Rabbi Mordechai Kraft - Tower of Babel: Precursor of Communism

okay everybody welcome to Lunch and Learn and nice to see everybody we're supposed to shout out to Yvonne in there it's as well and thank you for for joining us I see you're on the screen I'm not live with us so thanks for joining us and and finding the time in your busy day and busy schedule Erik's as well to join in regard to your family like Dawson said the shout out to to David in in Bolivia love it thank you so much for coming on we're coming online and so we have international contingent so it's nice to be sharing further both in America in New York and throughout the world is an opportunity you know today we're going to visit a topic which we discussed last week and I'd like to we address it and the thing I think some additional insights and that was a topic which for me is extraordinarily fascinating and it's the topic which we find at the end of safe or not it deals with that which we call the door flogger or the tower of bubble and what's interesting about it particularly is that it's really a precursor to a modern event which we've experienced really in our past century and I don't want to spill the beans just yet the one I'm talking about but I think we're gonna see very clearly as we go into it but I think the question that we have to to ask ourselves okay you know actually approach this particular episode in this story is what exactly did this generation do wrong what was the problem with building this tower what was it all about and what I'd like to do is I'd like to do is sort of a close reading of the text and by that close reading I think we're gonna see something just over which will help us to define what the problem was what the issue is or issue was so maybe is in the Jemez mind which is something which he can't tolerate for the world the world has to progress in a certain direction and there's something about the door flunk of the generation of the tower above all which was doing something in defiance of purpose for creation and there's somewhat subtle and so really ask us as we explore it together to kind of have an open mind to it you know sometimes when we learn a particular story in the Taira there's a tendency to to kind of in our mind have a preconceived conception you know someone once used the language said that there's something called the lullaby effect a lot about effect means that you know when you listen to a lullaby you're so familiar with those tool to the words and some of the storyline the lullaby you're going to ask questions you know for example you know you don't know rock-a-bye baby on the tree top when the when the wind blows the baby will rock when the bough breaks the baby will fall down will come cradle baby and all you know we sing it the little children and little kids and babies we put them to sleep supposed to be comfort about comfort than by it but when we just think about it for a moment you know we ask ourselves a question like like what exactly is the baby doing in the tree you know why the parents put the cradle up there what would they think you you know what type of terror did the baby feel whether it felt the wind blowing it and then also it's smashed out that what happened to the ground what happened to the baby so the lullaby effect means you know when you were so used to hearing something we forget to think deeply about it so you know I ask us always when we approach a storyline in any aspect of Camacho in the time that we approach it with like ears that that perk up two questions one what's the depth of his though she was trying to teach us so let's look at the story and we would just point out some insights that maybe we didn't visit last week but I I think are very important so the storyline begins we find the end of poshest knock it's very short it's really only maybe six or seven lines and it begins as it says that this is after the flood were approximately 350 years after the the flood I believe the from creation six day of creation is 1996 for creation of autumn sixth day the flood I believe was 1656 so it says ye it says but ye koala arts Safa a hoss the divine Mahadev and the whole land was one line which would divine my heart demand one purpose what language did they speak they spoke Russian Turkish we spoke they know in the Holy tongue it's the human language and as we know all languages emerged from Russian our code is from Hebrew the whole world was of one language would divine mukundan and have one common purpose now will we read those words I don't think we're particularly bothered by them you know those words are in anything of anything maybe inspiring one language and one purpose it's hard to sense from that exactly what what you know what what the problem really is will we read that well let's continue and it says buddy he'd been awesome macadam it says the traveled from the east which I guess would be the Land of Israel but you become an Archon re-issue shamans and they settled it in a place in a valley in Earth's Shinar the land of Shinar the yesh who shun and dwelt there now we're total about the geographic location it's a beaker it's a valley Rashi points out and somewhat surprisingly gives us even a greater description and says it's a valley that should ain't chump Avani there are no stones there does interesting to know that it's a valley it's a beaker it's it's the moved away from air it's a strong to a place that there are no stones and that seems to be a very interesting detail that the toes giving us for over each shoulder able and each man said to his right a ring of rails so he was very positive world it's a word a friendship began with a genre a oh there was there was harmony between people hover lil bit on the vein Eden but this father swetha come let's Millburn on the vein him let's let's create bricks when this war father swetha and let's burn them to a fire Oh Deanna hammer the vein in the oven the Hamer and then the hunger and that what let the Brix be in the place of stone but hey more higher than the hunger and