{"ref": "Bereshit Rabbah 38:8", "heRef": "בראשית רבה ל״ח:ח׳", "isComplex": false, "text": "<b>“Each man said to his counterpart: Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly. The brick was for them as stone, and the clay was for them as mortar” (Genesis 11:3).</b> <br>“Each man said to his counterpart” – who said to whom? Rabbi Berekhya said: Mitzrayim said it to Kush.<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">17</sup><i class=\"footnote\">”Each man said to his counterpart” does not refer to a conversation between members of the same nation, but a conversation between different nations.</i> <br>“Come, let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly [<i>venisrefa lisrefa</i>]” – these peoples are going to be eradicated [<i>mishtarpa</i>] from this world.<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">18</sup><i class=\"footnote\">By using this choice of words, they were unwittingly foretelling their own downfall.</i> <br>“The brick was for them as stone…” Rabbi Huna said: They met with success. One would come [with the intention] to lay one brick, and he would lay two. He would come [with the intention] to plaster two bricks, and he would plaster four. <br><b>“They said: Come, let us build us a city, and a tower, with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for us; lest we be dispersed upon the face of the entire earth” (Genesis 11:4).</b> <br>“They said: Come, let us build us…” – Rabbi Yudan said: They built the tower, but they did not build the city [completely]. An objection was raised to him: “The Lord descended to see the city and the tower” (Genesis 11:5). He said to them: ‘Read a subsequent verse: “They ceased to build the tower” is not written here, but rather, “they ceased to build the city”’ (Genesis 11:8).<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">19</sup><i class=\"footnote\">They were in the middle of building the city, but they ceased building it. The tower, however, had been completed.</i> <br>Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba said: The tower that they built, one-third of it was burned, one-third of it sank [into the ground], and one-third of it still exists. If you think it is small, Rabbi Huna said in the name of Rabbi Idi: Anyone who ascends to its top sees the palm trees before him as though they were grasshoppers.  <br>“And let us make a name [<i>shem</i>] for us” – Rabbi Yishmael taught: <i>Shem </i>is nothing other than idol worship.<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">20</sup><i class=\"footnote\">This is based on: “And the name [<i>shem</i>] of other gods you shall not mention” (Exodus 23:13).</i> <br>“Lest we be dispersed upon the face of the entire earth” – Rabbi Shimon ben Rabbi Ḥalafta said: “A fool’s mouth is ruin for him” (Proverbs 18:7).<sup class=\"footnote-marker\">21</sup><i class=\"footnote\">They unwittingly declared their true fate.</i>", "he": "וַיֹּאמְרוּ אִישׁ אֶל רֵעֵהוּ <small>(בראשית יא, ג)</small>, מִי אָמַר לְמִי, רַבִּי בֶּרֶכְיָה אָמַר מִצְרַיִם אָמַר לְכוּשׁ, <small>(בראשית יא, ג)</small>: הָבָה נִלְבְּנָה לְבֵנִים וְנִשְׂרְפָה לִשְׂרֵפָה, עֲתִידִין אִלֵּין עַמְמַיָא מִשְׁתַּרְפָּא מִן גּוֹ עָלְמָא. <small>(בראשית יא, ג)</small>: וַתְּהִי לָהֶם הַלְּבֵנָה לְאָבֶן וגו', רַבִּי הוּנָא אָמַר הֲוַת מַצְלַחַת בִּידָן, אָתֵי לְמִבְנֵי חָדָא הוּא בָּנֵי תַּרְתֵּין, אָתֵי לְמִישׁוֹעַ תַּרְתֵּין וְהוּא מִישׁוֹעַ אַרְבַּע. <small>(בראשית יא, ד)</small>, וַיֹּאמְרוּ הָבָה נִבְנֶה לָנוּ וגו', אָמַר רַבִּי יוּדָן מִגְדָּל בָּנוּ עִיר לֹא בָּנוּ. אֲתִיבוּן לֵיהּ וְהָכְתִיב <small>(בראשית יא, ה)</small>: וַיֵּרֶד ה' לִרְאֹת אֶת הָעִיר וְאֶת הַמִּגְדָּל, אֲמַר לְהוֹן קְרוֹן דְּבַתְרֵיהּ, <small>(בראשית יא, ח)</small>: וַיַּחְדְּלוּ לִבְנֹת הַמִּגְדָּל אֵין כְּתִיב כָּאן, אֶלָּא וַיַּחְדְּלוּ לִבְנֹת הָעִיר. אָמַר רַבִּי חִיָּא בַּר אַבָּא הַמִּגְדָּל הַזֶּה שֶׁבָּנוּ, שְׁלִישׁוֹ נִשְׂרָף, וּשְׁלִישׁוֹ שָׁקַע, וּשְׁלִישׁוֹ קַיָּם, וְאִם תֹּאמַר שֶׁהוּא קָטָן, רַבִּי הוּנָא בְּשֵׁם רַבִּי אִידִי אָמַר כָּל מִי שֶׁהוּא עוֹלֶה עַל רֹאשׁוֹ רוֹאֶה דְּקָלִים שֶׁלְּפָנָיו כְּאִלּוּ חֲגָבִים. <small>(בראשית יא, ד)</small>: וְנַעֲשֶׂה לָנוּ שֵׁם, תָּנֵי רַבִּי יִשְׁמָעֵאל אֵין שֵׁם אֶלָּא עֲבוֹדַת כּוֹכָבִים. <small>(בראשית יא, ד)</small>: פֶּן נָפוּץ עַל פְּנֵי כָל הָאָרֶץ, אָמַר רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן רַבִּי חֲלַפְתָּא <small>(משלי יח, ז)</small>: פִּי כְסִיל מְחִתָּה לוֹ. 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