Parshat Noach: Language and Communication - Rabbi Reuven Lauffer

chapter 11 on page 48 it says they call eight south africa for the speaking one language right and that's the Tower of Babel that's beginning of the Tower of Babel which means that I'm page 44 it talks about language the bottom of page 44 it talks about language right there each each family each each nation is speaking its own language and then on page 48 it's talking about everyone speaking one language so this is a real long period of time and very kind of I don't know how long it is involved in 20 yeah that's for sure you 20 volved into its own nation and then it might in one language ah hold on a second ow stop it oh oh let's have a look at a start again in in in Hebrew right in in Biblical Hebrew there are no synonyms right which means that two words cannot mean the same thing really like we did one one word can mean two things but two words cannot mean the center is always going to be a difference between them Indian attack right we need to understand subtleties of Hebrew language on page 44 it says ish Linda showing it each one according to his Russian according to his language right on page 48 it says very Hollow it's softer echoes now rabbi scroll translates the word so far as language in a minute you'll see why because the new ones over here translating it into English is going to be lost right for two different words of being used the first word being used is lashawn the second word being used is safa good right says the Melbourne the Melbourne was an absolute expert on understanding differences in nuances and words what are called Sheamus on a dolphin write the words that sound the same will look the same will mean the same but they're not really the same at all and he explains what is the difference between LaShawn and suffer so the word LaShawn right has got a different meaning as well it doesn't mean just language it means what Oh Tong right says the mouth in your lash on your tongue where is it found inside of you right the word safa which is used later on by the Tower of Babel comes from the word spud time which means your lips where are your lips on the outside right it says the MAL boom there are two different languages that are being spoken over here the first language over here is the one which defines the inner dimension of a person your last shot because your tongue is inside of you right we talk in English about your mother tongue right what is your mother tongue not necessarily the language you first were brought up speaking right if you've got parents who don't speak English to the first language right so they'll speak to you in there whatever their mother tongue is but the minute you get into the schooling system your mother tongue will probably turn into whatever whatever it is that you're learning in school right so you know a good way of testing what your mother tongue is what are you counting I would say also what are you thinking but I'm not convinced over here that people do so what are you dreaming right most people dream in pajamas actually but you know you're like your your mother tongue is like you know yeah you're Mike but your mother tongue is the language that you use which expresses yourself in the most exact way possible what's it saying that each nation went out and established their own wat LeSean because what is the last Sean Young in a dimension of who you are that's really who you are right hey I'll give you an example you can have somebody who speaks English perfectly but it's not his mother tongue someone who speaks English as a mother tongue will pick up immediately that that person's English is not right that that's not his mother tongue you have diplomats who speak you know they speak English fantastically but if it's not their mother tongue you'll pick it up anyone whose English is their mother tongue this small nuances little inflections which let you know that what this is you know yeah that's a lash on again your lashawn is your targets inside of you and it defines your inner it defines you inner self and that's a language that you use to express yourself properly right so if you want to speak eloquently for most people speaking eloquently requires using your mother tongue what's what's cool in in lawton Yiddish it's called your mama lotion yeah your mother tongue on page 48 via here l'shana lashawn right on page 48 it says thy eco lauritz saw for a horse right everyone speaking what one safa what is a surface at the mall then it comes from your lips for time it's not revealing the inner dimension of who you are but rather what is it a means of communication for everybody who don't speak the same language who don't speak the same lashawn sapphire is one lip spa time is two lips right normally I mean they come in pairs because that's the way they that's where they are on your on your face right so you hear you what's going on sports incredible thing what the marble is fighting over here oh not islands that yeah you know what in order to be able to communicate to communicate right there is an international language everybody speaks right like today's English write the english at their language diplomacy today's english 200 years ago it was French 2,000 years ago it was Latin right language of diplomacy what does that mean that we can all inter communicate with each other that is a suffer it's not my lashawn it's just my method of talking to you and you're being able to talk back to me so let's let's read through my e-collar it so far cos they're all speaking one someone universe or one universal language which is not their Lashon to wear today why did that do it like or because what's the charge the minute you will go off and become your own nations and speak your own Lashon if you want to come together in order to unite to do something what have you got to do you got to speak some language together which are all going to understand what were they coming together to do over here to build the Tower of Babel bevelle labelled Bell means to mix something up just not necessarily started but to mix the bow Bell where's the made me dress from what is this ahh is this a Midrash this is Cal all coming from somebody called the Melvin mole malbon the malbon was he lived um I forgotten his name but he live so very long ago he lived about a hundred years ago and he was truly truly wrote the most astonishing commentary on the formation enough and over there he's is it was enormous expert on woods and what words mean and how to connect them all together so he's saying like this its most incredible finish what he say he's saying everybody comes together in order to bring the talent in order to build the Tower of Babel right in order to be able to build the tower what have they got to do they've got have a common language they go how to speak together right so they they speak at suffer now again what's the safar again what was known from the lips which means what it's not it's not an inner dimension of who you are you know even even in English it's interesting even if there's a phrase called paying lip service to something what are you doing speaking