the the mud became the building material the same or higher than the home where it says the mud the Hamer which means the the mortar so you know the mud which you normally used to cement stone that became the Homer that became the bricks that became the building material again you know you read we read a story like this and you know question I think that goes to our mind is why are we getting this details what what what does it shall try to communicate to us in the the details of the building material it's something very interesting it's a Valley without stones become they decided to sort of harness technology to create bricks the bricks we know we need to mass a fire and heat they take mud and mud and they they burnt them to create a brick and it becomes the Hamer height of the homer the Hamer the cement the mud they turned into the building materials of Homer we'll come back to that detail but just sudden think about a little bit no stones technology bricks for yoga theorem and he said Hovind live the Llano year come let's build for ourselves a city Oh big de Rochambeau Sherman a tower which is its its Roche its head will be by shin myeon the NASA LA no shame and let's make for ourselves a name pen not foots up in the colors unless we become scattered over the entire Earth now I guess maybe we could hear a little bit of a hint of perhaps something going a little bit awry the fact they say let's build for us a city in the year though okay I guess we want a city they want a place what is going to be cooperation and trade and an interaction that's fine then they want a big tower tower the Rocha must remind them that that's the three words that causes us to stop and take pause and well they want the head of it to be brush a mine in heaven now oftentimes people want to say there's there's some sort of rebellion here against this Shem it's hard to know what the rebellion is they would they want to create a tower row show us your mind there's some aspect there where it sounds like they do want to compete with the Shem but not a lot of shame let's make a name for ourselves it seems the problem is that they want to make a name for themselves wipe end up with something to call the arts lest we be scattered over the face of the earth they have to remember this was a generation that still has a very strong memory of the flood flood was 30 or 50 years before the world was repopulated by Noah's three sons Shem come in the office Avram is 48 years old by the way right now he's in the world not who still in the world North is not going to leave the world for another 150 years there's a direct transmission that the world had been destroyed and and people understood that that the world must have been you know 300 years later we understood there was a Shem will destroy it so it's it's talked about but fortunately were concerned for that how do we sort of steal ourselves and protect ourselves against another type of disaster natural disaster maybe so they want to create a city Midtown Russia which to my name again a tower with its head in heaven what does that mean the NASA longish aim and let's make for ourselves a name lest we be scattered across the earth welcome back to that this is keep going the year at Hashem zero cents a year yes a big dollar bottle burning out them and it says that a Shem descended to see the city of the tower I should bubble a other which Bonet other built people built now again a year and Hashem is interesting language and we know we have two names for a shine we have we have aloe Kim and we have your navel thing I know Kim is always the aspect the Sham strict justice in fact when we read the story of a flood it's all about elokim it's all about God in the elokim aspect of of judgment judgment means that we have an obligation to live up to a certain standard and our Haute and and a immoral lifestyle I wouldn't betray it while we've disbelief we've really brought a little Kim into the picture got us to come and be the judge as it were but the aspect of his Shem the unit cave of K is the idea of a Shems greater purpose so when it says the giver is Hashem but not saying that look Kim I locate what apply the judge is coming it's not the judge as much as it's a Shem coming down as if to say I can't put my finger on an actual Halawa that you're violating I can't say there's a particular law that you have done wrong over here but a Shem the aspect of my purpose for creation the you tale of a the aspect that I have a deeper vision for mankind for the purpose for which I create the world that has been upset here and that's why it says vague a red Hashem deceasing Shem came down to examine the tower and that which was built by Bonet autumn Bonet ha ha that's interesting the Rashi points out that asks a question based on our sages a city which was built by Binet ha all done Rashi says almost comically based on that you know of course people of man builded Binet children of man who else tell the children of Kamara and he says children of donkeys children of suits of horses of course it was the children of people this is now focus on the world Adam Bonet ha Adam these are children of Adam harish on other very ssin whose sin was really that he denied the good that was done for him that the son gave him half of give him a gift and he's a connector a symbol to complete him and to combat his loneliness and the guy in spiritually to be there for him and when it returns to insist on why did you eat what does he do of course he blames non fab so this is generation just like all don't like that gratitude somehow this generation wants to pull a Shem out of the picture and they want to build a society where a Shem is no longer the focal point but the human being is the focal point we're gonna be able to see we're gonna make for ourselves a need we are going to create a society which is such harmony then we're gonna build such a a perfect cooperative system but don't need furniture we want to build a name for ourselves you know if one if they were to a focused on how good a sham is that