Today I delivered a commentary (Dvar Torah) at my synagogue in Washington on the weekly portion, about Noah. Some members of the congregation asked me to post it, and here it is:
Noah
“…the earth was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence…it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth.”
That’s clear enough: evil was everywhere, and Hashem wiped it out. Things get more complicated later, after the deed was done:
And Hashem said in His heart: “I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake; for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth.”
And in fact, the evil nature of man emerges over and over again. It’s one of the central themes of the Torah, isn’t it?
I have recently published a book, “Accomplice to Evil,” which recounts many cases in my generation of good people’s refusal to see evil when it was right in front of their noses. Not just individual cases of evil people, but evil on a mass scale, evil that threatened the survival of civilized societies. From Hitler to Mao, from Italy to Darfur and Rwanda, over and over again we have blinded ourselves to evil and looked away, until terrible events compelled us to finally confront it.
When Hashem says “the imagination of man’s heart is evil,” he warns us: do not listen to the misguided optimists who tell you that all men are the same, and all men are good. Better to listen to Machiavelli, whose rules for leaders, and above all for statesmen, rest on the dictum: “man is more inclined to do evil than to do good.”
Hashem orders us to fight evil: “Surely your blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it” (which is to say two things: no suicide, and there must be punishment for spilling blood, whether done by man or beast). “Whoso sheddeth blood, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God made He man.”
So we must enforce justice. We must combat evil. It’s largely up to us, and it’s part of the deal with Noah:
“And I will establish My covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of the flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth.”
Any lawyer reading this–and there are many of those with us today–will see that it’s a promise of no more floods, not a promise of no more Divine intervention in the collective affairs of men. But the linkage between our pursuit of justice and Hashem’s covenant is clear enough. Punish evildoers, and things will be well.
But we are all inclined to do evil, so what happens? Noah and his sons multiply. We can read the genealogy. And, just as Hashem has foreseen, corruption sets in all over again. We are lured to it, as always.
Which brings us to the question of the Tower of Babel.
Chapter X ends with “These are the families of the sons of Noah; after their generations, in their nations; and of these were the nations divided in the earth after the flood.”
However, the very next sentence, the first words of Chapter XI are quite the opposite: “And the whole earth was of one language and of one speech.”
What’s that all about? Well, time has passed, and from the various nations of the sons of Noah, we now have something quite different: all mankind is gathered in one place–on the plains of Babylon–united in a single mission: “Come let us make brick and burn them throughly.” A vast industrial project. Avraham, (who makes his first appearance at the end of this Parashat) will later be thrown into an enormous furnace of the sort that provided the bricks for the tower of Babel.
The project of building a tower to heaven is often taken as a pure metaphor, but the Babylonians actually built such towers, called ziggurats by the archeologists. And those ziggurats had religious significance. There were shrines or temples at the very top. So it’s fair to say that the very idea of building such a tower was pagan, and thus abhorrent to Hashem.
But why were the people scattered? Contrary to some commentators’ view that Hashem promised Noah that he would never again punish mankind collectively, the scattering of the peoples from Babel is just that. It sure looks like a punishment. What was their sin?
The most colorful explanation is that building the Tower was an assault on heaven. In this view, men had become so arrogant that they thought they were entitled to Divine rewards. In the words of the Parashat, they wanted to make a name for themselves. For all themselves.
Other commentators look at it very differently. Some say that the scattering was necessary to carry out Hashem’s enterprise, repeated several times in the Parashat, that man must be fruitful and multiply, and that if everyone were in one place it would be more difficult. I don’t think the historical record bears that out; some of the most fecund populations are in very dense areas. Can you spell Calcutta? Naples?
According to Rav Blick, Rav Soloveitchik gave a political reading: he explained the difference between the generation of the flood and that of the dispersion by saying that the first was modern America (moral corruption, pursuit of money and pleasure), while the second was communist Russia, which justified its evil practices by imposing solidarity on the masses.
