(א) וַֽיְהִ֥י כָל־הָאָ֖רֶץ שָׂפָ֣ה אֶחָ֑ת וּדְבָרִ֖ים אֲחָדִֽים׃ (ב) וַֽיְהִ֖י בְּנָסְעָ֣ם מִקֶּ֑דֶם וַֽיִּמְצְא֥וּ בִקְעָ֛ה בְּאֶ֥רֶץ שִׁנְעָ֖ר וַיֵּ֥שְׁבוּ שָֽׁם׃ (ג) וַיֹּאמְר֞וּ אִ֣ישׁ אֶל־רֵעֵ֗הוּ הָ֚בָה נִלְבְּנָ֣ה לְבֵנִ֔ים וְנִשְׂרְפָ֖ה לִשְׂרֵפָ֑ה וַתְּהִ֨י לָהֶ֤ם הַלְּבֵנָה֙ לְאָ֔בֶן וְהַ֣חֵמָ֔ר הָיָ֥ה לָהֶ֖ם לַחֹֽמֶר׃ (ד) וַיֹּאמְר֞וּ הָ֣בָה ׀ נִבְנֶה־לָּ֣נוּ עִ֗יר וּמִגְדָּל֙ וְרֹאשׁ֣וֹ בַשָּׁמַ֔יִם וְנַֽעֲשֶׂה־לָּ֖נוּ שֵׁ֑ם פֶּן־נָפ֖וּץ עַל־פְּנֵ֥י כָל־הָאָֽרֶץ׃
(1) Everyone on earth had the same language and the same words. (2) And as they migrated from the east, they came upon a valley in the land of Shinar and settled there.
וַיֹּאמְר֞וּ אִ֣ישׁ אֶל־רֵעֵ֗הוּ הָ֚בָה נִלְבְּנָ֣ה לְבֵנִ֔ים וְנִשְׂרְפָ֖ה לִשְׂרֵפָ֑ה וַתְּהִ֨י לָהֶ֤ם הַלְּבֵנָה֙ לְאָ֔בֶן וְהַ֣חֵמָ֔ר הָיָ֥ה לָהֶ֖ם לַחֹֽמֶר׃
And they said to one another, Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and they had slime for mortar.
וַיֹּאמְר֞וּ הָ֣בָה ׀ נִבְנֶה־לָּ֣נוּ עִ֗יר וּמִגְדָּל֙ וְרֹאשׁ֣וֹ בַשָּׁמַ֔יִם וְנַֽעֲשֶׂה־לָּ֖נוּ שֵׁ֑ם פֶּן־נָפ֖וּץ עַל־פְּנֵ֥י כָל־הָאָֽרֶץ׃
And they said, Come, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach to heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.
ומגדל וראשו בשמים ונעשה לנו שם נעשה שם שתהיה כמגדל ויצא בכל המין האנושי שם גובה מקומה וגודל עירה באופן שתחשב אלהי האלהים אצל כל בני האדם ואליה ידרשו כלם. והכונה בזה היתה שהמלך על אותה העיר ימלוך על כל המין האנושי בהיות שם דרישת כלם:
and let us make us a name. This “name” was the idol that was to be placed in the tower. They hoped that on account of the grandeur of the tower and the city this idol would come to be recognized universally as the supreme deity. In this way the king of the city would achieve dominion over the entire world.
An interesting news item from last week:
"Edge" is the new 1,131-foot-high observation deck—now the tallest man-made outdoor viewing platform in the Western Hemisphere.
Like a jagged tooth, the triangular Edge extends 80 feet off of the south and east sides of the 100th floor of 30 Hudson Yards.
200-square-foot glass bottom - nothing obstructing the views around and above you: the whole outdoor space is enclosed in 79 nine-foot-tall glass panels, each weighing in at 1,400 pounds and angled 6.6 degrees outward.
You will be able to view all the way from the Statue of Liberty to Central Park and beyond.
(https://www.cntraveler.com/story/edge-at-hudson-yards-tickets)
Like a jagged tooth, the triangular Edge extends 80 feet off of the south and east sides of the 100th floor of 30 Hudson Yards.