a sham versus East he saved them that they were the generation rebuilding the world after the MiG now after the flood a generation that's been granted life a generation less than the opportunity to be in this world and focus on all the goodness that it does for them how could you divorce his Shem from the picture if you're so focused on his goodness Souter's alluding to the fact they were they were the children Vinayaka Adam the children of Arthur Murray shown just like other Matt gratitude so two-thirds the source perhaps that's leading to the mistake and wanted to focus on themselves rather than Nana Shem is emanating from a lack of gratitude is simple dr. grant you know I think just how important that is just you know really it's as a side point that we spoken often about this concept that gratitude is really fundamental spiritual ingredient that we need in our life and then the more we are aware of the goodness of his Shem the more we want the relationship with the shamon we don't want to say I'm gonna do it on my own I want to make a name for myself I I want to get back to the one who's allowing me to do it it's a little hint there in the terror of what the source of the where the source might have emanated from what the poor the problem might have originated the Lister's continuing just to finish it and it says for Yamaha shameless Shem says he on the harvest suffer Ava's the one nation and one language the coulomb to everybody does a Cleveland last sauce and this is the reason why he can't do that after lo you bought some ahem quality ozamataz sauce he said now I'm not going to allow them to complete that would be itself to do however their that the valve it the novelist shumsa fossil caught me speaking to me indicate the court of the angels come let's go down and let's mix up their language I should know yeesh mouth ich esse Vasa Abel in order that each purse will not be able to issue move to listen and hear the language of their friend if that was a sham solution to solve the problem for ya if it's a sham Osama sham up in the colors and once they can no longer speak a common language there's no longer a no reason to stay together back staying together causes more disunity in disharmony so if we can't communicate with each other and therefore shemin's does what he spreads them out Pinay call ours the populate the entire world yet the we have to leave those in here and he ceased the project of building the city that's the story I can't we read the story and we don't hear any mention of really what they did no no I you know I think I think we do we do get some hints by the fact that they want to make a name for themselves make a name for themselves cutting themselves off from God is it a sin some is it a sense like building a tower up to sure monuments at some level rebellion our job of this world courses to to to recognize a shame is the source at the Mac Nia that's me no submit that subordinate our will to Guardsman which is all purpose of creation that's the greatest way we give birth to our own and genuine personality and get rid of our own self-interest our arrogance as it were and we submit to God but again there's salty in that and that's part of the human heart and that's part of the proper all working on in life why had others Latura include this as such a a key episode in the creature in the world unless I said we could figure that out and discover what they were doing wrong and my you know I saw so this is gonna be our shushing Rafa Hirsch you know he's one of the great German rabbis in the 19th century and if there are many others are other approaches to this and I I'm gonna did that from the outset but I'm focusing right now on the approach of our parish because I think it's very it's a very human approach and a very real approach and I think it it touches deeply who we are in this I'd like to express it and share it with everybody and ask everybody if you have a question or comment you know please feel free to just unmute yourself and and just and step into the conversation so let's say we could identify what might be the issue over here so let's go back to this story what happened they went to a place they left the Land of Israel they travel from the east and they went to a become beard Shinar they went to a valine Elena sheena which is currently Iraq that's Bubba ray Yeshua's Sean and again Rashi gives us that whole hint the world of stones there now did he go there because there weren't no so there were no stones is that specifically why they were there or because they were there they realized there were other stones we're not told but we are told they what took place there were stones the Yahoo each array one and each man said to his friend now here is a 8 I think might be worthy the the turning point the story is nilma down the vena let's create bricks but this will fall astray and let's burn them the strife you know burn them that means this burn them let them be burnt to a fighter I just think this is just to a fire in the Sarita you have a sort of a vision or like an imagery of her enormous technology over here ot Laham and levena the oven and let the bricks be a stone interesting waha Famer hi Anna ham the Homer and let the mud be the calmer build a building material let's see me Dan less this first and this is about Hirsch and I think it's a beautiful I like to share it first of all what's the difference between bricks and stones you know when one builds was stoned stone is somewhat difficult to work with because each stone has its unique personality its unique shape its its unique dimensions its unique feel and texture the work was stoned and put many stones together in a way that you create a building it takes a lot of skill because how do you say take things that don't really belong and fit them together almost like a jigsaw does you have to shave a little bit here you have to shave a little bit there and and you have to have a people you put cement in the middle to combine them in a very beautiful way and that's why when we see a stone edifice