Why was it a problem for everybody to speak the same language?
Table for Five: Noach
In partnership with the Jewish Journal of Los Angeles
Edited by Salvador Litvak, the Accidental Talmudist
Everyone on earth had the same language and the same words.
Gen. 11:1
Rabbi Elchanan Shoff, Rabbi at BKLA, Author of Rabbi Shoff on the Parashah
They spoke the same language – they said the same things. Netziv notes that God had already instructed humanity to “spread out on Earth, and multiply.” (Genesis 9:7) It led to a great sin. It was under these conditions that tradition teaches that Abraham was thrown into the furnace for not toeing the line. When everyone speaks the same language and thinks the same thing – this is a dangerous time for Abraham the Hebrew. People are different and unique. When everyone in a room all thinks just the same thing – that should be seen as alarming! It should be impossible! Rav Kook wrote: any two human beings are as different from one another as any two species of animal! Once under this spell, where people clearly are not thinking as individuals, people have been ready to sacrifice the lives of others who don’t buy in. This has been so since the earliest days of human history. Abraham had another way. Win people over with hospitality and kindness. Wage war to defend the lives of captured relatives, not to win over adherents. When God descended to disperse those building the tower, He also allowed for human individuality to flourish. And it will always be so. The divine spark within humanity will never abide being shut down by groupthink. Even if it’s the most moral thing ever – if people are bullied into believing and saying just what society demands – it will fail. Reach others with Abraham’s open heart, not Nimrod’s cancel-culture.
Rabbi Adam Kligfeld, Senior Rabbi, Temple Beth Am
In English, you can’t pluralize the adjective “one.” But in Hebrew, you can. The Hebrew “ehad” (one) can be rendered in the plural as “ahadim,” making it nearly impossible to translate in our verse. It can be “the same words,” suggesting this generation’s sin was excessive uniformity. Or “a few words,” suggesting this generation lacked sophistication in their vocabulary and powers of expression. It could be “of one speech,” suggesting this generation could have thrived, as there was shared purpose and focus–but they focused in the wrong direction.
The plural ahadim appears only three times in the Bible. Here. When Rebecca tells Jacob to flee his brother’s wrath for “a few” days. And to show that Jacob’s love for Rachel was so powerful that the extra 7 years he worked for her were, to him, but “a few” days. Those last two examples are self-contradictory. Jacob’s sojourn away from Esau lasted many years. Whereas Jacob’s working/waiting for Rachel went by swiftly.
The most creative midrash I know sees the ahadim as referring to God, who is described in the Shema as being ehad, one, singular. The people who built the Tower of Babel were scheming about, and rebelling against, the One. They rejected God’s oneness. They thought, erroneously, that human ingenuity and industriousness were all that the world needed. Join forces, build a ziggurat skyscraper, and achieve perfection. God foils their plan and reminds them that humanity without some extrinsic moral force, such as that which emanates from the Divine, is destined to crumble, along with their edifices.
Denise Berger, Freelance writer
Here’s the thing: When “everyone on earth had the same language and the same words,” they directed their energy towards self-serving purposes. They weren’t trying to make life better, either spiritually or even materially. The people we’re talking about were only a few generations removed from the Flood that destroyed the world, and yet their focus was not on learning from that disaster or trying to avert another one. Instead, they wanted to build a tower that would reach the Heavens. They wanted to be remembered not for having an impact but just for their own inherent greatness. They were arrogance personified. And maybe the Torah is teaching us that this is the natural outcome when everyone is thinking the exact same way, using the same language and the same words. There is unity, but not in a healthy form.
In that case, having a multiplicity of languages and words — and perspectives — is not a punishment, but an antidote. As a kid, I thought the people were being penalized for their haughtiness, and that having their project thwarted by the sudden confusion of languages was a way of cutting them down to size. It was, and it was also infinitely more. The point of Hashem introducing all those different ways of speaking was not to have us remain stultified by mutual incomprehension. Rather, we are meant to figure one another out, and in so doing we become capable of real greatness, serving others rather than ourselves.
Kylie Ora Lobell, Community Editor, Jewish Journal
After the flood, when the earth was repopulated, everyone had the same language and could understand each other. But instead of using this unified language for good, the people built the Tower of Babel to try to reach the heavens and prove their greatness. They wanted to become equal to Hashem. Hashem saw this was not good, and he gave people different languages and cultures. Today, there is a push for unified thinking; some people say that if you don’t take their side on the issues, you are wrong. In their eyes, you are a bad person and lesser than them. But this is simply not true. Diversity of thought – and diversity in language, culture, background and religion – is something to celebrate, not to erase. We have a lack of tolerance for the other in today’s heated world. What we really need is to sit back and listen and respectfully debate instead of attempting to eradicate someone’s else point of view. It’s not easy to do this, to hear another person’s opinion, especially if it’s radically different from your own. But it’s much better than the alternative, which is silencing one another. When we do that, when we try to control others, we are back to that Tower of Babel complex; we think we should have power over people, just like Hashem. At this highly decisive time, it’s best that we humble ourselves, respect our fellow human and celebrate all the beautiful differences in this world.
Abe Mezrich, Poet & Fiction Writer
With everyone’s same words they talked about mortar, about bricks, about cityscapes. About plans for a majestic tower.
With everyone’s same words they forgot to talk about why they had “migrated from the east” – what they were hoping to find, why they had fled.
With everyone’s same words they forgot to talk about why they were afraid they would be “scattered all over the world.” Why their bonds were so fragile. Even with all the same words.
With everyone’s same words they forgot to say so many things they needed to say. Instead, they built.
No wonder God was disappointed. No wonder it didn’t last.
Quotes from Genesis 11:2 and Genesis 11:4. Translations from JPS/Sefaria
With thanks to Rabbi Adam Kligfeld, Rabbi Elchanan Shoff, Denise Berger, Kylie Ora Lobell and Abe Mezrich
Image: “Tower of Babel” by Lucas van Valckenborch, 1594
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