Do we need a land?

Usually religions evolve or start with an area of land. G-d brought Avraham away from his homeland, where there was already a religion. This seems strange to us and almost is a contradiction. Judaism is one of the few religions that absolutely does not revolve around land, but here we just learnt that Hashem took Avraham to the land that would eventually be ours. Does this mean Judaism is just another one of those religions that evolves around a piece of land? I don't think thats necessarily true. I think ultimately G-d knew we were going to get our own land and that is why he took Avraham to it in the first place. Even though it did not happen right away and there was much fighting involved to get to the ultimate goal, it was still gotten. I think this all goes back to last year when we had the debate about if G-d knowing the future is really giving us free will or not. G-d knows the outcome but lets us choose our own way to get there, or at least that's the way I think of it. I think G-d wanted Avraham to see where his future generations would live before he died so He took him there, how his future generations were going to get it, He didn't know.

Different Opinions

We learned in class this week about or kasdim. Rashi and Rambam have 2 different answers for the meaning of this. Rashi thinks it was a place, but Rambam thinks it was rather an event. The simple meaning, which is what Rashi likes and strives to find is that Or Kasdim was a place. He says that "Or" is referring to the hebrew word for village and Kasdim is just the name of that particular village. Rashi disagrees with Rambam that it was an event because if it was an important enough it would have been written in the tanach, but it is not. If it refers to the village then it does not make sense because that is the birthplace of Avraham and Avraham is from shem making Or Kasdim an event rather than a place. Rambam simply believes this because of the context of the sentence.

Or Kasdin: Rashi and Ramban

Rashi and Ramban disagree on the meaning of the phrase Or Kasdin. Rashi gives several possibilities on what the phrase could mean. He mentions the Kivshon HaAish, but thinks that if it were referring to something so important it would be written in the Torah. He concludes that it must refer to the valley of Kasdin, the birthplace of Avraham. Ramban disagrees. He says that it is not possible for Or Kasdin to be Avraham's birth place because it is in Cham's land and Avraham is a descendant of Shem. Therefore, Or Kasdin must refer to the Kivshon HaAish.

A Place or an Event?

Rashi and Ramban both have more than one answer to what te words "Or Kasdim" really mean. Rashi being known for trying to find the Pshat or the simple meaning, thinks that these words are referring to a place. He says the word Or is referring to the word 'Bikah'-village. In this way the words mean the Village of Kasdim. He thinks that these words can't be referring to the event of Kivshon HaAish, because if this event was so important than it should have been included in the Tanach. Ramba, on the other hand says that Avraham was not born in the land od Kasdim, because Kasdim is in the land od Cham and Avraham is a descendant of Shem. Ramban believes that the story of Kivshon HaAish is true and very important. He thinks that these words cannot be referring to a place. And if it's not a place, than they must be referring to an event.

Unfortunately, we have no evidence of weather this event actually took place. Ramban believes that it happened because of hints in the text. Rashi was not satisfied with basing his answer on a story that might not be true, so he came up with a different one.

Rashi vs. Ramban

Both Rashi and Ramban were great commentators on תנך. Every person/rabbi who studies Torah finds textual anomalies and builds an explanation around that. In that sense, the text of the Torah is like a grain of sand in an oyster. Over time, a pearl will be formed out of the sand and oyster saliva. Like this, the rabbis would build a story around the problem in the text that is meant to teach us a lesson. This is the basic idea of how the Midrash was formed. Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki (A.K.A. Rashi) was among the first medieval commentaries. He studied the Torah his entire life and found textual anomalies everywhere. He was well educated in the Midrash, so he knew the stories. In his study of the Torah, he wrote footnotes on the side of his text. These footnotes included the most realistic "Midrash" explanation. He did not accept that simple words in the text referred to wild and important stories. Instead, he gave an explanation that logically explained what was happening in the Torah without referring to a story unmentioned in the Torah. (He was once talking to his grandson and Rashi is reported to have said that if he could go back and change anything in his life, he would have made a commentary on the פשט: how can we understand-on the most basic level-what the text is trying to convey?) It is also important to note that RASHI DID NOT COME UP WITH HIS EXPLANATIONS. He found them in the Midrash and recorded them. Rabbi Moshe Ben Nachman (A.K.A. Ramban) was almost the opposite in ideology. He was taught (and passes on to us) that one should use the פשט interpretation, unless there is no other way to explain the text. He respected Rashi very much, but most of the time, he humbly contradicted Rashi. According to Ramban, "Ur Kasdim" is referring to an event because of the general phrasing of the statement. According to Rashi, "Ur Kasdim" is referring to a place. (If the story of the fiery pit was so important, why is it not mentioned in the text of the Torah?)