That is to say, at the time of the flood, mankind was corrupt one by one, each person pursuing evil according to his own desires. But the project of the Tower was a collective enterprise; everyone was required to subjugate himself to a grand vision, and everything was determined according to that single vision. Hashem detests that, for His chosen people must pursue freedom, and freely choose to fulfill his commandments.
Rav Blick has an ambitious, and, sad to say, a rather lengthy explanation along similar lines:
“This explains why this story is here, in this location in the Torah,” he says. “We are perched on the verge of the creation of the Jewish people. Avraham will be asked shortly to separate himself from his father’s house, his country, his birthplace, and create an individual unit of spiritual perfection.
Why is the truth of the Torah not offered to all of humanity? Is not Judaism and its message a universal one? Why is Judaism a national religion? Why is the Torah given in a way that makes it incomprehensible to most of mankind?”
Rav Blick goes on:
“The Torah explains to us that even though the universal mass society of Babel included pious individuals (Shem, Ever, even Noah are still alive), the service of God cannot arise out of such a society. It is too repressive, too dedicated to maintaining its own existence. Man must be dispersed in order to develop individually…In this context, one nation can arise slowly, over a long period of education, trial, and redemption, which will carry on God’s message for humanity. Within…Babel, Judaism is impossible. Within any world order, world empire, Judaism cannot arise. Mankind is dispersed to develop individual character, cultural diversity. In one corner, without having to worry about the destiny of all mankind, a small family will build the kingdom of God.”
So says Rav Blick. I like that, and it means, I think, that it’s not enough just to do Good as it’s commonly understood: living a pious and virtuous life. For part of doing Good involves fighting evil, whether performed by an evil man or an evil nation. That, too, is part of the meaning of the dispersal, the scattering, as it is a central element of the story of Noah. As, indeed, it is a central element of the story of our own times. Of all times.
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25 Comments
1. David W. Lincoln:Michael, as you know, I worship in an Eastern Orthodox Church, and in every liturgy, the armed services are prayed for. Because, as we know, people like Hitler have to be stopped. This was true of Amalek, and his physical descendants, as well as spiritual descendants. Haman had to be stopped, and he was an Amalekite.
So, as long as one standard for all, especially when it comes to receiving redress after being afflicted with man’s inhumanity to man; this is something to draw one’s sword for.
Oct 24, 2009 - 12:08 pm 2. David W. Lincoln:One other question, Michael. Why is the title of your newest book, “Accomplice to Evil”? For, my conclusion is that “Accomplices to Evil” is a better fit. After all, we are dealing with more than person.
Yet, I can see you preferring the verb tense of accomplice to the noun tense.
Thanks.
After all, there is an active, as well as a passive aspect to accomplice.
Oct 24, 2009 - 1:45 pm 3. Delia:We *do* have to fight evil or we will be ruled by evil.
Unfortunately, thus far, we have been doing a pretty shiteous job of it. Evil is winning. Why? WHY is evil winning? Is it really the Apocalypse or this another long, ugly hiccup of a history lesson in the time space continuum of our humanity?
Oct 24, 2009 - 1:55 pm 4. drellberg:I take God’s promise to mean that God will not again go to such extreme lengths when punishing Man, even though the same circumstances will arise again. My question to God would be: If not a second time, then why the first time?
Oct 24, 2009 - 2:45 pm 5. Moho:Perfect Satire.
Oct 24, 2009 - 5:08 pm 6. David W. Lincoln:Moho, is the sky bluer for those people who know how the sky came to be blue, as opposed to those who do not know?
Just because something cannot be quantified does not mean it is not real.
I challenge you to read, “Jews, God & History” by Max Dimont, especially the part towards the beginning where the author writes, “We are so obsessed today by the notion that only “scientific facts” have validity, we are inclined to forget that people holding “unscientific”, unprovable ideas may determine the course of history more often than do rational facts.” or ” Whether true or not, men have always believed
in “unscientific concepts”, and these beliefs
often are the real “facts” which shape their destiny.”