200-square-foot glass bottom - nothing obstructing the views around and above you: the whole outdoor space is enclosed in 79 nine-foot-tall glass panels, each weighing in at 1,400 pounds and angled 6.6 degrees outward.
You will be able to view all the way from the Statue of Liberty to Central Park and beyond.
(https://www.cntraveler.com/story/edge-at-hudson-yards-tickets)
Man seems to have an obsessions with building towers! A cursory visit to New York demonstrates this in a very clear way. Could we say that we have learned nothing from the Tower of Babel story?
A story is told of an architect, real estate agent and accountant standing in front of an ofice block (tell story)
At the end of the day, your view of a building colours the way you think about it.
In the case of the new viewing platform, people are looking down, trying to gain a good perspective of the world around them, simply enjoying the view- in the case of the Tower of Babel, they were looking up - forgetting their place and in the process, Gd came and confused their languages.
In the case of the new viewing platform, people are looking down, trying to gain a good perspective of the world around them, simply enjoying the view- in the case of the Tower of Babel, they were looking up - forgetting their place and in the process, Gd came and confused their languages.
(ה) וַיֵּ֣רֶד ה' לִרְאֹ֥ת אֶת־הָעִ֖יר וְאֶת־הַמִּגְדָּ֑ל אֲשֶׁ֥ר בָּנ֖וּ בְּנֵ֥י הָאָדָֽם׃ (ו) וַיֹּ֣אמֶר ה' הֵ֣ן עַ֤ם אֶחָד֙ וְשָׂפָ֤ה אַחַת֙ לְכֻלָּ֔ם וְזֶ֖ה הַחִלָּ֣ם לַעֲשׂ֑וֹת וְעַתָּה֙ לֹֽא־יִבָּצֵ֣ר מֵהֶ֔ם כֹּ֛ל אֲשֶׁ֥ר יָזְמ֖וּ לַֽעֲשֽׂוֹת׃ (ז) הָ֚בָה נֵֽרְדָ֔ה וְנָבְלָ֥ה שָׁ֖ם שְׂפָתָ֑ם אֲשֶׁר֙ לֹ֣א יִשְׁמְע֔וּ אִ֖ישׁ שְׂפַ֥ת רֵעֵֽהוּ׃ (ח) וַיָּ֨פֶץ ה' אֹתָ֛ם מִשָּׁ֖ם עַל־פְּנֵ֣י כָל־הָאָ֑רֶץ וַֽיַּחְדְּל֖וּ לִבְנֹ֥ת הָעִֽיר׃ (ט) עַל־כֵּ֞ן קָרָ֤א שְׁמָהּ֙ בָּבֶ֔ל כִּי־שָׁ֛ם בָּלַ֥ל ה' שְׂפַ֣ת כָּל־הָאָ֑רֶץ וּמִשָּׁם֙ הֱפִיצָ֣ם ה' עַל־פְּנֵ֖י כָּל־הָאָֽרֶץ׃ (פ)
(5) The LORD came down to look at the city and tower that man had built, (6) and the LORD said, “If, as one people with one language for all, this is how they have begun to act, then nothing that they may propose to do will be out of their reach. (7) Let us, then, go down and confound their speech there, so that they shall not understand one another’s speech.” (8) Thus the LORD scattered them from there over the face of the whole earth; and they stopped building the city. (9) That is why it was called Babel, because there the LORD confounded the speech of the whole earth; and from there the LORD scattered them over the face of the whole earth.
Gd didn't choose to kill them by a plague, he simply scattered them - as though, their objective was wrong, at least they worked together to try to achieve it. But, had they taken the perspective of looking down instead of up, they have may have ended up enjoying the view - instead of what transpired.
Like everything in life, it's about perspective. By all means, let us build towers and building platforms, but let's never forget why we choose to do so and ensure that even with the greatest of engineering feats - we can never been in competition with the greatest architect of them all.
Shabbat Shalom.
Shabbat Shalom.