We can see here that there is even dispute in the world of the commentators. Unfortunately, we do not know what really happened or what we are supposed to get out of the phrasing of the statement "Haran died on the face of (before) Terach his father in the land of his birth in Ur Kasdim." Each person should come up with their own opinion about what is true and what is fable.

Rabbi Finkelstein's שלוש סעודות Speech פרשת חיי שרה

This שבת at שלוש סעודות at Anshei, Rabbi Finkelstein spoke about how the תורה never mentions אברהם with his family after he left until he sends אליעזר back to find a wife for יצחק. The תורה talks about him a lot with regards to his other friends that didn't believe in 'ה, but never with regards to his family. The reason is that after אברהם left his father's house, there was still a chance that he might return to the way he had been raised if he was allowed to interact with his family. His non Jewish friends would not pull him back, but his family might. The only time the תורח mentions anyone from אברהם's family, even the ones that believed in 'ה is יצחק at עקידת יצחק, because he is the one being bound. Once עקידת יצחק took place, אברהם proved that his commitment was so great that meeting his family again would not pull him or his wife and household back in any way. Therefore, אברהם could sent אליעזר back to his old home to find a wife for his son. One of the reasons that יצחק had not gotten married until now is that אברהם had not yet passed that last test. Until then, he had not proven himself to be on a level that interacting with the other part of his family would not pull him or his household back with regards to their dedication to 'ה.

חסד vs. צדיק

I'm going to go off of the subject of חומש for now because everyone keeps posting on everything I'm about to post on.

Ok, so in פרשה class on Friday, Rabbi Maimon spoke to us about the difference between being a צדיק and a חסיד. Not a חסיד in the מאה שארים sense, but as in a person who does a lot of חסד. What is the difference?

We said that a צדיק does what he is asked to do, while a חסיד does what is wanted of him without being asked. נח was an איש צדיק and did what he was asked, but אברהם was an איש חסיד and took the initiative. That's why רבקה had to be tested before she could become יצחק's wife. If she was going to be a part of אברהם's family, she had to have the same trait of חסידות. When אליעזר asked רבקה if she would get him water and she gave water to his camels also, she demonstrated that trait. This proved her worthy of being a part of the family of אברהם אבינו, who was the epitome of חסד.

Or Kasdin

We have been learning about the Or Kasdin and whether it refers to the Fiery pit. It could refer to several things, but what we know for sure is that Haran died before Terach. We learned that the Or Kasdin could refer to either the Fiery pit or a valley. Rashi concludes that it was probably just refering to a valley.

Ur Kasdim, Civshon Ha Esh?

IN chumash we have most recently been learning about the sentence "...Vayamat Haran Al Pnei Terach Aviv Beeretz Moladeto BeUr KAsdim." This is talking about how Haran died on in Ur Kasdim "on his father's face". Rashi cannot find a mishna on the text in this circumstance so he refers to the mishna about the civshon haEsh to explain that Ur Kasdim could mean that Haran died in the civshon haEsh. The only problem is that there is no texutal basis for this so Rashi finds another answer. Ramban, however, believes that this mishna is true because it is rabbinic tradition and is hinted to in the text, so he goes to prove that this pasuk is talking about the civshon haEsh. His first proof is that Avraham was not born in the land of Kasdim because this is where the descendants of Cham lived, and Avraham was descended from Shem. This goes to show that this is referencing an event and not a place. He further proves this point by stating that when G-d says " hotzeiticha meUr casdim" he does not say "lekachticha", showing that this was done miraculously. He also adds that the text is vague here. There is an outside account where a king imprisoned Avraham and then let him leave- this was some form of miracle, a hidden miracle. This is Ramban's reason for why Ur kasdim must be the miraculous event in the text.

