Parshat Noah: The EU, Tower of Babel Redux – The Times of Israel

(NOTE: The following is an update version of an essay I wrote some years ago)

And Yaktan sired Hatzarmavet(Genesis 10:26)

Rashi: According to Aggadah (Bereishit Rabbah) after the name of his location

* * *

A century ago the global game was imperialism; there were the Ottoman, British, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese and Italian empires. In our time the game is unification: The United States, the UN, the Arab League, The European Union.

The difference between the two is simple. Empires are the forcing of the will of a single nation over other, less powerful nations. Unification is the willing participation of different nations or states in an effort at unity and shared purpose.

From my perspective unification is infinitely more dangerous, especially when it is imperialism posing as unification. And most especially when it is, yet again, Germany, this time clad in the sheeps clothing of a European Union, attempting for the third time in a century to dominate its continent, if not the world.

But let us discuss lesser scoundrels first. Has there ever been a more corrupt, mendacious, resource-wasting, unbalanced organization than the UN? Having been established with the best of intentions, it has degenerated to where today under the guise of unity, democracy and fairness it has become the chief instigator of pernicious injustices, and provides an umbrella of legitimacy for the most inexcusable and oppressive regimes.

Can anyone be blind to the veryraison detreof the Arab League, an organization whose overriding obsession since its inception has been the undoing of the State of Israel? Can one point to a single program or project undertaken by this unifying League to enhance the quality of life, health, education and welfare of Arabs anywhere?

And what of the UN Human Right Council a club of primarily third world thuggeries obsessively committed to perpetrating an ongoing gang-bang against Israel with the tacit, if not active, approval of major Western European democracies.

Then there is UNESCO, a purportedly benign, education and cultural association, now almost pathologically dedicated to rewriting history in service of he most retrograde Islamist interests.

Taking the cake, of course, in the European Union, a seemingly benign attempt to dilute the identity of Europes various nation states in order to foster greater democracy and economic fairness. The EU is the result of an apparently compassionate post-nationalist desire to level the global playing field. Here the intentions seem good, even as they pave the road to hell, leading to the predictable day when Europe will have good-willed its way to oblivion under a yoke of murderous Islamic totalitarianism.

For make no mistake, the Islamic demographic invasion of Europe is not something apart from European unification, it is a result of the same enlightened thinking: Alle menschen wurden Bruder,all people are brothers; there are no better or worse people, no superior or inferior cultures. We are all G-ds children except that for the politically correct there really is no G-d. What should have raised a red flag from the get-do was that all this nostrum about universal brotherhood was being peddled by a post-Holocaust Germany. Who in their right mind would trust the German Volk with anything? And yet

Even the United States, the first unifying amalgamation under the banner of freedom, has democratized itself to the point where its protective walls have been breached, and the nefarious, malignant and irreversible invasion has begun all fully sanctioned by a delusional belief in the good intentions of all peoples. Fortunately under the Trump administration some brakes have been applied to this willful national suicide. But considering what waits in the wings should the Republicans lose in 2020, the free world must prepare for catastrophe.

With all this circle-dancing of unification, the world has become a vastly more dangerous place. This liberal, well-intentionedAlle Menschen wurden Bruderthinking inevitably results in a political correctness that, at its best, ignores real and present dangers and, at its worst, endorses and supports them.

Yes, it runs counter to our intelligence to believe that cooperation and unity between disparate ethnic, political and linguistic groups is dangerous. But it does not run counter to our instincts. And the empirical evidence is clear unifying/cooperative efforts have brought our world to the brink of doom, and it will take a miracle to turn the clock back.

This, I believe is the message of the story of the Tower of Babel which appears in this weeks Torah reading, Parshat Noah.

At first glance, the inclusion of this story in the Torah makes no sense. For traditional Jews, the Torah is not a history book its primary importance is legal, didactic and exegetical. Which begs the question as to why the story of the Tower of Babel is included altogether.

The existence of many languages is a given. Indeed earlier verses in this very Parsha mention the diversity of languages. In Genesis 9:10 we read;From these, the islands of the nations separated in their lands,each one to his language, according to their families, in their nations.. Clearly the Babel story itself whether actual or mythical must contain a message for the generations.

(11:1) )And the land was of one language and devarim ahadim(which means singular words, but could/should be read as unifying words)

(11:4)And they said, Come, let us build for us a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make ourselves a name(reputation),lest we become scattered across the face of entire land.

(11:6) And the Lord said; Lo one people who have one language, and this is what they have commenced to do, . The latter part of this verse is generally understood (according to Rashi) as questioning: ie.Now will it not be withheld () from them all that they have planned to do?

I would respectfully suggest another reading of this verse entirely.

The conventional understanding of the Babel story is that the people who settled in the land of Shinar (verse 2) were defying G-d. Their purpose in constructing the ziggurat known to us as the Tower of Babel was an attempt to reach G-d in the heavens and challenge His dominion.

Can this possibly explain why G-d sowed discord through a babel of languages? Was G-d afraid of this challenge? Did He need to nip the project in the bud lest the people actually achieve such a goal?