to them not necessarily paying lip service means that you are you ah hey paying it so this means you know you don't meet you don't mean what tell me what you say yeah in Hebrew the phrase is even more revealing revealing lip service in Hebrew is they ask for time LaHood's what you're saying is from your lips outwards it's got no inner dimension to it you know you don't mean a thing right it's got no in a dimension to it whatsoever what the what the mapping is saying over here though is that the the concept of safar that they're all speaking a common language because in order to build this tower together they've got to cooperate with each other in order to cooperate they've got to know what they're saying so this is the Big Finish avi of the Maui that very novel idea it's fantastic what did God do it's not the way that everybody understands according to movem it's not that they all spoke one language then God came along and he gave every different nation of their own language and now they can't communicate anymore but rather what did he do he just took away their ability to communicate but so far cut now everybody's left with their own language which was ears to begin with and they can't communicate anymore alkane karishma bother God call the place bevelle key shop Bilal Hashem God mixed up SWAT color or 'it's what is fat caller ID so over here rabbi scroll calls it the language of the whole earth but you hear the problem in English how do you how do you send English the difference between LeSean and suffer try your tongue end and speed but you don't y'all talk about your tongue right you talk about your language song and your Universal don't know no that's very that's very nice but it's getting very complicated right I I want I want just get giving up stuff it just give it hey okay let's give me a 1 a 1 a 1 word translation of LaShawn and a one word translation of safa I don't think you can do it LaShawn is language right in lush and our cottage in Biblical Hebrew we have two very distinct words to describe two very distinct things but when you try to translate that into English the nuance is a lost on the way which means they're both a language because what does language me just a method of speech right but how do you define how do you show in English I you know what the closest I ever came to try the word is that is maybe language of dialects yeah but even in that hold on a second even even that's not correct because the language that you speak to other people you speak of people that speak your language will be the same language that you speak to yourself necessarily because if there's applications of that's that's something else you're taught you're talking about applications of language and different inside of different contexts I'm just talking about speech yeah right which we've got like this people technical language when you speak to yourself language igg me official that would be your lawsuit for sure right and the way that you speak to your boss in the morning the way that you speak about in the morning would be suffer very professional so my lotion is when I stand in front of the mirror each morning I get up in the morning I say why you look beautiful that'sthat's a lotion right that's that's the enemy expressing itself when I come in here and I say hi guys are so nice to see you that's just a safari here it's about it's the most incredible its most incredible i clear over here what the problem is teaching it really sounds fascinating language language is one of the most basic definitions of nationhood that's for sure Lashon right is one of the most basic definitions of nationhood but safar is just a means of being able to communicate with all kinds of people so we just make it like exponentially more difficult to like create peace mission took away yes oh very good right which means that we are left in a state of fragmentation right because we don't know how to communicate with each other now we have to relearn the ability to communicate and what you end up is here for example you know throughout European history the idea of there being a diplomatic language was always something which was fraught with all kinds of difficulties because each each nation wanted their language to be the international language what's the idea the idea is very simple Tower of Babel was everybody coming together to unite for the wrong reason like they're coming to unite to do what to build a tower to fight against God which what is God doing god is now taking away the ability for the whole world to come together to unite together right in a way that it did before the Tower of Babel and there's something very fundamental over here which is God is saying you know you know that the flood came along because there was this unity the Tower of Babel the after Martha the Tower of Babel came along because there was too much unity however the rabbi's point out that the flood destroyed everything the Tower of Babel just destroy the tower and it caused people to be in a state of you know of a state of billable what does that you know the state of your help me out chaos yeah thank you so what's the hold on a second to the route the rabbi's explain why is that so they explain because unity is definitely better than this unity even though the unity would be used for the wrong reason but nevertheless it's still it's still better than this unity power and I know I mean darn is over there's no argument I couldn't gotta do something man failed because obviously you're not gonna build a tower in the space you're not gonna dog a towel into heaven because your sword I couldn't even let man try and fail and why if they can't do it me or something else you know it's a fascinating question I I think that the the underlying the underlying reason is because the unity brings with it the most incredible power right and that means that even even though so far they would have built this tower and they wouldn't have succeeded or what it wasn't they wanted to do but that unity is something that the unity by itself is something which has got so much potency to it that it can cause the most incredible damage afterwards actually what God is taking away I think it's less God taking away the tower the town is just a tower right you know they would have built that tower to get closer to God than it would have been the most fantastic tower in the world yeah which is a tower the tower is just a symbol of something which is a lot more complicated than that and that's why what's being taken away is is that that that again that unity is going to bring with it the most terrible destructive power and that's something which God can't allow to be in the world when your failure than what no because I think failure who was it was a Edison right who said that he didn't fairly just what was i come i had it how did the phrase go something about you know he tried something a thousand times he was trying to invent the light bulb so he said I didn't say I didn't fail a thousand times he's like but whatever it was he said I didn't I didn't I didn't fail a thousand times I just found a thousand different ways it didn't