Put another way, what does Moshe have in common with Cicero or Seneca? Other than fealty to an immutable standard that does not change.
Oct 24, 2009 - 5:40 pm 7. Moho:Lincoln–> You misunderstood. I know there’s evil in the world. The satire came from Ledeen, a mendacious con-artist, convincing the country into sending its kids to fight a useless war under false pretenses, now pointing out the evil in others. It was not just a log, to get old world, but a redwood, in that spinless liar’s eye.
Oct 24, 2009 - 6:03 pm 8. Tcobb:Pay no attention to Moho. He’s just a troll with delusions of grandeur. His quintessential message, his only message, is that of a spoiled six-year old calling everyone a “doody-head.” There is no substance there. He makes no arguments, he only insults. The stupid do confuse arguments with insults. You can draw your own conclusions as to his intelligence from that.
But don’t be too hard on him. I suspect that many of the trolls are just poor little Kos kids who are frustrated because their anatomically correct inflatable Obama doll has been punctured, and they cannot get an advance on their allowance to buy a new one. Sexual frustration can lead to spiteful behavior. And look at his handle–one mo’ ho’. That sums it up pretty well.
And for those of you who cannot differentiate between arguments and insults–the first paragraph in this post is an argument. The second is an insult.
Cheers—
Oct 24, 2009 - 8:02 pm 9. Moho:There is no substance there. He makes no arguments, he only insults. The stupid do confuse arguments with insults. You can draw your own conclusions as to his intelligence from that.
Its funny that you can’t prove any of this with argument, considering the conclusion of that statement.
Oct 24, 2009 - 8:17 pm 10. Tcobb:Nor can I prove that the Loch Ness monster does not exist. All I can do is to point out the fact that no credible evidence exists that indicates that it does. If there’s any evidence to the contrary in either case, yours or the monster’s, I haven’t seen it.
Next cliche please.
Oct 24, 2009 - 8:43 pm 11. Ruvy:Mr. Ledeen,
I did not expect to see a d’var Torah here, but it was a pleasure to see.
You raised a number of interesting questions. I’d like to raise two of my own. The gabbái of the netz (dawn) service I attend Saturday mornings in Ma’alé Levoná raised this question at the kiddúsh table after we prayed. No satisfactory answer was given, and frankly, to give a satisfactory answer may have taken an hour (or more) of explaining and arguing.
láma shatáq nóaH?, he asked – why did Noah shut up? Noah, he explained, knew Abraham, and he knew Nimród. Why did he not chastise Nimród? Why did he not criticize those who were evil after him? Noah, after all, had the original blessing from HASHEM. Was not Noah was the father of renewed mankind? Why did not Noah act like a father, a leader? Why did he shut up?
I leave you to consider that question while I go on to my second question.
What was it that was so evil in Bavél that the men of Bavél were attempting that HASHEM should have reacted the way He did? Why did he have to scatter the inhabitants of the city and make their speech a mere babble in each others ears?
I suggest that while a conservative political agenda would be well served by Rav Soloveitchik’s reasoning “… the second was communist Russia, which justified its evil practices by imposing solidarity on the masses,” that this is rather far from the actual reasoning at all.
Consider the word shem for a moment. Its most common translation into English is “name”. But now let us look at the most common Hebrew word for “sun” shémesh. This word is actually related to the Sumerian “god” in charge of the chariots that flew in the sky, “Shámash”. The other, less common, Hebrew word for sun is Hamá – “hot one”.
Let us now take a closer look at the word shémesh, considering its relationship to the Sumerian “god” “Shámash” and his role. Within the word shémesh is the Hebrew word for “fire”, esh. Take this word away from shémesh and you have another word entirely, the word describing what the men of Bavél were trying to make for themselves – a “shem“!. This suggests a different translation for the word shem than the common one used, “name”, one closer to the meaning of the name of the Sumerian “god”, who was in charge of the chariots that flew in the sky. shem could well have been what flew in the sky, and the migdál “tower” in Hebrew – a launch tower. A shémesh could have been another word for a “chariot” that had fire as its apparent propellant, coming out from the back, a “chariot of fire”, in other words.
