Parashat Noah: The tower's indispensable teaching

• Published date: 07 October 2021
• Author: DAVID WOLPE
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

What was the aim of the builders of the tower? This question has received many answers.

Some argue that it was hubris, as is suggested by the phrase "make ourselves a name" (Gen. 11:4).

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Rabbenu Bahya believes it was intended to function the way we would think of a lightning rod, to prevent another flood, similar to the midrash that Rashi cites, that in the wake of the flood it was intended to hold up the sky. According to such readings, the tower was a product of fear as much as ego.

In line with this, as a product of fear combined with aggression, is the view of Rabbi Jonathan Eybeschutz, that it was intended as a weapons outpost, since one could see for many miles from a tower that high in the sky.

There is clearly a connection between the flood story that precedes it and the building of the tower. Even the words "Babel" and "mabul" (flood) come from the same root.

Why would a flood induce people to build such a massive structure?

Rabbi Obadia Sforno, born in the late 15th century in Italy, understood the link differently from Rashi and others. He said the tower was intended to unify the world in a certain practice of idolatry. This explanation may be a product of the world in which Sforno lived, but it also has a great deal to say to our own world.

Remember that Italy in the 15th century, unlike anywhere else in Europe, was divided into independent city states. Therefore it exemplified a condition already present in Europe in general, which is a distribution of authority.

The eminent historian Jared Diamond makes this point about Columbus. Columbus first approached the rulers of Portugal to fund his voyage and they refused. Had Columbus been part of a single empire like that which prevailed in China, a first refusal would have been final. But he lived in Europe, where each country had its own government. Having been turned away in Portugal, he went next to Ferdinand and Isabella in Spain. They, along with private funders who also had a measure of autonomy, agreed and he set sail.

Sforno understood the power of plurality and diversity. He also...