of stone building there's something very appealing about it architectural II because it's very difficult and each stone kind of speaks to its own personality stone seems to talk to you you know I think one beautiful example of this is you know when we're just rolling we're looking at the Kotel you know especially if those are the fuss a bit there works as well and you come down those steps the right numeration terrorism you walk down and just kind of stop and freeze and stare and look at the Kotel and and you get lost in it and you look from this stone to that stone and and and what you see is each stone has its own personality these done has its own color of texture and shape and and and and thickness and just looking at each one and your eye wanders from this one to that one and yet it all fits together in such a a perfect collage to create that beautiful structure which we refer to as the Kotel on Marathi but it's that that combination of diverse mmus together that creates the beauty for some reason those people who wanted to build this town were there not one of you stop they want to use brick what's brick BRIC means we're gonna take them out and we're going to heat it and bake it at a very high temperature and we're going to create a building material that's completely uniform completed an absolute uniformity now with that uniformity you can accomplish a lot by the way you could build you know huge towers you could build them large buildings and at a much cheaper added much at a much cheaper expense also you know I see my my phone just died over here so I apologize to those with a son but you could build in a way that it is much faster it could feel much bigger and the reason why is because you have you have a building material which is uniform there's a uniformity in it now that's interesting stone speak the language of individuality and bricks speaks the language of uniformity this these people this generation did not want stones they didn't want something which said each and every one is unique and different they wanted to utilize something which was completely the same now refurbished points to this and it seems that this underlies a certain approach we had to the new society the society was not going to be one where the individual stood out it was going to be one where there was a conformity of individuality and perhaps what they were thinking was if we're going to achieve our mission if we're gonna build a society which is so harmonious which is so cooperative which has such a perfection in commerce and and and medicine and technology and if a person's gonna stand up and say I want to be different that person is gonna interfere with the goal of society we want uniformity in order to accomplish the goal the goal is to build a utopia the goal is to build a perfect world the individual is a necessary building block of that perfect world now it's interesting this is how beautifully the words express this concept it says what do they want to do but tiny like that it's sent referred to here that I have another vein in the oven they want to take the bricks and that the bricks be used as a stone but her fame are higher than Muhammad the Famer means the material the Haber means the month but is normally used if you're gonna build a stone what are you done for if you're gonna build a stone what the mud does it takes the stones and cements them together the mud acid water is the means to achieve at the end the goal is that we want this beautiful stone would you need the mud as the cement what did they want to do we wanted to use the hammer high in them Muhammad the pain of the mud is now going to be the builded building material that which is supposed to be the means is now becoming the end the pinger higher lehem Lahoma the hamer of the month the raw material for brick that's going to be your home where the building material in other words what's the real purpose of cement mud it's the means to attach stones we want to take the bond and you want to turn the pond so to speak into the stone into the building material the means becomes the end cement is supposed to be the means for an end what are they doing it's just to be a means to achieve a stone edifice they want to take the means so to speak the cement and that becomes the end that becomes the purpose the hain where the cement becomes the home versus the cement the means becomes the end now what's significant about this this was a a generation they wanted to build a perfect utopian society a society of absolute cooperation when perhaps the society is so cooperative and technologically secure and secure financially and commercially we're not going to be scared of anything after disaster we're going to protect ourselves from within and the human being is gonna be the means to help us get there a shunt comes down and says you have it all backwards the goal of this world is that every human being matters the perfect purpose of society is to support and to allow every human being to flourish now listen to what it says my first course in evolution of course actually per clear every other it sounds like this maybe the subs in a lot in Knuffle autumn as the building this tower enough for other roommates if a human being would fall off the tower as he was involved in the building project though I'm asleep over love no one care don't pay attention however have enough love the Vayner however for a brick would fall hey Yoshi were Berkeley they would say they would cry oil and water I say must Tyler Harris knock down when will we find another brick to replace it what's the personnel also teaching us an amazing Midrash the brick is only the means the brick becomes the end the human the human being becomes dispensable what's more the purpose of this society is to enable the you'd be to lead the video to flourish but what do we see from this beverage the human being becomes a means to build a tower so for human being false I'll get another one all but if progress is held back the pitfalls no crime the goals of society at the expense