Avraham Avinu lived during the period of the Dor Haflagah. He refused to join them in their colossal project and thereby he earned the title אברהם העברי describing him as an individual who was on the "opposite side" of the world, םהרבא היה דחא (Yechezkel 33,24). What was exactly the perverted philosophy and dogma of the builders of this heavenly tower and how was Avraham Avinu the antithesis of their evil scheme against Hashem?
We will base the answer on a shiur given by Rav Moshe Shapiro ztl (Shuvi Venechezeh) who explains the following. The passuk says that they desired to unite all people together into one geographic area which was the opposite of Hashem's command to Adam תא ואלמו וברו ורפ הארץ. Why would they seek crowded living quarters when naturally one would rather have more space to live in?
When Hashem created Man, the passuk says ויי םדאה תא םיקלא 'ה רצ. The word רצייו is spelled with an extra letter yud. Rashi brings the Chazal to explain that the passuk is alluding to the "two" creations of Man, one for this world and one for Olam Habah. This world is deemed as the corridor to the Next World which is designated as the place to receive reward for one's deeds and virtuousness that he toiled and achieved during his spiritual journey on earth. As Chazal say היום לעשותם ו מחר םרכש לבקל in this world one must fulfill mitzvos, and tomorrow in the Next World he will be recompensed for all his spiritual accomplishments.
Yet there is an Apirkorses that claims that there is no second world of rewards and therefore there exists only this world. Being so, one should invest all his energies into satiating the cravings of his body and indulge in all the available pleasures even if they are immoral. This Apirkorses was rampant in the period of the Second Beis Hamikdash as the gemarah in Berachos 54 says that in the Beis Hamikdash they instituted an addition to the end of the berachos of Shemoneh Esrai with the insert of ברוך ה' אלקי ישראל מן העולם חונן הדעת. However, with the increase of heretics they added םלועה דעו םלועה ןמ in order to stress that there are two worlds not one. In essence what these Apikorsim were doing was erasing from the word וייצר one of the Yud letters representing Olam Habah. And even if there were individuals who did acknowledge that there exists a second world, it was totally isolated and unaffected by the events of one's life in this present world.
The same theme of Apirkorses was the foundation stone of the radical Movement of the Hafalagah. They sought to פליג to separate this world of היום from Olam Habah the מחר. The raison d'etra of Man in life is the motto enjoy life to its fullest, and max oneself out with all its delicacies and bodily sensations guilt free.
This is why they strove to form one civilization in one place. With the minds and hearts of the masses working together, they would be able to create, invent, and share with everyone all new forms and types of updated and new arrivals of pleasures for each other to "benefit" from. The forerunner of our modern day Silicon Valley was the Dor Haflagah who chose the Shinar Valley as the center and destiny of the New World Order. As the passsuk says יהיו בנסעם מקדם וימצאו העקב בארץ שנער םש ובשיו they found a valley in the land of Shinar and settled there.
We can explain the words of בנסעם מקדם just as Rashi explains concerning Lot's separation from Avrahamויסע לוט מקדם (Bereishis 13,11) ומדרש אגדה הסיע עצמו וðמקדמו םלוע לש רמא אי אפשי לא באברם ולא באלהיו he separated himself from Hashem the creator of the universe. Even the name ערðש suggests their rebellion against Hashem, as ערðש is gematriah כרת to be cut off and severed like the word פליג and the name דור הפלגה. Technology that fosters and brings about innovative ideas of worldly enjoyments and ecstasies, have replaced Hashem and has become their new deity and mantra.
Let us continue with this train of thought. Avraham Avinu spread the word of Hashem onto the populace. Through his middah of chesed by which he contacted Hashem, he influenced non - believers to realize that Hashem created this world for the purpose of benefitting man. All one has to do is to strive to come closer to Him and he will be rewarded in the Next World which is the primary essential world for all your efforts. Avraham's mission is alluded to in the passukאלה תולדות השמים והארץ בהבראם and Chazal interpret this to mean that these same letters spell באברהם. That through this same middah of chesed practiced by Avraham, Hashem created the world הנבי דסח םלוע. However, it can also hint to םהרבא 'ב. That Avraham enlightened everyone with the fact that there are ב two worlds that are connected and dependent upon one another היום לעשותם ולמחר לקבל שכרם. This belief was the opposite of Dor Haflagah.
Take the name םהרבא which is gematria 248 which corresponds to the 248 parts or limbs a body possesses. This number is exact because the limbs of the human body are aligned to the 248 positive commandments. Avraham spread the doctrine that the human body exists only to fulfill Hashem's will and wishes. If one does so, then he will merit מחר Olam Habah the identical letters of . חמר In other words the sole purpose of the רמוח body is not to saturate it with lusts but rather to serve Man as the means for him to successfully pass through the corridor of Olam Hazeh and merit to gain entry to Olam Habah, the רחמ of eternity.
I would like to suggest that the reason why we are called Yidden is because םהל שי לארשי לכ and חלק לעולם הבאOlam Habah was created with the letter Yud as found in the passuk היב יכ םימלוע רוצ 'ה with the letters of yud and hey Hashem created two worlds, hey this world and yud the Next World. Avraham Avinu, the first member of Klal Yisrael, returned the Yud of רצייו back in its place reinstating Man's purpose and meaning in existence. It is therefore that he underwent ten tests gematriah י in order to prove his devotion and subjugation to Hashem. Yidden is the plural of the letter yud. It is our nation in particular who focus and direct their lives in this world with the service of the spirit in preparation to the Next World which is the essential world of Hashem's ultimate gift of chesed to Man.
