The City of Babel
Genesis 11:1-9
Now (after the flood was over and the earth filled with animals and people again), the entire earth spoke only one language with the same words. And it happened that, when the people traveled from the East (where Noah had lived), that they found a valley in the land of Shinar and chose to live there. And the people said to one another, "Come on, let's make bricks" - so they made bricks and used clay to glue them together. And then they said, "Come on, let's build a city for us and a tower so tall that its top reaches into heaven, and let's make ourselves a name so we won't be scattered all over the earth." And then God came down to see the city and the tower that the people had built. And God said, "Oh no! They are one people and they all have one language and look at what they are doing! If no one stops them, they will succeed at what they have planned to do! Come, let's go down and mix up their language so that no one will understand what anyone else is saying." So God scattered the people from that place all over the earth, and they stopped building the city. Therefore, God named that place Babel because God had mixed up the language of the whole earth and God scattered them from there all over the earth.
Steps for Completing this Torah Hangout:
#1 Read the story above slowly and carefully.
#2 Respond to the following questions with a partner or on a sheet of paper:
- Why do you think the people decide to build a city and a tall tower? What are they trying to do? What are they afraid of?
- Why do you think God disapproves of their plan and punishes them? What’s wrong with all the people speaking the same language? What’s wrong with them building a city and a tall tower?
#3 Investigate the following pieces of commentary and answer the related questions:
- Earlier in this parsha, after God promises Noah that God will never destroy the earth with a flood again, God commands Noah and his family saying, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth” (Genesis 9:1). This was the same command God gave to the first man and woman (Genesis 1:28).
- Given this command, why do you think God chooses to scatter the people of Babel all over the earth? Is the scattering a punishment or a blessing?
- Rabbi Naftali Tzvi Yehudah Berlin (known as the Netziv) says that "God was not distressed by what [the people] said, but by the fact that their words [and their thoughts] were all the same.” He also claims that the builders would not let anyone leave the city because they were afraid they would ‘be scattered all over the world.’ He says, “This was certainly related to the 'same words' they all shared. They feared that since not all human thoughts are alike, if some would leave, they might adopt different thoughts. And so they saw to it that no one left their enclave."
- How does the Netziv’s claim explain why God does not want all people to speak the same language?
- A Midrash says, The builders brought the bricks up on one side and came down on the other. If a person fell down and died, no one paid attention to him. But when a brick fell down, they stopped work and cried, saying, ‘Oh no! When will another brick be brought up to replace the one that fell?’ When Abram son of Terah passed by and saw them building the city, he cursed them saying, ‘God, mix up their speech, confuse it!”
- How does the Midrash characterize the people of Babel?
- How does the Midrash explain why God chose to mix up the peoples’ speech?
#4 Based on your discussion, please answer following question on the blog:
Why do you think it is better that the people of the world live in different places, speak many different languages, and think different thoughts?
Why do you think it is better that the people of the world live in different places, speak many different languages, and think different thoughts? Julian: When everyone thinks the same thoughts, no one learns and it's dangerous to be different. When people are too afraid to be scattered and lock themselves in the city and no one can leave, there's no freedom. If we are scattered and come different places we are free and we can learn more from each other and grow.
ReplyDeleteNikki: I would only add that if we value diversity over uniformity and security, then we have a richer human experience and greater empathy and enlightened thought. We must seek to expand our consciousness rather than raise the walls of our "city" - those barricades only keep in ignorance and shut out infinite potential for the wisdom and humanity that grows from varied experience.
Will and Carly say:
ReplyDeleteDiversity is really important because you can learn many things from many different people. If everyone spoke the same language, life would be really easy and boring. Living in different places and speaking different languages and thinking different thoughts could be really important because it helps you be more creative and without creativity life would be really dull. Rather than worrying about the walls of our city, it would be more important to think about the people who help build the community and the community itself.
Will and Carly: I absolutely agree. Living in Los Angeles is such a privilege because we're surrounded by so many people from a diverse range of cultures, nationalities, religions, and ways of life. If we open ourselves up to the incredible range of experiences that such diversity brings, we can live life in a fuller, richer, more human way. We should seek unity, but not uniformity: building a community that respects and celebrates our differences, while finding joy in how similar we all are at heart.
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