GEN752 Some people believe that a person’s goal is to stay alive as long as possible and, if possible, to reach immortality.  While this has been an elusive goal for man from time immemorial, no one has been able to escape inevitable death in a physical sense.  Some have believed that if they can leave their names on a building, that is, have it called by their names, they will achieve immortality.  This was the goal, according to some commentators, of the generation who built a tower in order to challenge God.  They believed if they could erect this building, they “would make a name for themselves,” achieving immortality.  God not only foiled their plot by destroying the tower and dispersing the people, but He made sure that the immortality they sought and their memories would never be achieved.  Not one name of any of these individuals is recorded in the Torah.  But Judaism does tell us how indeed to achieve immortality in the spiritual sense.  AMEMEI 234

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GEN753 [T]he Maharal echoes the words of R. Yosef Yaabetz, that the reason the Sages of the Talmud did not have to engage in a worldly occupation was because their desire for Torah was so powerful, that their Torah study alone was sufficient to keep them from sin.  However, for ordinary people, only the combined toil of both is sufficient – the toil in worldly pursuits removes the inclination for immorality, and the spiritual toil removes the inclination for idolatry.  Now, in more recent times, the “inclination for idolatry” expresses itself in the form of hubris and the belief in “kochi v’otzem yadi,” [That is, instead of believing in idol gods, he “worships” himself, as described in Deuteronomy (8:12-17): Lest you eat and be satisfied…and you increase silver and gold for yourselves, and everything that you have will increase. And your heart will become haughty and you will forget HaShem, you God … And you may say in your heart, “kochi v’otzem yadi asah li es hachayil hazeh (My strength and the might of my hand made me all this wealth)!”] such as the sentiment expressed by the Dor Haflagah (Generation of the Dispersion), who said [this verse].  [Thus, their haughtiness was literally stretched to the point of rebelling against God.]  The “inclination for immorality” in our times comes from the terrible licentiousness that is so prevalent and widespread today.  Thus, according to their view that as the generations decline in spirituality there is an ever-greater need for the toil of both Torah and an occupation, it goes without saying that to survive unscathed in our lowly generation we certainly need both, and the toil of Torah itself is insufficient.  EYES 469

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GEN754 Consider the consequences of disorder, and you will be strengthened in choosing order in our life.  … The tower builders’ efforts to reach out to touch heaven were sinful because they transgressed the limits and constraints that are lead into the deep structure of the universe. … Since they flaunted order, their punishment was to suffer disorder, as presented by their inability to communicate with one another.  Failure to honor the need for order brings on chaos. This cautionary tale applies to our lives, too.  How much time, energy, emotion, and life is diverted into the channels that spring from disorder?  .. Without order, you are bound to be wasting something -- - whether time, resources, things themselves that get lost, relationships, and so on.  Not wasting is a Jewish ethical principle.  [Rabbi Jonathan Sacks made the link of Babel to disorder in his book To Heal a Fractured World (London and New York: Continuum, 2005) 142-43]  MORINIS 91-2

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GEN755 We must try to spread Torah study and observance. … The Ohr Hachayim has an original interpretation for the reason God dispersed the generation of the tower of Babal (dor haflagah).  He explains that they wanted just one section of the world to be inhabited.  Everyone would live in one area, while the rest of the world would remain desolate. The tower would serve as a counterpoint for the populated area and a means of recognizing it from a distance.  God, however, wanted the entire world to be inhabited, so He dispersed them.  Rabbi Chayim Shmuelevitz frequently remarks that the same lesson applies to spreading the ideals of Torah.  Torah observance is not meant to be the possession of a select few in an isolated corner.  Rather, we must try to spread Torah study and observance as far and wide as possible.  Failure to do so is a repetition of the behavior of the generation of the dispersion.   PLYN 41

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GEN756 Early on, mankind already demonstrated that his ability to create in the world was not always used for the proper purpose and goals.  After man developed anew technology to create bricks in order to be used as building material, which meant that mud could now be hardened, man was no longer limited to living near caves and mountainous areas that forced him to make houses from rocks.  But instead of using this expertise to spread out and build cities, the Torah tells us that the first use of this technology was to build a tower in the sky to try and reach and challenge God.  For this misuse of technology, man was punished.  AMJV 54