If we accept Rashis understanding of the tale, the translation of the closing phrase of verse 6; Now will it not be withheld () from them all that they have planned to do?is necessary if somewhat forced.

I would suggest, however that yibatzer does not mean witheld, and this phrase is not a question but a statement a statement by G-d describing how he is planning to rescue these people from a terrible fate the inevitable destruction that is the result of too much unity.

The word is akin to the word which means fortification. Hence, the verse is saying that a consequence of a single language and singular purpose would result in;and nowas a consequence( ) they(the people of Shinar)will not be protected from them(i.e. outside enemies)by all that they(the people of Shinar)have planned to do.

G-d understands that by creating the false sense of security that comes from the apparent unity and glory of a powerful city and a tower, they are achieving the very opposite result namely rendering themselves vulnerable to incursion by destructive outside forces.

Indeed the story must be understood in an entirely different way. It is hardly a negative reflection on the people who settled in Shinar. On the contrary:

As I see it, a large population of Noahs varied descendants settled in Shinar. Relying on their intellect, they decide to build a utopian society united by common language and culture; a society that would be centered in a strong city surrounding an awe-inspiring tower.

They believe that without this unity of purpose, without a shared language and culture, they would become vulnerable to outside forces and end up exiled and dispersed.

Human intelligence, when shared by people with decent intentions, inevitably leads to a benign vision of a world that is hardly benign; a vision whereby outsiders would be welcome to this utopian society, and would be so impressed with its culture and its architecture and its skyscrapers that they would only desire to become part of the noble vision, certainly not plot to destroy it.

And so, G-d saves the day by dividing the population of Shinar into a multiplicity of different cultures, each with its own language,preciselybecause it is this disunity that augurs best for human survival contrary to what we might think with our brains.

By dividing the people through language, G-d replaces intelligence with instinct. Humankind develops an instant need to survive through the delicate balance between the limited and necessary unity on a small ethnic scale, and the disunity of humankind through the establishment of borders and distinct cultural identities.

Yes, there would be tensions, suspicions and occasional skirmishes, but these would be minor by comparison to the utter devastation that would result when a mighty, seemingly impregnable unified nation-state believes, naively, that everyone even those who are not part of this society are inherently benign and have good intentions. Because that is when the society becomes careless, and exposes isAchilles heel so that it can be easily toppled, as happened to the Greek and Roman empires.

The flood of Parshat Noah did not cover the entire planet earth. It covered a large swath of what was the cradle of our civilization and the birthplace of monotheism.

G-d had other plans and uses for India, China and Japan (the Sinites referred to in Noah are likely not the Chinese) which not now or ever were centers of monotheism and belief in the one G-d.

Eretz, the land, referred to in Parshat Noah and in the story of the Tower of Babel has its perimeters defined trough the names of Noahs progeny. On the one extreme we have Ashkenaz, which is central Europe. On the other extreme with have Hatzarmavet which the Midrash says is a place, which indeed it is. The utterly inhospitable end of Yemen in called Hadramaut (in Hebrewheder-mavet) which means the almost the same, i.e. courtyard of death. Few people dare enter this forbidding desert, and for most it seems like the very end of the earth.

The People who settle in Shinar believe they inhabit a safe world. They are either oblivious to the existence of alien nations or assume that these alien nations are benign at best, or, at the very least, would be so impressed by the Shinarian culture, economy, architecture and civilization, they would never think of causing any trouble.

Babel is happening today, in real time. A powerful United States of America can have its most visible symbol of global importance, the Twin Towers, leveled in minutes by a handful of savages. Does America learn its lesson? Hardly. Islam is labeled a religion of peace. Muslim immigration continues unabated. A president like Obama goes and bows to the monarch of the very country, the worlds most retrograde feudal state, which incubates global terror. We allowed a Gadaffi to remain in power decades after he had blown an American jetliner out of the sky. We twiddle out thumbs as Iran goes nuclear. After all,Alle Menschen wurden bruder,how bad can those folks really be?

Europe has its head even deeper in the ground than America. Hell bent in its fever of politically correct post-nationalism on unifying its disparate and historically un-fraternal nations, the enlightened Europeans convince themselves that Islamists are people, just like any other, who wish to join their melting pot and become like all other Europeans. After all,Alle Menschen wurden bruder,how bad can those Muslim folks really be?

This suicidal political correctness is in lockstep with a G-dless and egocentric belief in human intelligence. The instinct for survival is disappearing from the western DNA, as evidenced by the attempt to erase borders, language barriers, currency differences etc. the very things that keep smaller nation states in a state of wary self-preservation.

Purely on instinct a majority of Britons woke up a few years ago and decided to rescue themselves from this impending disaster. Time will tell if Brexit was not too little, too late.

In fact the only western national state in which a majority still espouse the need for particularism and even parochialism is Israel. Because, at least the Jews who live here not all, but most have learned what international brotherhood inevitably leads to.

Any wonder that Europe would love to see us disappear? Any wonder that we will be around long after they are done for?

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Parshat Noah: The EU, Tower of Babel Redux - The Times of Israel