Noach
By Ariel Siegel, Chazak REC VP 2005-06, 5765
What would happen if we thought of people the way that we think of furniture, and we think of furniture the way that we think of people? Parashat Noach is the place to find out.
Aside from containing the famous story of the Great Flood, Noach also contains another story - the Tower of Babel. After the flood, all of the survivors settle in one area. They all speak the same language, so they come up with the idea to build a huge tower that will reach to the heavens. G-d destroys the tower, mixes up the languages, and disperses the people. The Torah says that having one language is bad because it makes people do evil things.
What is so evil about building a tower and being able to communicate easily? There is a Midrash that gives us some more insight into what was so terrible about building this tower. According to the story, the process of making bricks for the tower was a long and difficult one. Whenever a brick fell off the tower, the people mourned for it, asking when another one would replace it. However, when a person fell of the tower during construction and died, they barely noticed.
Because of the construction of this tower, people's priorities were skewed. Bricks were more important than people were. The builders valued the product of their efforts more than life itself! G-d had to do something to fix this problem, so he confused their language and dispersed the people. He had to take drastic measures to remind people of what their priorities should be.
So what does this teach us today? Remember that people are important, not just what you are working for. Working towards a goal is good, but don't throw away life and other things that are more important.
