1 November 2024

Week of 27 October-2 November 2024

Torah portion: Genesis 6:9-11:32 Haftarah: Isaiah 54:1-55:5

Theme: “Let us make a name for ourselves”

“The achievements of human skill are transformed from being a means, to an end in themselves.”

This  parashah consists of two stories – Noah’s Flood and the Tower of Babel – which are well known in Western culture.  As an example, visit the Amazon website and see how many Noah’s Ark toys there are.  They are very cute, disconcertingly so, given that the story of Noah begins with the lord contemplating “the wickedness of humankind” and regretting “that he had made humankind on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart.” (Gen.6:5-6) The humans and animals in the Ark are the only survivors of mass extinction. For “The lord said, “I will blot out from the earth the human beings I have created— people together with animals and creeping things and birds of the air, for I am sorry I made them.” Fortunately for the future of humanity, there was Noah, “a righteous man, blameless in his generation” and he and his household and, of course, the animals, are saved.

     The story of Noah and his ark acts both as model and inspiration for many people who work to safeguard the natural environment and all the living beings with whom humanity shares the Earth.  There is, however, another well-known story in this parashah– the story of Babel – which is not so uplifting. According to this story, at one time everybody on earth spoke the same language. They decided to build “a city, and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves; otherwise we shall be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.”  (Gen.11:4) As we know, they did make a name for themselves but not in the way they had hoped.  Noah was concerned for other living beings; the people of Babel cared only about themselves.  As Nehama Leibowitz wrote:

“that he had made humankind on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart.” (Gen.6:5-6)

“This technical mastery gives rise to overweening pride and self-confidence. Does it say there, “

‘Let us build for ourselves a house as a refuge from the rain?’ Or ‘Let us build for ourselves cities for our little ones and folds for our flock?’ On the contrary, the achievements of human skill are transformed from being a means, to an end in themselves. Man who has the power to reach these technical heights soon imagines that he is all-powerful
The purpose of these awe-inspiring monuments erected by the technical skill of man is to make man forget his insignificance and transientness, delude him with their greatness and ‘immortality,’ in short make for himself a name.”

For Reflection and Discussion: “The achievements of human skill are transformed from being a means, to an end in themselves.”  Think of examples of this in your own life.  Do you ever find yourself thinking of your achievements as proof that you are a decent person who does the right thing? Are you annoyed when something you have done is not appreciated as you thought it should have been?  Have you ever chided yourself for not thanking someone as they deserved?

Bibliography: Leibowitz, Nehama, New Studies in Bereshit (Genesis), New York: 1965

This week’s Parasha Commentary was prepared by
Anne Morton, Canada, Bat Kol Alumna: 2010

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