Towards the end of our parsha, the Torah tells us about another disappointing occurrence in Man's history - Migdal Bavel, The Tower of Bavel (11:1-9). After the great flood, the nations of the world recognized that Hashem was in full control. They also understood that He rewards those who do good and, as the Flood demonstrated, will punish those who do bad. They began to fear that if they sinned, they too would suffer the same fate. In an attempt to break free from Hashem's control, the leaders of the nations devised a sophisticated plan: let us build a very tall tower that will reach Heaven and utilize it to wage war against G-d Himself. Strangely, Hashem showed them mercy and only intervened by changing their language, causing them to misunderstand each other, and thus bringing an end to their wicked plans.

What were these people thinking?? If the nations recognized that G-d is real and almighty, how could they even fantasize about the idea of fighting Him - and by building a tall tower no less! Were they out of their minds?! There must have been more to their strategy than meets the eye. What was it?

We can answer this by first addressing another question. If the just punishment for stealing and fighting between man and his neighbor was to literally wipe out every aspect of creation through a giant flood, shouldn't an attempt to directly and openly fight Hashem Himself have had at least a similar, if not far more severe punishment? Why didn’t Hashem openly punish those who participated in building the Migdal Bavel, like He did to those who were punished through the Great Flood?

A wealthy couple lived in a large mansion with their 3 children. There was one room in their mansion where they kept their most expensive possessions, and therefore, never allowed their children to ever enter. This was a strict rule in the house, and everyone knew that whoever violated it would be severely punished. One Shabbos afternoon, while their parents were sleeping, the 3 children who often fought with each other bitterly, worked together for hours and hours in harmony to build a detailed fort in that room. When the parents awoke and saw what happened, although they were unhappy with their children for going against their will, they couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride. After all, after years of fighting, their children were finally getting along. Nothing could be more valuable to them than that.

Rashi explains that the Torah is teaching us just how important peace with one’s fellow man is to Hashem, and how much he hates when we fight. After such severe infighting which warranted the destruction of the great flood, Man finally united, albeit to do something evil. Since the builders of Migdal Bavel worked together with tremendous harmony and unity to build the tower, Hashem had tremendous mercy on them.

With this, we can answer our first question. The nations were a lot wiser than we think and were far from foolish. They understood that Hashem values harmony amongst us SO greatly, that He invested an almost limitless power into any action that is done with the unity of a multitude of people. These nations understood that if all of mankind decides in harmony on a single idea, Hashem will grant them their wish. In fact, R’ Moshe Shapiro points out that this is illustrated explicitly in our very parshah. When Hashem saw that mankind united to build the tower, He stated "Behold, they are one people with one common language...and now, it will not be withheld from them" (11:6). The tower was intended to merely be a catalyst to unite everyone with the single goal of making Hashem no longer involved in their day to day lives. R' Moshe Shapiro explains that in truth, had all of mankind succeeded in focusing on this one thought, Hashem would have consented to their wishes! It is for this reason that Hashem decided then and there to disperse the nations, so that they could never achieve a level of absolute unity ever again, for the power of unity would be dangerous if it would ever be used for the wrong reasons. Indeed, few things are more powerful than unity.

Living Inspired

This episode in the Torah is yet another place where Hashem is demonstrating to us that He is not just our G-d, nor is He simply our King. Rather, He's our FATHER and we are His CHILDREN (see Devarim 14:1). Think about it - the question that we addressed on the episode of Migdal Bavel is a powerful one. Indeed, if Hashem wiped out all of civilization when man fought with their fellow man, shouldn’t He have given an infinitely more severe punishment to the nations that desired to fight Him Himself??? There can only be one answer: Hashem is our Father; and just as every parent’s prime wish is for their children to interact with each other in harmony, and they will even overlook their shortcomings when they get along, so too Hashem’s prime desire is for us to excel in the mitzvos between man and his friend, and He will even overlook our shortcomings when we get along. Could anything else explain such a strange reaction from our Creator? Indeed, it is because Hashem values peace amongst us so greatly that He even invested nearly limitless power into anything done with unity. It is for this reason that when the Jewish nation unites for a single cause, like to say tehillim for an individual's recovery, it is just so powerful.

Everything in the Torah is supposed to be our guide for how to live our lives. The reason why Hashem tells us about the story of Migdal Bavel and his reaction to it, is for one important reason: If this concept is true when it comes to harmony between evil people, how much more so does Hashem value peace and harmony between his special children, the Jewish nation? Often we encounter someone who is different than us, and unfortunately, our reaction is to feel that we are too different to really get along. Hashem is trying to teach us that whether or not we are similar to the yid sitting next to us, agree with his special way of doing things, wear the same type of yamulka, etc., we are all his children - and His greatest wish is for us to feel and act with camaraderie towards every single Jew and to behave towards each other like warm, loving siblings. So the next time you're with another Jew and you make an extra effort to be kind and accepting of them, remember how proud you’re making our FATHER in Heaven.