The letter ה was added to Avram's name and it was changed to be Avraham. The Poskim write that the letter ה takes the form of the letter dalet which is square on top (unlike the raish which is curved) and with the letter yud at the bottom left. As we mentioned above the letter yud symbolizes Olam Habah. The letter dalet symbolizes Olam Hazeh whose dimensions are the four directions east, west, north, and south. So in the letter hey we have the connection between Olam Hazeh and Olam Habah. This was Avraham's message to the world that the purpose of Olam Hazeh is to gain entry to Olam Habah and bask in Hashem's radiance forever.
Chazal tell us (Sanhedrin 100)
חיל אוהבי יש וגוðאמר להðעתיד הקב"ה ליתן לכל צדיק וצדיק שלש מאות ועשרה עולמות ש' יש בגימטריא תלת מאה ועשרה הוי
In Olam Habah each tzadik will receive 310 worlds as the passuk the להנחיל לאוהבי יש hints to word יש is the gematriah of 310. Where does this figure 310 come from? The meforshim explain that it is the gematriah of רצייו (without the letter vov). According to our explanation it means that the candidate for Olam Habah is the person who realizes that this world is merely a preparation for the Next World of reward. Whenever he encounters יש" drives" and desires for physical pleasures for its own sake, he toils to overcome them by realizing that they are only placed here to test him in order to reward him in the next world.
Today we still have manifestations of Dor Haflagah within our midst. The internet has connected everyone in the world from one end to the other as a Global community. With it we can be introduced to new pleasures the minute is appears on the horizon. We can view and experience constant innovations in technology from day to day from hour to hour. If one seeks new thrills and sensations that are not so pure, he can find them unfortunately there.
Those who built the Tower in Shinar did not care at all if a person fell off the Tower but would wail in tragedy if a brick fell down. So too, the web is reckless and irresponsible and is not concerned with the loss and ruination of personal lives and families through technology, indiscriminate to how young and innocent you are. The more we indulge and become addicted to it, the more chances we lose part of our rewards of eternal Olam Habah. The Yetzer Harah can deceive us into thinking that it still might be worth it since Olam Habah you never experienced, but the intense pleasure of Olam Hazeh is at your fingertips right now, enjoy! Remember that the first yud in the word וייצר symbolizes this world, and the second yud represents the Next World. The first yud is adjacent to the letter vov and together they spell וי Woe! Indulgence in physical gratifications only leave one with a "vey iz mir"! Duped again by my yetzer harah. Don't trade in eternity for a fleeting trinket imposter. If you can't control the Tower of Haflaga and it controls you, get rid of the whole kit and caboodle before you become another statistic ch"v.
People can protect themselves from falling into this trap by experiencing Shabbos with a deeper connection to it merely because it is מעין עולם הבא. We receive a neshamah yesairah on Shabbos as a gift from Hashem. If one works on making Shabbos in the form it should be, then he will be able to feel Olam Habah to some extent enough to realize that his internet used wrongly is shortchanging him from eternal never ending pleasure and euphoria. This is hinted in the ending words of להנחיל לאוהבי יש ואוצרותיהם אמלא their treasures I will fill. The word אוצרותיהם is gematraih יום שבת. Shabbos is called מתנה טובה יש לי בבית גנזי ושבת שמה I have a wonderful gift in my treasure room and its name is Shabbos. It is truly a treasure sent from Olam Habah to Olam Hazeh for us to experience it. We must treasure it. On Shabbos we can feel the preciousness of Olam Habah the 310 יש worlds. In fact one can learn the above gemarah as follows, that Hashem says the present in my treasure House is called יל שי that whoever has this present he can say that on Shabbos יש לי I have and am experiencing תומלוע שי 310 worlds אבה םלוע. The deeper the experience the more you will not be willing to trade it off for a cheap short lived thrill.
Chazal when talking about Olam Habah use the lashon of לכל צדיק וצדיק Each tzadik gets 310. Wtihy is there a repetition of tzadik twice? As we explained above the new Global Community sought to free Mankind from the shackling belief in the Next World which can only be attained through meritorious conduct. They therefore did not believe in Shabbos which comes once a week reminding one that the soul and moral choices are of primary concern in life of which their rewards are waiting for the individuals who followed this lifestyle. Two times 310 is 620 the gematriah of שנער the center of command of Dor Haflagah who denied Olam Habah. By celebrating the Shabbos and keeping its mitzvos and spirit, we are like Avraham Avinu העברי who proclaim to the world “ How mistaken you are in your pursuit of bodily pleasures which leads only to a dead end."
The Lubavitcher Rebbe Yosef Yitzchak ztl was once walking and he was taken into custody for questioning. The KGB officer took out his revolver and pointed it to his head and commanded from him to answer some questions. The Rebbe just smiled and remarked put away your toy gun. The only people who have to be afraid are those that have many G-ds and one world. I have nothing to be afraid of because I have only one G-d and two worlds. A Shabbosdik Yid can say this and truly mean it.
Today I just read about a person who took upon herself to become Shomer Shabbos while terrorists were trying to enter her home in Sderot on October 7th. Then they suddenly left. The following Shabbat she fully observed it. The next week her family was saved a second time when a missile landed in her bedroom. Embrace the treasure of Shabbos and you will be empowered with an arsenal to fight off the physical and spiritual enemies and help bring the geulah shelaima now.
Gut Shabbos
Rav Brazil