Rashi and Ramban

Recently in Chumash we have strayed off the path and learned about Rashi and Ramban's different types of commentary. Rashi is more focused on the basic pshat understanding and looks for textual anomalys that he can clarify with a midrash. When he does not have a midrash based on the text, he looks in other places for an answer. The Ramban believes that the midrash's stories are truth and we must know them as fact so he looks for places in the text that can refer to midrash. Aside from all this, we learned in class that commentators like Rashi do not, in fact, have nivuah. So a question that I have been wondering is why they are in every chumash and are trusted opinions? Why are specific people's ideas given so much credibility? How do they have any factual basis if they are no more than educated guesses? And why in that case are we studying someone's unproven educated guesses? If anyone has an answer or opinion in this, please feel free to answer!

thanksgiving and bereshit

Tonight in Mishmar, we were learning about whether Jews are obligated to give thanks or not, in honor of the approaching holiday of Thanksgiving. We saw that there are many sources which say we are, and all the various places that it says so. This got me thinking about everything we have learned this year in Bereshot and the history of the Jews in general. We are known the complain a lot. In the desert, we complained over water, food, meat, etc. We were never happy with our lot even when we had just been through amazing miracles. This made me wonder if the same is true in Bereshit. People have just been created, and are put in a beautiful place where everything is given to them, yet do they ever utter a word of thanks? No. Instead, they take advantage of this and get kicked out of the garden. Later on, when Cain sins, G-d has mercy on him, but is Cain grateful? No. Next time something good happens in your life, take a moment to be grateful and realize what a good life you have and appreciate what G-d has given you

The Levyasan

Going a little off topic here....

On Shemini Atzeres, Sarah and I were at Anshei with the people that came to visit from TorahTours in New York. Rabbi Finkelstein said that we should all merit to sit in the sukkah of the Levyasan. I was confused. I thought a Levyasan was a big fish. All I could picture was a huge whale from the inside- just big ribs hanging inside the skin over a small wooden sukkah. Then I thought, how would you be able to sit and see the stars from in there? Through the blowhole? And why is it so special that we should merit to sit there?

Sarah and I asked someone how that could be possible, and she answered us by taking a Tanach and showing us a Rashi. (It's a Rashi on Perek Alef Pasuk Chaf Alef if anyone want's to check it out) The Rashi said that when HaShem created the world, He created two HUGE fish. They couldn't both remain on earth because their children would be too big and there would not be enough space on earth. The male remained on earth (it's possible it is now known as the Loch Ness Monster) while the female went to Shamayim. It's said that all the great Tzadikim merit to sit in the sukkah inside of the female levyasan.

So I guess we should all hope to merit to sit in the sukkah inside of the levyasan!

Is it fair?

We learned last week in class that Haran had to decide between Avraham and Nimrod. Is it Harans fault if he was brought up learning that idols were the way to go? I don't think it should be. Unfortunately it is though, but this still troubles me. I think (strongly) that Haran should not be punished for something that he does not know about. Now yes he did probably have some idea that Avraham was the right decision, but non the less he still died. This topic is just so troubling! I know G-d cannot give unlimited chances, but to punish an uneducated person?

Is this the reason he died though? (Now that I think about it I'm not so sure) Did he die because he didn't decide but rather than choose the right side? That makes more sense if that is the reason he died. This situation can easily be applied to present day. People like to win. If someone is on a losing team, they will try everything they can to switch over to the winning team. Another example is betting on a sports game. People bet and if their team is losing they want to switch. I think it's interesting to see time and time again that these things are still going on today.