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GEN757 … cruelty begets cruelty.   Even if at the outset it is just a modicum of cruelty, in the end it will grow, as the Seforno teaches in Parshas Noach, in his commentary on [this verse], “And Hashem descended to see.” He writes: The expression “descended to see” is said of God, may He be blessed, when the subject under discussion does not yet deserve to be punished at that particular time; it is only on account of the degeneracy he will ultimately be drawn to. [In other words, the word “descend” means “descending in time,” that is, looking down the road into his future.] Such is the case of the “rebellious son,” regarding whom our Sages taught Sanhedrin 72a ‘The Torah foresaw his eventual end.’  [According to the Talmud, the passage in Deuteronomy 21:18-21) calling for the rebellious son to be killed was only intended as a moral lesson, to nip evil behavior in the bud before it degenerates into something far worse.] This is similarly true with regard to the city of Sodom, about which the Torah states Genesis 18:21, “I will descend and see.” For in truth, their wickedness at that time was not any worse than any of the other heathen nations, that they should deserve the punishment they received in this world—with the sole exception of their cruelty to the poor, which ultimately led to utter depravity, as it is written Ezekiel 16:49 “Behold, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom…She did not strengthen the hand of the poor and need.”  This was also true of the Jewish nation’s punishment of exile, as the Torah states, “I shall see what their end will be.”  [Deuteronomy 32:20]  Thus, according to the Seforno, it was inevitable in all these cases that their limited cruelty would ultimately worsen and develop into outright cruelty and depravity.  In the case of Sodom, this notion also clears up an apparent contradiction between the statement in Ezekiel, which seems to imply that the people of Sodom merely sinned in that they “did not strengthen the hand of the poor and need,” and the Talmudic lesson in Sanhedrin 109b which indicates that Sodom’s cruelty far exceeded a mere failure to give charity to the poor.  In fact, they actually went so far as to brutally torture a young girl who was caught giving bread to the poor!  The Seforno therefore explains that this is the meaning of the verse, “I will descend and see” – namely, I will look down into the future.  Even though their cruelty at the present moment is only manifest by the fact that they do not give bread to the poor, that cruelty will ultimately rise to the level described in the Talmudic example of the young girl who was tortured for daring to give bread to the poor.  Because of this natural tendency for cruelty that is left unchecked to grow ever stronger and more prevalent, it is of critical importance to denounce it immediately, before it is allowed to poison the public ethic. EYES 207-8

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GEN758 We should not condemn people without a proper investigation. Rashi cites the Midrash Tanchuma which states that the Almighty did not actually need to come down to view the tower.  He did so in order to teach judges not to condemn anyone until they investigate and understand the entire situation.  In a broad sense, there is a lesson here for everyone, not only for judges of a court. For we are all judges  -- we all judge the actions of others.  Let us not condemn anyone the basis of hearsay or circumstantial evidence.  We must view a person favorably unless we have carefully investigated the matter and have established beyond a doubt that he is guilty of the charges against him. (Bais Yechezkail, vol. 1, p. 373)  PLYN 42-3

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GEN759 See [[LEV107]] Leviticus 11:29 unclean GATES 21

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GEN760 See [[GEN749]] Genesis 11:1 same AMEMEI 211

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GEN761 The following comments by Rashi on [this verse] seem particularly relevant today: Whose sins were more severe – the Dor HaMabul (Generation of the Flood) or the Dor Haflagah (Generation of the Dispersion)? [As related in Genesis (ch.11) and expounded upon in the Midrash, they planned to build a tower ascending to Heaven, from which they would wage war against God.  Since their common language and location led them to unite in rebellion against God, He dispersed them over all the earth and gave them different languages].  [The former] did not directly rebel against God, whereas [the latter] sought to do battle with God!  Yet the former were drowned, whereas the latter were not expunged from the face of the earth.  But the reason is that those in the Dor HaMabul were robbers, and there was discord amongst them.  Therefore, they were destroyed. But those [in the Dor Haflagah] displayed love and friendship for each other, as it is written Genesis 11:1, “of one language and of common purpose.” This teaches us that discord is abhorrent and peace is great.  Rashi has thus introduced a very important chidush (novel notion) regarding the Dor HaMabul.  For although our Sages have stated explicitly Sanhedrin 108a that its fate was only sealed on account of their robbery, Rashi offers the novel idea that it was not robbery alone that sealed its fate.  Rather, it was the fact that in conjunction with the robbery, there was discord between them -- a natural consequence of robbery – and HaShem views internal strife with great abhorrence.  But concerning the Dor Haflagah, the opposite was true.  Although they denied the very existence of God, they did not perish, because they displayed love and friendship towards each other.  This teaches us how great peace is reckoned before God.  This fundamental concept is stated and reiterated a number of times through our holy Torah.  Yet in spite of this, we see in our own generation that amongst those who are known as Charedim (ultra-Orthodox), there is more discord and baseless hatred than there is amongst the secular.  Consequently, even if all of the mitzvos were being observed perfectly, this sin alone should be sufficient to make every heart tremble.  For this is an exact parallel to the situation that the Ramban described above, when he wrote regarding the generation prior to the Great Flood,” The dayanim, [judges] whose task it was to do justice, committed open robbery themselves—and there was no one to stop them.” The same is true in our situation.  The very leaders who should be instilling good middos (personal traits) in the hearts of the Jewish people, initiate strife themselves, with no concern whatsoever about the chilul HaShem [desecration of God’s name] that they bring about.  EYES 341-3

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