The Tower of Bavel

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  1. The Biblical Roots of Midrashic 'Stories'

    Rabbi Moshe Shulman

    תאריך פרסום: תשע"ג | |

    We take a methodological look at “Midrashic stories” and how our Sages used these stories, often borrowed or reframed from completely different parts of Tanach, to interpret and highlight Biblical events of parallel or contrasting nature.

  2. "And Man's Loftiness Will be Bowed"

    Rabbi Elchanan Samet

    The story of the Tower of Babel seems like the story of a crime and its punishment. What is the nature of the crime? Where is it described in the story? This lesson reviews a myriad of opinions, and offers an explanation based on the historical - cultural background of that era.

  3. The Tower of Bavel

    Sharón Rimón

    The story of the Tower of Bavel is the last of the Bereisheet narratives. What does this story teach us about humanity? Why is it specifically this story that concludes the period of Bereisheet, while afterwards we move on to the period of the forefathers? What's wrong with building a city and a tower? Isn't unity a positive quality? How does God react to the story? Why did the Torah choose to be so vague about the story?

  4. Unity and Individualism

    Rabbi Ezra Bick

    What was the sin of the builders of the Tower of Bavel? What could be wrong with unity? How does confusing mankind with languages solve the problem? What is the meaning of God's response? And what is the connection between the Tower of Bavel and the selection of Avraham?

  5. Parashat Noah: What is Wrong with the Tower of Babel?

    Rabbi Alex Israel | 30 minutes

    What is the problem that God sees in the building of the city and tower of Babel? How is it that the generation of the flood were killed, but the people in the Tower of Babel survived? Why did the people seek to build the town and tower? And if they wanted to reach the heavens, why would they build in a valley? We describe a number of approaches, challenge them, and then come up with a final approach: Is the goal supposed to be merely making a name for man, or to use human strength and talents to promote God’s name?

  6. The Blessing of Babel

    Rabbi Ben-Tzion Spitz

  7. Rashi on the Tower of Babel: Limits of Human Capabilities

    Rabbi David Silverberg

  8. Noah: Unrequited Hopes

    Rabbi David Silverberg

  9. Migdal Bavel: War on God?

    Rabbi David Silverberg

  10. Babylonia: Ideal Spot for the Tower

    Rabbi David Silverberg

  11. The Tower of Babel: A Beacon of Idolatry

    Rabbi David Silverberg

  12. The Tower of Babel: Industrialization or Insular Totalitarianism?

    Rabbi David Silverberg

  13. Greatness - Among Us or Above Us

    Rabbi Yaakov Beasley

    Rather unobtrusively, the Torah continues with the mention of one significant individual before continuing with the genealogies:

    Cush fathered Nimrod. He began to be the first man of might on earth. He was a mighty hunter before Hashem; hence the saying, “Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before Hashem.”  And the beginning of his kingdom was Bavel, Erekh, Akkad and Khalneh in the land of Shinar.  From that land emerged Ashur, who built Nineveh and Rechovot-Ir and Kalach.  Resen was between Nineveh and Kalach - this was the great city. (Bereishit 10:8-12)

    What does the phrase "before Hashem" mean? We examine different views about Nimrod's character and achievements.

  14. Shinar

  15. Babylon - The City

  16. Individual and Collective Responsibility

    Rabbi Jonathan Sacks

    What is the link between the stories of the Flood and the Tower of Babel? Through an understanding of the balance between personal and societal responsibility we can understand Parshat Noach in a whole new light, and appreciate Avraham’s unique role in creating a new form of social order that would give equal honor to the individual and the collective. 

    This article is part of the Covenant & Conversation series.

     To read more from Rabbi Sacks or to subscribe to his mailing list, please visit http://www.rabbisacks.org/. You can also follow him on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

  17. Individual and Collective Responsibility (Audio)

    Rabbi Jonathan Sacks | 10 minutes

    What is the link between the stories of the Flood and the Tower of Babel? Through an understanding of the balance between personal and societal responsibility we can understand Parshat Noach in a whole new light, and appreciate Avraham’s unique role in creating a new form of social order that would give equal honor to the individual and the collective. 

     

    This lecture is part of the Covenant & Conversation series.

    To read more from Rabbi Sacks or to subscribe to his mailing list, please visit http://www.rabbisacks.org/. You can also follow him on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

  18. Parashat Noah: Spiritual “Disguised Unemployment”

    Rabbanit Dr. Michal Tikochinsky

  19. “And We Shall Make for Ourselves a Name” – Why Not?

    Rabbi Gad Eldad

    The story of the Tower of Bavel is one of the great mysteries of the Torah. The initiative of the human race at the time seems, on the face of it, innocuous enough, and the reader finds it difficult to understand why God viewed it as so evil that He saw fit to thwart their plan.

    We examine some commentators and analyze the tet itself to find insights into what is happening here. 

    Ultimately, the name of the place will commemorate for all time what God did there, rather than the initiative of the builders, such that the quest of the human race to “make for themselves a name” by building the tower and the city fails entirely.

  20. Parshat Noah Part 5: The Dispersion

    Rabbi Alex Israel | 36 minutes

    What messages can be learned from the story of the Tower of Bavel? Through an analysis of the text as well as classical commentaries we can understand why the tower was understood as a rebellion against God, and we can appreciate the reason behind the resulting punishment. 

    Courtesy of www.tanachstudy.com

  21. Boundaries in Sefer Bereishit

    Rabbi Shimon Klein

    God regrets having created man in the world; He is grieved, and He decides to wipe out all living things from upon the face of the earth. To the reader suddenly coming upon these verses, this is an unthinkable, inconceivable course of action: the world has already been created; now problems start to arise, and the reaction is – complete annihilation?! We must ask ourselves how and why it is that God resorts to such a seemingly “dis-proportionate” response. The context of our discussion will be a broad one, going far beyond the boundaries of this specific narrative. We shall examine the moral standards of God and of man in Sefer Bereishit, and seek to identify a method for dealing with moral dilemmas relating to the fundamental life circles in this Sefer.

  22. וַֽיְהִ֥י כָל־הָאָ֖רֶץ שָׂפָ֣ה אֶחָ֑ת וּדְבָרִ֖ים אֲחָדִֽים׃

    Genesis 11, verse 1