Now, with this modification in translation, let us look at the text of the Torah:
“Come, let us build us a city, and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a spaceship for ourselves, lest we be dispersed across the whole earth.” [b'reshít/Genesis 11:4]
Now we are looking at a very different kettle of fish, aren’t we? Here we have Nimród (according to Jewish sages, Nimrod was the leader in Bavél) leading a technological rebellion to take over the use of the very tools the “gods” of the Sumerians were using, spaceships, launching them into space. Obviously the “gods” were not gods at all, but either agents of HASHEM or people with very advanced technology.
This might well have had HASHEM very worried – as He was talking to an audience in describing His upsetment at it all – “this they propose to do?” And the technology suggested is a lot more advanced that would seem appropriate for the time. This was not davka a “sin” – this was an actual threat. Humans were threatening to use technology which was not supposed to be theirs for millennia yet, and HASHEM could easily see the evil that was possible from this occurring.
No rabbi would come up with this, right?
WRONG!
Try reading this lesson by Rav Ariel bar-Tzadok. “Was Babel Nuclear Powered? Was the Tower a Spaceship?”
I didn’t believe what I saw reading this at first, but lo and behold, this answers a whole slew of questions concerning Bavél and the sins involved which go far beyond pride, and which hint at a very different world, one the Torah barely hints at – but wihch brings its sins to us this very day.
Oct 25, 2009 - 2:30 am 12. Howard Richman:Great dvar Torah. I just wish I had read it before our Torah study yesterday. Our discussion was much less interesting!
Although not as evil as mass murder. There is a tower-of-babel tendency toward ever bigger world economic institutions (such as the IMF & WTO) even though these institutions permitted the imbalanced trade that caused the Great Recession.
On the other hand, smaller often works better in economics. The 2009 Economics prize was co-won by Elinor Ostrum for her work disputing the “tragedy of the commons” thesis. She showed that local accomodations prevent such things as overfishing much more efficiently than distant international regulation.
Howard Richman
Oct 25, 2009 - 5:52 am 13. Moho:Hey whatever happened to the Khamenei coma? Or do you only retract your specious rumor mongering when there’s a threat of legal action?
Oct 25, 2009 - 7:36 am 14. Moho:http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2009/10/19/Khamenei-talks-unity-after-health-rumors/UPI-16101255976815/
TEHRAN, Oct. 19 (UPI) — Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei described unity for the Islamic world as a priority for Iran, discrediting some of the rumors regarding his health.
Khamenei met during the weekend with Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade to discuss the economic relationship between the two countries.
His comments follow rumors circulated last week that suggested Khamenei had slipped into a coma or even died.
But who was responsible for these rumors?
Fox News said Ledeen, a scholar at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said a bulletin from the reformist opposition to Khamenei’s regime reported “widespread rumors in the Tehran Bazaar that Khamenei has died,” and described an “abnormal atmosphere” in the streets of Iran’s capital, possibly implying an increased security presence.
This is his job, folks. The man is a professional hoaxster and liar. I feel sorry for the membership of his synagogue, who are forced to put up with the unearned prominence he’s given there. It surely reflects badly on anyone who attends services there.
Oct 25, 2009 - 7:44 am 15. Ran:“Man must be dispersed in order to develop individually…In this context, one nation can arise slowly, over a long period of education, trial, and redemption, which will carry on God’s message for humanity.” – R’ Blick
Michael,
Thanks for your insights. R’ Blick makes a curious point about Israel that suggests a parallel of sorts. The dispersion of Abraham to Canaan allowed the family of Sarah and Abraham to bequeath to us Torah and the Jewish Faith. It sets a framework of moral codes that define a high ideal for Humankind’s relationship to the L-rd.
