminate Him.
"Hang on", you are saying to yourself, "The chronology here is in reverse. In the Torah it was first the דּוֹר הַמַּבּוּל and afterwards the דּוֹר הַפַּלָּגָה. Here we have first the science revolution and afterwards the progressive revolution. The order is switched around?" The answer is simple - the end of history is a mirror image of the beginning of history. As we count down to the era of Mashiach we are going to witness a gradual reset of the world to its original state in Gan Eden, in the reverse order of its deterioration.
Have you noticed that the above revolutions (scientific/progressive) have proliferated predominantly amongst the descendants of Yefet (Europe and the "colonies") and that recently the descendants of Cham (the Middle East) are waging war on the descendants of Yefet and slowly but surely enslaving them, like what happened in the generation of Nimrod?
Did you notice the name of one of Yefet's descendants – מָגוֹג. What does that remind you of?
We are in a countdown.
We are neither the descendants of Cham nor Yefet. We are the descendants of Shem, of Avraham and we have not changed for 3838 years (since the birth of Avraham). We have been repressed, trodden upon, assimilated, annihilated … and we are still here, unchanged, still with our focus on the true center – HKB"H and our redemption is approaching.
HKB"H is moving the entire world like pieces on a chess board, for the final showdown and the big "reveal". We can try to facilitate and participate in it, or we can hamper it and be left out. The choice is ours.
Shabbat Shalom
Eliezer Meir Saidel
Machon Lechem Hapanim
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