Now, fast-forwarding to the end of our Parsha, we encounter the Dor Haflaga or Dor Hapalaga – the Generation of the Dispersion. According to Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, the people built a tower reaching eighty kilometers in height, with various malicious intentions, including battling Hakadosh Baruch Hu and establishing Avodah Zara. Rashi, citing the Midrash (Bereshit Rabbah 38:6), adds that the people believed that every 1,656 years – the time span from Creation to the flood – there is a heaven-shaking event, releasing waters that cause a massive flood. In response, they built a tower to plug the holes, so to speak, and reinforce the border between heaven and earth, aiming to prevent such a flood from occurring again.
What was the outcome of their handiwork? Hakadosh Baruch Hu confused their languages, preventing them from gathering and forming nefarious plans. As a result, one person spoke German, while another could only understand Japanese, and others spoke English, French, or Spanish. With nobody able to understand each other, they quickly dispersed, losing any reason to stay together. No plague, microscopical virus, or three-and-a-half-ton bombs were needed to accomplish this. A simple shift in language was enough – they couldn’t even understand the messages on their beepers!
Rabbotai, let’s apply the earlier question to this story as well. The wicked people gathered in revolt against Hakadosh Baruch Hu, and He let them off the hook with a simple change to their lexicon? No harsh punishment? No illness or firestorm to halt them or strike them down? The previous generation – who seemingly got away with two cardinal sins – stole nuts from the market stand and the entire world was flooded with nobody surviving, yet all the rebellious tower-builders lived on? Which sin was greater, that of Dor Hamabul or that of Dor Haflaga? The former didn’t rebel against Hakadosh Baruch Hu, whereas the latter waged direct war against Him, so how does this math add up?
Rashi answers the question for us. The reason is, the generation of the Flood were violent robbers and there was strife among them, and therefore they were destroyed. The generation of the Dispersion, on the other hand, conducted themselves in love and friendship: וַיְהִי כׇל־הָאָרֶץ שָׂפָה אֶחָת. We learn from this how much Hakadosh Baruch Hu hates strife and fighting amongst people, and how much He loves peace and unity between one and another. Furthermore, the Dor Hamabul may have all been sinners when it came to idolatry and giluy arayot, but Hakadosh Baruch Hu was willing to defer their punishment. It was only when they turned against one another, as gezel entered the picture, that the flood was put into motion. It was not gezel, per se, that warranted the flood and complete destruction, but gezel symbolized the people turning against one another, in the same way Yonah was sent to warn the citizens of Ninveh against committing gezel, not because of the act itself, but because of how it reflects their behavior towards one another.