Haran in the Fiery Pit

If we take the meaning of the words "Vayamat Haran B'Ur Kasdim" to mean he died in a fiery pit, or a furnace, there is a story to explain why he was in the pit in the first place and why he died there.

Haran was the brother of Avraham and when Avraham is thrown in the furnace by Nimrod, Haran has the choice to either support Avraham or support Nimrod. He waits to see if Avraham will come out alive before he makes his choice. When Avraham comes out of the fiery furnace alive, Haran decids that Avraham's ally (HaShem) must be stronger than Nimrod. He therefore decides to support Avraham, knowing that he (Haran) will be thrown in the furnace as well, but he thinks that HaShem will save him too. Obviously, it doesn't go at all as he planned. He is thrown in the furnace, but he doesn't get out alive. He dies there. So that's how we can understand how Haran ended up dying in the "Ur Kasdim", if that's how we want to translate the words.

Haran's Choice

In the midrash that we learned last week, Avraham's father Terach brought him to Nimrod (the king) after he refused to believe in idols. Nimrod ordered that Avraham should go into a fiery furnace and if his beliefs about one, all-powerful G-d was true then it could be proved by weather he survived. Avraham's brother was asked if he sided with Avraham or Nimrod. He said that whoever wins, he will side with. After Avraham survived the furnace, Nimrod asked Haran who he sided with. He answered Avraham, the clear winner. He then was sent into the furnace. There he was burned alive and was not saved by G-d. Haran's comments and ideas can be seen in two different ways. One way could be that he like everyone else had been tought from the very beginning about the power of idols, therefore it wasn't really his fault that he believed in them. The point of G-d saving Avraham from the fire was to prove that there is an omnicient, omnipotent G-d and the idols are nothing but inanimate objects with no divine powers. After seeing this Haran seemed to be convinced that there is a G-d and Avraham was right. If Haran had come to the conclusion that Avraham (and G-d) had been hoping all of the people would come to then why was he punished with dying in the furnace?

Well, for one Haran is not like every other person. He is Avraham's brother. He has had the chance to hear Avraham's beliefs and he had chosen to continue worshiping the idols. Unlike everyone else who had been tought nothing but the idea of idol worship, Haran had had two separate ideas to choose between. Also, Haran had not said to Nimrod as his answer 'I will go with whoevers G-d is proven real' or something similar to that. He said I will side with whoever wins. This does not prove that he now believes in G-d, he just wants to be on the winner's side. All of this proves that Haran did not deserve to be spaired by G-d.

The Story of Terach and Avraham

In class this week, we learned about Terach. He was the father of Avraham, Haran, and Nachor. They were all descendants of Shem, the son of Noach. When they are first mentioned in the Torah, their names are simply recorded in a genealogy list. This symbolizes that they were not chosen by G-d. We hear about them again a few pesukim later, but this time in an actual story. Radak's original question on this was, "Why does the Torah repeat the names if they are written in the pesukim before?" The answer is that the first time the names are mentioned, it is simply a genealogy list. The second time they are mentioned, it is to tell us the story of Terach's life: the death of Haran, his move to Charan, and his death. Rashi also has a question about this story. He questions why the passuk says that Haran "died on the hands of his father" and whether "Ur Kasdim" was Haran's birthplace or the fiery pit that he died in. He gives three answers for these two questions. The first answer is that the phrase "on the hands of his father" is simply referring to the fact that Haran died before his father. Since this answer does not address the second question at all, Rashi gives another answer. The second answer is that Terach indirectly caused his son's death because HE was the one who brought Avraham to Nimrod. He explains the story that we all know of Avraham in the fiery pit. To clarify his point, he says that Haran died "in his birthplace, in a fiery pit". Rashi finds fault with this answer because it does not answer the obvious question: if this story of the fiery pit is so important, why is it only implied in the text? Therefore, Rashi gives a third answer. He quotes מנחם בן סרוק in his interpretation of the word "אור". He says that "אור" means valley, and in the context, it means in the valley of כשדים. The death of Haran was an event that occurred in Terach's lifetime and it took place in the valley of כשדים. This answer satisfies Rashi because it explains what the passuk is referring to and it completely wipes the story of the fiery pit out of the equation.

