פרשת נח
At the end of this week’s Parsha, the Torah tells us about דור הפלגה – the generation that gathered together to collectively rebel against God. The Midrash explains that they desired to relieve Hashem of His duty of running the world; they wanted to be the sole directors of earth’s resources, and claimed that they could do so using advanced technology and science. Indeed, the verse testifies that their technological prowess was far beyond anything that had been seen until then. They almost succeeded in convincing the world that they had achieved divine-like powers through their inventions, which were made possible by their willingness to work together, as a unit, toward a common goal. The Midrash goes on to say that in the merit of the unity that this wicked generation enjoyed, they did not suffer the fate of the generation of the flood, which was doomed to destruction. This Midrash shows the incredible esteem Hashem has for camaraderie — He was unwilling to destroy a generation that was delusional and haughty, and that challenged His very existence, simply because they got along together.
R’ Gedalya Sher points out another interesting facet of togetherness which can be derived from this chapter. The verse in Psalms says, “All evil doers will become separated.” The verse is teaching us that although wicked people group together to more effectively execute their nefarious schemes, and seem to succeed in forming cohesive units, they cannot maintain their groups, because their unity is only superficial, and can never be genuine. R’ Gedalya explains that Hashem hinted to the truth of this principle in the method He used to punish that generation – by scattering them across the earth – demonstrating that evil people will always disband, because they were never really together.
R’ Chazkal Levinstein expounds on this point, explaining why the wicked can never be truly united. The verse in Mishle quoted by the Rabenu Yona (1:32) says, “Desire seeks to be alone.” This means that when one seeks to fill his passions, he cannot do so together with other people for very long, because no two people have the exact same passions. Eventually, their once-mutual goal will lead to a conflict of interest. Even though both parties began with a common desire, the verse in Mishle testifies that each partner in the relationship is ultimately looking out primarily for himself, and his greed will eventually lead him to the point that he will not be able to tolerate anyone else impinging on his desires. For example, we often see partnerships that started out with the goal of making money, or achieving some other material gain, that are soon disbanded. Although both partners still want to make money, each feels that the other is encroaching on his personal profit, and therefore they soon reach the point that they cannot tolerate each other. Another demonstration of this principle can unfortunately be seen in the many instances in which nations and countries of the world, which historically never got along, were willing to overlook each others’ differences in order to fulfill a common goal – to destroy the Jewish people. Fortunately for us, these alliances are often short-lived, because each partner’s desire to destroy the Jewish people stemmed from a selfish and personal craving. The Jews, on the other hand, whose sole national goal is to serve the one true Creator, do not have selfish motives influenced by personal prejudices– the only desire of the Jewish People is to serve Hashem– and they are therefore capable of true solidarity because their desires do not stem from personal passions, but rather from an unadulterated, objective source.
R’ Yisroel Salanter once demonstrated this point by bringing the Gemorah in Taanis (31) which says that at the end of times, the tzaddikim will all stand around Hashem in a circle and point to Him exclaiming, “Behold, this is our great Lord; we have been waiting for Him and He will redeem us.” R’ Yisroel points out that the tzaddikim will stand in a circle, not in any other configuration. Every point in a circle is equidistant from the center. Although each of the tzaddikim has a different view of Hashem, and a different personal role in His service, their relationship to Hashem is all about serving Him, and they are therefore all united in every way other than their orientation.
R’ Chazkal continued by asking, if what R’ Yisroel said is true, why it is that in today’s world we find many very observant Jews who don’t necessarily share this utopian togetherness? They don’t just disagree with each other in matters of faith; they seem to hate each other for their differences. He explains that while most observant Jews have a common goal- the desire to do the will of their Creator- most can’t help feeling a slight pull toward their personal desire for honor and respect. That pull causes a certain loss of interest in serving Hashem, allowing smatterings of conceit to disrupt the unity. The admixture of vanity in our service of Hashem causes us to lose interest in what is objectively right, and we may focus instead on our being right. This is what prevents us from truly joining together as a nation to accomplish our common goal. To the extent that we can successfully leave behind our petty narcissism, we can truly feel brotherhood with our fellow Jew. Indeed, we find that in times of peril, Jews who were quibbling over some trivial argument, who were at each other’s throats a minute before, suddenly become the best of friends. How do we explain this? R’ Chazkal says that in time of danger, a person sheds his desires and his personal fetid fantasies. Once these have been discarded, the natural feelings of togetherness that every Jew should feel are once again free to kick in.
I would like to share a story that involved the Brisker Rav which may give us some insight into our obligation to always respect a fellow Jew, and foster feelings of mutual esteem, regardless of his religious views. The Brisker Rav had a peer, one of the great Torah leaders of the generation, whose views were radically different from his own. The Brisker Rav made it quite clear that, according to him, this man’s views were completely unacceptable. Nonetheless, shortly after the Brisker Rav came out with a scathing letter denying every premise this Rabbi stood for, the Rav invited this Rabbi to officiate at his son’s wedding. The Rav’s shocked students couldn’t contain their curiosity about the Rav’s choice, seeing that he was so vehemently opposed to this Rabbi’s positions. The Rav explained to his students, “While it is true that I do not agree with some of the decisions he has made, there is no doubt in my mind that he is one of the uncontested leaders of the generation, and a proper Torah scholar. Not inviting him to officiate at my son’s wedding would be a slight to his honor, and therefore completely inappropriate. Furthermore, his thoughts are so deep that even his mundane conversations are deeper than anything I could understand.” While we may not reach the Brisker Rav’s level of respect for other Jews, it behooves us to think twice before expressing an opinion that is contrary to that of one of our peers. If we decide it must be expressed, we have to ensure that it comes out in a way which doesn’t reflect any personal disrespect.
May we all merit to always serve Hashem with genuine togetherness!