A Tale of Generational Misuse
After the story in Parshat Bereisheit of how Hashem created and formed our world, we read the story of how we humans reformed the world through our actions. And it’s not a pretty story. Instead, it’s a tale of missed opportunities and misused strengths. In his comments on Parshat Noach, Rav Schorr focuses on three successive generations. What’s fascinating to behold is the way each generation has its own unique way of twisting its incredible potential and using it in exactly the wrong way.
The first generation is the generation of Enosh. Rambam tells us that the generation of Enosh (who was Adam’s grandson) is the generation which brought avodah zarah into the world. There is a very vivid midrash (Bereisheit Rabbah 23:6) which says that during the time of Enosh the nature of the human face changed, from a face that reflected the image of G-d, to a face that resembled a monkey.
The potential of this generation, which was so close to the generation of Adam HaRishon, was that they still retained a real understanding of what it means to be an “adam,” to expresses the idea that, “adameh l’elokim,” I am a creation who resembles my Creator. However, Rav Schorr remarks that the defining sin of this generation was jealousy. Created with a yearning and a desire to look up to Hashem, this generation lowered its gaze. Instead of striving to be like Hashem, they strove to be like the guy next door. They were jealous of each other, and it changed the essence of who they were. Monkey see, monkey do. They became defined by jealousy, and their faces resembled monkeys.
During the time of Enosh the midrash says flood waters came and destroyed a third of the world. The next generation, the generation of the flood, took note of this destruction. They recognized that change was needed, and so they decided to alter the nature of their sins, in order to save themselves from further destruction. However, it was hard to take the threat of destruction seriously. Before the flood incident, this was a generation that enjoyed tremendous material prosperity. People lived incredibly long lives. And according to the chachamim, the weather was always great. It was perpetual spring, with a forecast that called for rain only once every forty days, but in exactly the right amount to water the crops perfectly.
The material prosperity of this generation was meant to be a resource for spiritual accomplishment. Metushelach, who lived until just before the flood, did just that. He lived an unparalleled long life, and was righteous beyond our comprehension. His generation, however, was not interested in following in his footsteps. The Midrash (Bereishit Rabbah 38:6) says the defining expression of the generation was, “Who is this G-d, Sha-kai, that we should serve Him?” The name Sha-kai refers to a specific middah of Hashem. Chagigah (12b) describes how this name came into play in the creation of the world. Hashem created the world through a process of continuous expansion, like two unraveling balls of warp thread, until, at the point at which it was about to go too far and lose the connection to the Source, Hashem said to the world, “Dai, enough.” The name Shakai is the name of Hashem which expresses the middah of constraint.
The generation of the flood was uninterested in acknowledging this aspect of Hashem. Hashem as benevolent giver was great. But they did not want to be constrained in any way. They wanted the freedom to use the abundance of the world without restraint, in whatever way they saw fit. They wanted a world without boundaries. Their judgement was therefore sealed because of the sin of gezel, stealing. This was the sin that expressed their worldview: “I will allow nothing, certainly not your ownership over what I want, to stand in the way of me fulfilling my desires.” They wanted a world without boundaries, and so Hashem removed the boundaries of the ocean and let it wash over their world.
After the mabul, the nature of the world changed. The boundaries of the world became more pronounced. Lifespans were shortened. The perpetual warm weather was constrained by the winter months. And a new sign, the half-circle of the rainbow, signified that the evil of the world would never again be given full reign to make a full circle and encompass the world. The next generation, the dor haflaga, the generation of the Tower of Bavel, took note. Once again, they decided the old ways weren’t working. They needed another new way to sin.
The defining characteristic of the dor haflaga was their unity. “The entire land spoke one language and had uniform words.” (Bereisheit 11:1) Once again we can see a tremendous misuse of great spiritual potential. Their unity was not true unity. It was unity from the lips outward, with a focus on what you say and what you do, not who you are. This came along with a conscious desire to ignore the inner unifying reality of the world. Ramban (Bereisheit 11:2) describes the sin of this generation as “they cut off the plantings,” i.e. they cut off the plant from its roots. Rav Schorr explains what this means. They wanted to unify all nine ma’amarot of creation that formed the natural world. But they wanted nothing to do with the first ma’amar, Bereisheit, which expresses that the source of the unity of the world is the unity of Hashem. They wanted all of nature but cut off from it’s unifying source. Hashem’s response to their fake unity was to force a situation in which the external circumstances matched the internal reality. They were separated and scattered over the face of the earth.
The midrash tells us that there is no generation that does not have men like the men of dor hamabul and dor haflagah. The sins of their generation are the sins of our generation, and the words of Moshe in Devarim 32:7 “Remember the days of old; reflect upon the years [other] generations,” is a message to us to look around us, and recognize where we are unfortunately following in the footsteps of the wrong ancestors.