of the individual that is counter that is encounter distinction that is the exact opposite of what a sham watch sports world the purpose of this world is that every human being matters every human being is created the image a vision we said good morning of a kind of rubbish and it's not to beat already Mike how did a shaman that you gave me as pure what created at some work in this godliness is everything big every human being has a different face illustrative of the fact there's a different internal maker as another word for faces ponding the word for the eternal side of we are as to the same word because our face expresses an unique aspect of a soul just told the unique the purposes was that every individual should be able to allow himself to express or herself to express his absolute purpose and society is built to the cooperation of people to quit Society is to facilitate the uniqueness of every human being what it's turned around and the goal becomes the society the coal becomes they a beautiful world of cooperation but at the expense of the individual the individual doesn't matter anymore every human being would form will get another one the brick would fall oh my gosh what's happening there society it's backwards if you're the language of the turn the pain are higher than the common the building material so to speak the cement became our the you need the cement that which was used to create so to speak Billy material became the goal that became the Billy material the paint behind them the karma the cement which is there to facilitate a beautiful structure the cement becomes so to speak the goal the society was supposed to facilitate the growth of the individual the society becomes the goal at the expense of the individual that's just a sign that the koshmar the old money can tolerate because that's a violation of the purpose of this creation the purpose of creation is that we recognize that every human being is unique everything has a purpose every human being has a function every human beings created in the image of God and that has to be treated as such now of course we need a cooperative society we do but it's only so that each and every individual should function when it's turned around and the means become the ends the mud becomes the goal to create brick that was mostly just a mean to cement becomes the building material the meaning becomes the end in society becomes the end and then the vidual becomes the building material there's a danger to that that's a world that the bond Schlup says us that I created and therefore he comes down and he comes down to the aspect of you take off a of a shell because I can't point to the fact that say you do something specifically wrong though you're violating the good hey father you came up k you violated the purpose of my creation the bigger picture that every human must flourish within the co-operative essence of a really functional society that's the vision for mankind now I hinted to at the beginning of the talk in the class that we've witnessed almost in our generation a society that was built on exactly on the ideology of the door a floor of the door of these deciding litera bhava what am i referring to I'm talking about communist the Soviet Union let's build a utopian system we're gonna have a beautiful cooperative society and it's been so cooperative little you've got in fact technology will take the place of a Shem goddess in the past it's all about man coming together and creating a beautiful utopian world it's not gonna be a pression there's not gonna be hunger it's gonna be a combination it's not gonna be greed everyone's gonna come and be part of spread cooperation the proletarian society or but if you're getting in the way because you have a different vision you're getting the win because you have different ideas about God you're getting in the way because you say I want to live my own life in a unique way well you're dangerous to society you're dangerous to the vision of the mission we have to get rid of you over 30 million people were killed in the name of this utopian society from the time from the revolution in 1919 through death of Stalin in 1953 and even after over 30 million people died because they were we were considered to be enemies of a perfect society when then says we want to create without God man is free to do whatever he thinks he wants to do and what will happen invented inevitably is that the human being will cease to be important the vision of the toner is that each and every human being is of such a value and the purpose of the world the purpose of a good society and a healthy faithfully function society which is part of television it's so that every individual be taking care of the poor will have what they need the orphan will be taken care of the widow who provided for those who are handicapped in some way will be provided and with dignity the old will be helped it will be a world where a society where the sight does work together but never at the expense of the individual to enhance the individuality and the uniqueness of every human being and I think it's such an important lesson of this other story never do we say the human being is not important every human being is created against image with such a mission such talent such uniqueness in a world that wants to deny that uniqueness and say the society is the goal and the human being is just a means to create it that's putting the means as the ends the cement becomes the the means becomes the gets that's the metaphor that Leto's is illustrating to us and that of course is what coach Barker says that's the world that that kids exist that's the world's design the good cave of came the purpose of creation now careful we have to be to realize that as shown will in this world is that we recognize uniqueness in every human being individuality and everything importance of every human being and never forget that that's that is God's message to us by doing so that's the way we were fully built a beautiful utopian world I'll see you back next week