blogs/rabbi-huberman

What if everyone in the world spoke the same language, believed in the same things, or acted in the same way?

Where would this world be?

It's a topic which the Torah addresses this week as it describes the formation of a new society, following the Great Flood.

Each of us knows the story of how Noah marched animals “two by two” into the ark he built. Many know about the sign of the rainbow -- a promise from God to never to destroy the world again.

Some have studied the seven “Noahide” commandments, those preceding the Ten Commandments, which established society's basic rules of law.

Yet there is another story in this week's Torah portion which may cause us to consider the Bible's take on diversity and multiculturalism within an increasingly divided world.

This week, the Torah considers, “What would happen if everyone were the same? Where would that lead us?”

Ultimately, God concludes that “they will plot and scheme, and believe they are higher than me.”

This is the story of the Tower of Babel. In the aftermath of the flood, humanity begins to grow in numbers.

A plan is hatched to build a great city, with a tower so high that it will reach into the heavens -- and this, the inhabitants claim, “will make us a name.” (Genesis 11:4)

So construction begins.

One biblical commentary, the Targum Yerushalmi, explains that the tower was to be topped by the statue of a man holding a sword -- an act of defiance against God, whom they hoped to overcome.

But somewhere in pursuit of this ill-conceived goal, the builders lost their way.

Tradition tells us that, during construction, if someone fell off