The pattern repeats itself along the lines of R’ Blick’s description, but to a different purpose, in the dispersion of British sojourners to the New World. Our Christian brothers matured a philosophy of Liberty in the writings of the Revolution, Declaration and the Constitution that define the highest ideal of Humankind’s relationships unto one another, founded (in large part) on the Moral code from the Torah. Since, we have faced slavery and fought an internal war to end it. We faced external totalitarianism, from both East and West and fought them over and over to victory. As R’ Soloveitchick notes, we have internal issues still being sorted-out.
R’ Soloveitchick’s era was ending just as the tide in America began to shift. In the Modern Orthodox world, he was a significant part of the force that exerted efforts towards t’shuva (and as a by-product, political conservatism.)
Great dvar – especially in today’s context. And thanks for introducing us to R’ Blick.
Oct 25, 2009 - 8:29 am 16. Ruvy:Comments #5, 7, 9, 13, 14 reflect the angry rantings of a fool with no mental substance and obviously NO knowledge of the topic at hand. There is nothing else to be said about the garbage found in these comments.
Empty barrels make the most noise – and here we see a perfect example of this truism. Five comments that contribute absolutely nothing to the conversation at all.
Oct 25, 2009 - 1:38 pm 17. Moho:Ruvy…
“There is nothing else to be said about the garbage found in these comments.”
Yes, I wouldn’t expect you to comment about the links and the proof and all that stuff. Its much easier, when you’re covering for a liar, to discount the arguments without considering the evidence.
Oct 25, 2009 - 2:24 pm 18. David W. Lincoln:Another take on Genesis Chapter 11 is to be found on the December 18, 2005 & January 15, 2006 programs found at
http://www.orthodoxradio.ca/Shows.htm
Both programs shed some interesting light.
Oct 25, 2009 - 5:52 pm 19. David W. Lincoln:I forgot the February 19, 2006 program over at http://www.orthodoxradio.ca/Shows.htm as well in dealing with Babylon.
Might as well include the November 20, 2005 program, too, to get as full a picture from http://www.orthodoxradio.ca/Shows.htm as possible.
Oct 25, 2009 - 5:59 pm 20. viewer:Professor Ledeen,
How are you? Do you know how much I like you?
I know exactly that you have everything because you are faithful.
I think you get your strength from an eternal source, what it is? I don’t know exactly, maybe God, faith to integrity, honor, and glory.
Teach us. Show us the way to Exaltation and Victory.
You are very prolific, productive, Creativeness, Inexhaustible, infinite, industrious, dynamic, vast, philosopher, strategist, gigantic, and Gargantuan and many more that I get and know form your masterpiece essays that my English language and literate weaker than to interpret them into words and vocabularies.
I always read your essays.
Write for us more and more, vast, bigger than all encyclopedias in this world, get the power of all software and best hardware for spreading your right and practical ideas for the entire world. Get the power of unbelievable sources.
The world needs your mind.
You are immortal, eternal, you will be alive forever.
God bless and sanctify you.
Oct 26, 2009 - 6:36 am 21. Amirahmadi:Turns out your sources are not worth a penny Mr Ledeen:
http://leader.ir/langs/fa/index.php?p=photo&albumId=765
Oct 26, 2009 - 8:02 am 22. Moho:Well, what’s the unsubstantiated rumor for the week, Docter Ledeen?
Oct 26, 2009 - 10:16 am 23. Ruvy:Quoting the Pajamas Media comment guidelines:
2. Stay on topic.
Comments #20, 19, 14 & 13 all violate that basic guideline. The topic is Noah – as in the fellow in the Hebrew Bible. This article, in no way shape or form, mentions the Islamic Republic of Iran or its supposed “leaders”. OTHER articles at Pajamas Media by Mr. Ledeen do, and it is appropriate to question his sources vigorously in commenting on THOSE articles.