Just to conclude, I would like to add that regardless of what the "true story" is, we need to understand that Avraham's childhood and family helped shape who he became. Regardless of whether the story of the fiery pit actually happened, Avraham's father worshipped idols. His brother died. Avraham was the first person to recognize Hashem as the one and only G-d. If he had not come from a world of idol-worshipers, why would his revelations about Hashem have been significant?

Believe in Hashem

It is extrememly important to know that Hashem is and will always be there for us no matter what you do he will still be there watching over us and helping us through the hard times. All you have to do is Daven-this is something very simple to do-take out a book and read the words of it. When you look back at how much Hashem has done for us you realize just how much more specail He is and what he will do for us. The first generations of the world didn't realize this about Hashem and didn't realize that if they ask for something Hashem will try and accomplish this for them. We always have a chance to ask Hashem to forgive us, Hashem tried to show to the people that they could ask for forgiveness and he would accept their Teshuvah. Avraham was the first person to completely realize the true presence of Hashem, if you truly beleive in Him then he will help you through something you ask for, Avraham destroyed his father's idols to show that they are useless and do nothing to protect. Avraham's father was so angry he was wiling to kill his son to prove that he was right. Avraham fully beleived in G-d and when his father through him into a pit of fire he was completely safe and survived the fire, but when Haran tried to jump in-his intention were not pure, he just wanted to agree with the winner-he was burned from the fire and killed. We learn the lesson of that if you believe in Hashem he will help you the the rough-but you can't just believe your intentions must be pure

Before and After the flood

Before the flood G-d had a picture-everyone would follow all the rules and everything would be completely perfect, no problems. Hashem didn't think anything would go wrong-he was incorrect, the people betrayed him and didn't listen to what he said and people were doing bad things. G-d didn't want the world to be like that so he decided that he will destroy the world and start all over with no problems and new commands that they will listen to, the perfect plan-but it doesn't turn out the way that Hashem wants. After the flood G-d wants everyne to spread out and go to different places and make the nation bigger, but that doesn't happen. The new natioin decides they want a life of their own and they don't want Hashem to be there so they decide they aren't going to spread out and they want to make a new name for themselves. G-d had promised that he would never destroy the world on account of man so instead of destroying them and starting over again he makes them all speak different languages so that they are forced to spread out and make the naiton bigger.

G-ds "mistake"

We learned that Hashem has to destroy the world and 'start over' when man sins. We normally think Oh, G-d made a mistake, then forget about it. I think that it wasn't a mistake, but intentional. I have two reasons. The first reason is Hashem wanted to give written instructions, but if He started with them, man wouldn't see a justification to follow them. Once people sin and don't know how to act, man knows we need the instructions. The second reason is Hashem wanted man to know making a mistake is inevitable. If you make a mistake there is a way to fix it. Just do what you can!

Was Dor HaMabul's punishment really worse?

We learned that both nations, Dor HaMabul and Dor HaFlaga, sinned. They were both punished severly, but in different ways. When Dor HaMabul sinned, they sinned against Hashem. They were almost completely destroyed, leaving only one family. When Dor HaFlaga sinned, instead of destroying the world again, Hashem got them to do what He wanted in a different way. He changed the language so that no one could comunicate with each other. I think that in order to keep people reproducing, a few family's spoke the same language. This punishment is surprisingly similar to Dor HaMabul, but at the same time, entirely different. Dor HaFlaga could not really communicate with everyone else, so it was like no one else existed, they were alone, just like Noah's family. Even though they all survived, this is a pretty bad punishment. In my opinion, both punishments were bad, but Dor HaFlaga's punishment is a little worse. They have to live knowing that so many people are out there, but they can't communicate with any of them.