work something like that would be it's really it no it's it's it's a very it's a very important it's very it's a very powerful statement actually I just want to know to talk about the rambam is commentary with all right which one's sins go sister yeah so talks about for it the revelation evilly for the notes that the generation attempt to mutilate the shoes you tonight the city's account it's a Kabbalistic concept when something when something is when something is wrong in its roots the shoot is worth like when it comes out the top right when something is wrong with the root there's a problem but a real problem that's got to be taken care of when something is wrong with a shoot then it means that the roots are probably still okay it's just some kind of a malfunction somewhere you know in our in our language it's a difference between having a crack in your building on the on the 10th floor right I'm having a crack in your foundation back on the 10th floor just requires a little bit of you know being taken care of the crack in the foundation requires going deep down into the problem and taking care of it so that's what we've got Lashon safa right two different things and I caught again according to the barroom now I think I've it really I think it makes very very simple perfect sense but before the Tower of Babel everybody spoke all a shot that Lashon existed right everyone had their own language everybody had their own nationality that's what the pot that's what the verse on page 44 was saying and on page 48 what the verse is saying is that they had a means of communication with each other when we begin the army del what do we say we say I share God so far tight if tough open my lips hi why don't we say why don't we say you know I share let my tongue speak because i think i think the inner dimension of you wants to speak to a Shem the problem is the outer dimension the more physical dimension we're getting distracted right we're getting seduced by what's going on around us so we searched am so far tight if Duffy even if you just open my lips then I'll be able to release whatever's inside will be able to come out I'll be able to communicate with us share lost my courage I mean it's biblical hebrew is about an incredibly expressive language it really is but you know existed to having having to work it out if we're already already talking about LeSean right they'll cough it's high in who was the you know of Kagan who lived just before the second why he died just before the Second World War was famous for bringing all the Haluk hot of lush and horror to bringing bring them all into like one you know one space that we should have some kind of an order to understanding explains it's based on a chimeric one action says that your tongue has got all kinds of gates before you can speak right so your tongue is horizontal and in order to get your tongue to speak it's gotta start moving right and then it's got your teeth and then it's got your lips right and and a half its fine explains it all of that is there in order to what in order to make sure that what we say is probably you know prop properly balanced right they've got you got like a filter system right so you don't just speak your tongue has to start moving and once your tongue is moving it's got to get through your teeth and it's got to get through your lips and for at that presumably is one of the reasons why a lot of the letters that we have right teeth let you know tongue teeth lips define an awful lot of the letters that we have that's how we speak that's all you express ourselves and says a hobbit time is something that we need to you know when you need to keep keep an eye on right need to be careful with what we say and how we said there are certain words you know Hebrew is a very expressive language anything with you'd mem on the end of it is plural that's like a standard procedure right so there are certain words which are always in the plural so for example maíam my name is always in the plural but my means water yeah why is that because there really is no singular of water my name is water is made up of molecules right it's not that there is no but we talk about one drop of water that there isn't there's really one drop of water shama in the heavens right heavens is always in the pro-shah mine like why is that because according to Jewish tradition there are seven layers of the heavens oh and separated right pane line the line that's what one of the one of the explorations of Shammai ms shum my right that's where the water is yeah another another plural another plural which is a standard plural always is kyon yeah I intervene hi I would hire be plural because we live two lives right we live life here in the physical world we have a spiritual life as well so high in reflects the idea that we're more than just living in one plane we're stretched in between two planes and there's one another word which is punim places your face your face is always in the plural nay right pan is one face but it spun in what you have that that horrible thing in between your shoulders over there is your Panem listen listen to what the rabbi says most incredible thing it really is your face is the part of your body which reflects the inner dimension and meets the outer dimension that's why your emotions appear on your face right yeah when you're happy your smile right when you're when you're sad you you frown when you're sitting here wrapped listening to every word I'm saying so you have glazed eyes and dribble coming out the side of your mouth right that's like a standard I'm an expert on these things like I recognize them right not you're not wrapped enough but it's fascinating right pan in because it is the inner dimension of you and the outer dimension of you coming coming together now what's fascinating is the word face which is panin comes to the word facade what is a facade only the exterior right in it's interesting that in english and french and latin the word for your face is something which which it's referring only to the outside right what you reveal to the outside so your facade so you'll put on a face right depending on what you want something to think about you right now you'll put on whatever face it is so right now all you people are trying very hard to put on a face as if you're listening right not not very successfully it must be said you know if you go to it you go to a node you gotta work for example you got a job interview you'll have a different kind of a look on your face right if you if you're meeting your bride-to-be right you'll have a different kind of look on your face that's right i mean and it's interesting that they are really polar opposites of each other facade face and panning are two completely separate things I don't know if there's a word one word it's something which is hit sore knee which means external from the word courts doodads and we don't we don't look at you know we don't look at your face as being injured as in your face is not something that's just there to you know to be whatever it needs to be right now but your face is what reveals the inner dimension of who you are you