To my knowledge, there are no rumors of any kind, substantiated or unsubstantiated (other than those submitted below), with respect to the death or continued well being of the man of the earth known as Noah. He is believed to have died around 4,000 years ago, give or take a few hundred either way. No remains have been found, to my knowledge. Mr. Ledeen should feel free to comment if he believes remains have been found, or if there are other rumors concerning the man of the earth named Noah.
I am aware of two – one, that his grandson, Canaan, castrated him. This led to Canaan being cursed by his grandfather, Noah, and to Canaan’s father being cursed as well. From the text of the Torah, the topic at hand, Noah blessed his other two sons at that time, usually an action associated with approaching death. And it is reasonable to believe that Noah bled to death from being castrated. This, however, is rumor. But – these rumors stay on topic.
Oct 26, 2009 - 1:19 pm 24. David W. Lincoln:Ruvy, I was presenting what can be traced back almost 2 thousand years as to what has been interpreted in those chapters of the first book of the Tanakh that deal with Noah & the tower of Babel. Michael gave his interpretation, and I provided, albeit in an indirect way, a different interpretation. For what is written about Noah stem from what preceded him.
So, with all due respect, there is room for interpretations that complement each other, even though there are distinctions. Such as the schools of Hillel & Shamai.
Oct 26, 2009 - 4:35 pm 25. Jassem Othman:Moho:
“You misunderstood. I know there’s evil in the world…convincing the country into sending its kids to fight a useless war under false pretences”
Well, as long as you recognize that there is evil in the world, so you must fight it by all possible means. But unfortunately all your shameful statements have proved that YOU are entirely accomplice to Evil. YOU are accomplice to those tyrannized regimes and illegitimate monarchies which did NOT grant its people a comprehensive cultural life. They tyrannized their people, impoverished them, massacred them, and ruthlessly oppressed them.
The war was legal and was for people Good. Saddam Hussein had been at war with the United States since 1991, using his oil to fund terrorists in addition to he had been at war with his people. Therefore it was the US’ moral duty as superpower to help oppressed people.
On the other hand, the USA has the right of self-defense. They attacked you at home, and today aspirant to arming of Weapon Mass Destruction in order to NUKE you!!! They murder America’s kids every single day and more than 29 years, and today their allies “both the neutral opportunists “China and Russia”, are rudely lurks to you so that see whether if the USA are able to honor its commitments in front of its allies!? They rejoice in America’s defeating and humiliation in order to establish comprehensive hegemony over the region, especially over Oil wells!!! But my friend, we do NOT want the evil ideology “Russia and China’ in our region, we have enough evil ideology and evil regimes, we just WANT the benevolent empire (USA) in our region and to be our friend and ally.
As for Dr Ledeen, believe me! You JUST BLAME Dr Ledeen on your problems and mistakes of your institutions. Unfortunately, people like your sort, they became do focus on insignificant causes, while, they DISREGARDING the humanity sensitive causes and rationales in the right of the Iraqi people such as genocide, mass execution, expulsions and lethal gassing. Please do NOT forget thousands of victims who Saddam executed them by shooting, hanging and throwing them alive into holes with explosives!!!
Dr Ledeen is one of those who are strongly fighting and strongly for the USA Greatness and to spread the USA Influence everywhere on the earth. Dr. Ledeen is strongly struggle for oppressed people FREEDOM.
I think you know that one of his kids was sent to Iraq to fight a freedom war, he has risked in his life for the oppressed people in Iraq and to defend the US interests in the region. Dr Ledeen and his sons WATCH OVER YOU WHEN YOU SLEEP.
Please STOP promotes the evil, we just need your help and your support to bring down all evil regimes at any cost, THE WORLD WITHOUT THEM WILL BE SAFER, and per se it is for protection of the US national security and for our GOOD!!!
Jassem Othman, Syrian, Poland.
Oct 26, 2009 - 5:14 pm