Villain and Hero

Noach

Every great "story" has two main characters - the villain and the hero. The story of Dor HaPalaga and the Tower of Babel is no different and to fully understand it we need to briefly explore our two main characters – Nimrod and Avraham.

Nimrod was the great grandson of Noach, grandson of Cham and son of Kush. Nimrod inherited the "wayward" genes of his grandfather Cham, who the Gemara (Sanhedrin 108b) tells us, against HaKadosh Baruch Hu's command, had familial relations while in the Ark. Cham, it appears, had "father figure" issues, not only with his Father in Heaven, but also with his biological father, as we read about in the episode when Noach became drunk and Cham disrespected him.

When Noach and his family boarded the Ark, they took with them the things that HaKadosh Baruch Hu commanded them to take, to preserve the essentials of HaKadosh Baruch Hu's Creation. All the species of animals, special seeds from Gan Eden to replant after the flood (from which Noach planted a vineyard which instantly grew and bore fruit). Another item that went on the Ark and was saved from the flood, were the special garments that HaKadosh Baruch Hu made for Adam HaRishon after he sinned. When they left the Ark, Cham took these garments and they eventually landed up with Nimrod (Pirkei de'Rebi Eliezer 24). Anyone wearing the garments of Adam HaRishon, held power over all the animals. Since Nimrod wore these garments, the animal kingdom succumbed to him and he did not need to work hard to hunt or capture animals for food (after Noach it was permitted to eat meat, until then mankind was vegetarian). When people saw that Nimrod possessed this special power, they feared him and made him into their leader.

Nimrod, the villain in our story, made himself into a self-proclaimed deity and was the "brains" behind the Tower of Babel.

We tend to think of the generations of the Flood and the Tower of Babel as "primitive" civilizations, but the opposite is true. Archeology is only now discovering technologies from these periods that surpass even modern technology. If they were so technologically advanced, it is likely that they were equally intellectually advanced.

The Dor HaPalaga, like the generation of the Flood before them had superhuman powers, but they both used them to rebel against HaKadosh Baruch Hu. They were all descended from a tzaddik – Noach! They all spoke one language, Lashon HaKodesh. They possessed the knowledge of using the 22 letters of Lashon HaKodesh to create things (Avraham later recorded this knowledge in Sefer HaYetzirah) which supersedes even modern technology. These were real scientists who developed new, advanced technologies through rigorous study of the natural laws and their properties, empirical experimentation and implementation. However, instead of using their knowledge to strengthen their bond with HaKadosh Baruch Hu, they used it to rebel against Him.

The Dor Hapalaga believed that there was a reality that preceded HaKadosh Baruch Hu and if you dig deep enough you will eventually find it. They spent their lives studying the natural world and trying to discover this "source."

HaKadosh Baruch Hu created our natural world for one purpose – that if you dig deep enough, you will eventually discover the One true Source – HaKadosh Baruch Hu, the "center of focus" out of which everything else emanates. If you indulge in "science" from this perspective, then science will eventually lead you to realization of HaKadosh Baruch Hu.

However, if you flip things around and make yourself the focus out of which everything else emanates, then anything you cannot see or understand "does not exist." If you are the focus, then reality becomes a projection of your human limitations - which leads to a denial of anything beyond your comprehension. This was the Dor HaPalaga.

Nimrod was not an imbecile, he knew that HaKadosh Baruch Hu existed – he personally witnessed the aftermath of the flood. However, his ego drove him to rebel against and defy HaKadosh Baruch Hu, by doing the very antithesis to what HaKadosh Baruch Hu requires from us. Nimrod tried to battle with HaKadosh Baruch Hu by making as many people as he possibly could – rebel against HaKadosh Baruch Hu.

Nimrod proposed the establishment of an idyllic society, a united society centered around the "search for truth" and "betterment of mankind," in which each individual is equally valuable and part of the collective. The foundation principle of this society is the elimination of HaKadosh Baruch Hu as the center of focus and making the collective the center of focus. Everything that HaKadosh Baruch Hu wants us to do, we will do the opposite.

The hero of our story is Avram (not yet Avraham), although he is only mentioned many p’sukim later. Shlomo HaMelech (Kohelet 7:14) tells us that when HaKadosh Baruch Hu creates a power in the world, at the same time He creates the antithesis to that power. If Nimrod was the negative pole of the magnet, then Avraham was the positive pole.

Nimrod and Avraham were arch-rivals and of equal intelligence. While Nimrod was perpetuating idol worship, you have Avraham on the opposite side of the scale disseminating the message of HaKadosh Baruch Hu in a predominantly idol worshipping world.

We all know how this story ends. The memory of Nimrod has been wiped from history, while the spirit of Avraham is alive and prospering.

Parshat HaShavua Trivia Question: What personal connection did Nimrod have with Avraham?

Answer to Last Shiur’s Trivia Question: The Torah begins with the letter bet (Bereishit). What letter does the Torah end with? Lamed. The two letters together make the word lev (heart).