SOMETHING OF VALUE

Parashat Noach
Torah: Genesis 6:9-11:32
Haftarah: Isaiah 54:1-55:5
Cheshvan 3, 5782 / October 8-9, 2021

This d'var torah is offered in memory of my uncle, Merwin Erenbaum, whose yahrzeit falls on Thursday, October 14, corresponding to 8 Cheshvan. Y'hi zikhro liv'rakhah - May his memory be a blessing.

This d'var torah is offered in memory of my zayde, Sam Flom, whose yahrzeit falls on Friday, October 15, corresponding to 9 Cheshvan. Y'hi zikhro liv'rakhah - May his memory be a blessing.

This d'var torah is offered for a refuah shleimah for Chanah Elisheva bat Minnie Leah, Feigel bat Kreina, and D'vorah bat Feigel. 

Lunch and Learn meets Tuesday at 12:30 PM on Zoom and Facebook Live. This week we're beginning our study of the classic Musar text "Mesillat Yesharim" (The Path of the Upright) by Rabbi Chaim Luzzatto. 
 
Check out our wonderful community, and get lots of info about becoming a Chaver and our various programs, at:
https://bnaihayim.org/ 
 
Rabbi Van Leeuwen has a blog which you should read at: 
https://rebjasonblog.wordpress.com/blog/ 

Please feel free to pass this on to a friend, and please cite the source.

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SOMETHING OF VALUE

 

"And they said, 'Come, let us build us a city, and a tower with its top in the sky, to make a name for ourselves; else we shall be scattered all over the world."' Genesis 11:4

Because of its title, we know that this week's parashah contains the story of Noah and the Flood. What gets forgotten by many of us is the other story in our parashah, concerning Migdal Bavel, the Tower of Babel. (Note: This is probably a legend referencing the Sumerian/Mesopotamian Great Ziggurat of Ur, in present day Iraq; Babylonia in late Biblical times) More than a mere explanation of the origin of the multitude of human languages and nations, our Rabbis tell us it is a cautionary tale, one with particular significance even, or perhaps especially in modern times.

In the Midrash, Pirkei d'Rabbi Eliezer, we are told, "The tower had seven ramps from the east and seven from the west. The bricks were hauled up from one side, and the descent was on the other. If a man fell down and died, no attention was paid to him. But if one brick fell down, they would sit and weep, saying, 'Woe is us. When will another be brought up in its place?'"

 

Although the people had the intelligence and the technical skill to erect a great building, and knew the value of things, they were completely lacking in moral values when it came to applying their wealth and knowledge to helping each other. They sought only to make a name for themselves, to assert their superiority over the world and over God. They cared nothing for the individual human being - the individual's worth was measured, if at all, only insofar as a person could contribute to the idolatrous undertaking.

 

We see this attitude all around us. Nations build nuclear weapons while their people starve. And who can forget the neutron bomb, designed to kill people but not destroy infrastructure? We conduct cost-benefit analyses and determine that it is better to continue building dangerously defective cars and pay settlements for the dead and injured than to spend money on building safer vehicles. We treat "human resources" as if they were fungible goods, like so many widgets or ten-a-penny nails, and dismiss thousands of people from their jobs with the stroke of a pen, all to meet analysts’ quarterly earnings expectations.
 
When human life is at stake, we should respond, "When will another be brought up in its place?" Otherwise, we neglect at the peril of our very souls the teaching of Mishnah Sanhedrin 4:5 - "one who destroys a single human life, it is as if he destroyed an entire world; and one who saves a single human life, it is as if he saved an entire world".

Shabbat Shalom.

Richard A. Flom, Rabbi Emeritus
TBH/CBM
Sherman Oaks, CA
".איזה הוא חכם? הלומד מכל אדם"
Who is wise? The one who learns from every person.
Ben Zoma - Pirkei Avot 4:1
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