I am very excited for the opportunity to share words of Torah with you. Each week, in this spot, I look to share an idea I've found that speaks to me and that I think will resonate with you as well. This week, I share an excerpt from an article by Rabbi Ari Kahn entitled ‘The First Echo Chamber’ in which he describes the right and wrong kind of unity.
[...] This generation [of the dispersion] was marked by unity, by a shared purpose and a common, agreed-upon goal. This seems to be a very positive, even admirable trait; indeed, the tone of the verses sounds encouraging, hopeful. The people of this generation want to remain unified, to live in peace and harmony. Why did God find it necessary to intervene, to micro-manage, to disperse them? [...] They were punished with exile and dispersion, scattered far and wide. And since no other crime is mentioned in the text, we must assume that their unity was the problem.
[...] The legend of Avraham the iconoclast who was thrown into the fiery furnace for espousing his belief in a singular, omnipotent God of Mercy, is closely intertwined with the episode of the tower. There, in the Valley of Shinar, a furnace was used to make bricks. The people involved in the project were unified in their quest, as well as in their desire to kill Avraham. Their particular brand of unity left no room for dissent.
The mindset of the generation of dispersion may be seen as a reaction to the experience of the previous generation: The "every man for himself" mentality had brought the flood; this new generation broke down all personal boundaries for the sake of unity, creating an atmosphere of enforced conformity. This generation lived in a self-imposed echo chamber, in which everyone was forced to espouse the same beliefs and aspire to the same goal. This generation did not seek salvation on a boat, but in a tower, a monolithic structure that represented their singular resolve and uniformity. This unity was preserved by expunging all dissonance - by eliminating all dissidents.
Avraham refused to fit in. He spoke about a kind, benevolent God, a God whom people in the post flood/holocaust generation could not accept. They rejected the notion that God is merciful; they refused to consider mercy a value. Some rabbinic sources suggest that this generation rejected the notion of God altogether. Avraham, the young, idealistic, ethical monotheist, expressed ideas which they found abhorrent, and with one unified voice they called for the murder of the man who would bring so much light to the world.
Unity such as this, emboldened by sheer numbers and whipped into a murderous frenzy by anger and hatred, must be dismantled. The people who espoused it were not washed away or cast into their own furnace; they were separated, dispersed, their unity cast to the wind, waiting to be restored under a banner of peace through understanding, of harmony born of different voices - and of kindness.
Have a Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Davies
Rabbi@SOICherryHill.org