Common Mistakes

The people in Dor Haflagah made a big mistake. They decided to build a city for themselves, instead of spreading out like G-d wanted them to. They wanted to stick together and make a name for themselves. By the pasukim telling us that they wanted to make a name for themselves instead of for G-d, we can understand that they did not acknowledge the hierarchy in which they are under G-d. They do not recognize G-d's Omnipotent power and omniscience. This is similar to the time Adam and Chava sinned by not recognizing G-d's supreme power. They tried to hide from G-d, not realizing that He sees all.

At this time in the world there have already been many sins and punishments that have taken place. There have been many times that G-d has re-established Himself as G-d and made sure it was known among the people. By now, it should be clear that if you mess with G-d 's plan, there will be harsh consequences. These people were not stupid. They knew there was a G-d. And yet they did not try to fulfill His orders (of spreading out and populating the world). To us, they're actions seem dumb. How after Adam, Chava, and Kayin's sins could they still not recognize Hashem's power and obey his commands?

Well, as I usually do on these blogs, I will give my own answer:

I do not think these people are deliberately trying to disobey G-d's orders. They must know what G-d wants. Their actions do seem stupid considering what we know about the previous sins and punishments. But, when you look at the peoples' actions more closely, they really don't seem that crazy. The people wanted to stick together. The world was just created, they don't know what kind of dangers are awaiting them in foreign places. They are afraid of the unknown. That's normal for us too. Maybe they think they will be safer by just sticking together. When I'm in sketchy places for basketball games I definitely feel safer with a group. They also wanted to make a name for themselves. Who in this time doesn't want to make a name for themselves? Go on YouTube and you can see thousands of people displaying their talents hoping they will someday become famous. Clearly the people did not make the right decisions. They should have acknowledged G-d's supreme power and trusted that they were in good hands. They made a huge mistake. But, their actions are a part of human nature. We make the same mistakes today. We also have problems trusting Hashem, and sometimes think of ourselves before Him. This is all a part of human nature. Humans can be selfish and do not always trust/fear G-d the way we should, and we continue to work on getting rid of these traits every day.

Coming Together

So kind of in response to what Alex said earlier about dor haflaga being a worser punishment than dor hamabul because now the whole world is separated. Just coming back from an NCSY shabbaton, I have heard many divrei Torah over the last 3 days. Some of which is actually applicable to out topic. Alex mentioned that the whole world is now separate because of the language barrier. I have to disagree with that statement. Today we see Jews all over the country and even all over the world. Even though we do not speak the same language as a Jew in a different country does not mean we don't communicate with them. When we go to Israel, we find a way to communicate with our fellow Jews. G-d separated us from each other by giving us a language barrier, but I think that has only brought us together. Now we have to work harder to communicate sometimes, but I think in the end it only brings us closer. On the shabbaton there were people from all over. Not only from the midwest regions but also from Los Angeles, Texas and New York as well. We didn't necessarily have a language barrier, in fact language was not an issue at all. We all spoke English (some of the NCSYers more languages than other). The reference I am trying to make is that language is not the only barrier we create in this world. There were people who were religious and went to an orthodox school and some who have never made a bracha before in their life. unfortunately we sometime make a barrier between those people and ourselves. I think though, that especially something like NCSY or even just hanging out with different people, we break down those barriers. Sometime barriers end up bringing us closer. In the end, G-d's punishment has put a damper on communicated, but I think personally it has only brought me closer to my people and all Jews around the world because now I want to try and do everything I can to communicate with them and I try harder to communicate with those people that are not easy to. We don't always see the good in G-d's punishments, but they are always for our own good. I think we can take away from this punishment is that sometimes we have to work towards things. Unity is just another one of those things.

Dor Haflaga- How the Punishment fits the Crime

For many, the first time learning about the people of Dor Haflaga and their punishment is confusing. What did they do wrong? Why is their punishment so serious? In order to understand the reasons for their punishment, it is necessary to know what Dor Haflaga was doing and why. The people of the Dor Haflaga were making a tower to make a name for themselves and wanted to stay together. They were afraid to spread apart. They were punished because by building a tower to make a name for themselves they were basically stating that they did not want G-d in their lives, and that they wanted to be better than Him. It is a mitzvah to Pru Urvu Umilu et Haaretz, and by not spreading apart Dor Haflaga was violating this commandment. In other words, they were disobeying direct commandments, and also disregarding the divine hierarchy between man and G-d.

The Nature of Sin

Sin is a basic part of man. Man has sinned since the first generation. It is in our nature to defy the authority figure. In Sefer Bereshit, the authority figure is G-d. Although He created us and we were created in the image of G-d, man is just a rebellious child. I am sure that every parent in the history of the world has dealt with some form of rebellion from their children. Since Adam and Chava were the first people, their rebellion came as a bit of a shock. They defied a direct commandment from G-d and were punished for their actions. This can be compared to a teenager who is testing their parent's limits and goes too far. Their child, Kayin, also sins. He did defy the "intuited" moral code that G-d expected man to act on. He killed his brother, which is the natural thing for any jealous sibling to do. I am not saying that it is acceptable (or often done) for a child to "kill" their sibling. When children get angry, they have to take it out on something or someone. At this point, G-d had already dealt with rebellion, so He knew the proper consequences. Obviously, Kayin's descendants didn't get the message. They continued to defy the moral code. Therefore, they were not chosen. Fast forward to the generation of the flood. They were the epitome of immorality. They stole from each other, killed each other, and mated with animals. What creations of G-d would act this way? Therefore, G-d saw fit to destroy them all and start fresh. He chose Noach to continue the human race. He and his family were to multiply, spread out throughout the world, and populate it. At this point, Hashem made a "Brit" with man. G-d recognized that it is in Man's nature to sin. He therefore vowed never to destroy the world again on account of man's behavior. This does not mean, however, that G-d will stop punishing those who sin. It just means that the entire world will not be destroyed because of the sins of a few. Hashem also spelled out the moral code that man kept violating in the 7 מצוות בני נח. These are the rules that parents make for their children to keep them out of trouble. Moving on to Dor Haflaga. This generation came after the flood and was not filled with immorality. Instead of continuing to spread out, this generation decided to stick together and build a city. They also decided that the credit for the greatness of the world should not go to G-d, but to man. It seemed like they wanted to remove G-d from the picture. Therefore, they decided to build a tower "with its head in the heavens" to show that man is equal to G-d. As a punishment, G-d made them all speak different languages. They got so frustrated that they could not understand each other and they spread out. Eventually, G-d's goal for man was (mostly) accomplished: man multiplied and populated the world. Instead of spreading ethical monotheism, the people of Dor Haflaga began/continued to worship idols. This all leads us to the story of Avraham, the first person to recognize the hierarchy completely and believe that Hashem is the one true G-d.

Dor haMabul and Dor haFlaga

As we wrote in our assessments, there are many similarities between the dor haMabul and the dor haFlaga. Both of them did something wrong in the eyes of Hashem and so were punished. In the dor haMabul the world was destroyed, and in the dor haFlaga their languages were changed and they were forced to spread throughout the world. Many people maintain that the punishment for the people of the dor haMabul was much worse, what with the whole world being destroyed. I think that they are pretty close. We learned that until the dor haFlaga’s sin Hashem had wanted the whole world to be “chosen”. After their sin, only one nation, the Jewish people were to be “chosen”. It is said that while building the tower of Bavel, the people had the greatest sense of Achdus ever seen in this world. Imagine working together with people, and getting along, and really enjoying them and what you’re doing, then all of a sudden you suddenly don’t understand each other. You are all speaking different languages with no way to communicate. The only thing you can do is slowly do exactly what you had been trying to avoid: leaving. I think that is much worse than just one day waking up in Shamaim. The people in dor haFlaga knew what they were missing, and had a chance to regret what they did, no matter that it was too late.