The Tower of Bavel

After the mabul (the great flood) there were many people in the world again. They all spoke the same language, Ivrit. That was easy. You could simply speak your own language with someone from another country. But in those days there were no other countries yet, because all the people lived close together in one very large valley in Bavel, also called Babylonia (today Iraq lies there).

The people after the mabul were not good either. They had moved close together because, after the mabul, they had become afraid of G-d. They did not agree that they had to listen to Hashem and could not simply do whatever they pleased. They rebelled. Their king Nimrod said: "Why should Hashem rule over us? Let us rule over Hashem! Let us build an enormous tower, so high that we can fight Hashem in heaven. Once we are in heaven, we can take over."

Because they all spoke the same language, they quickly agreed. They all thought it a fine idea. They baked bricks, and in no time the tower was so high that its top disappeared into the clouds. The Tower of Babel, the migdal Bavel, became a giant project.

They worked well together — and yet it became an inhuman society. If a carpenter fell down from the tower, nobody lost any sleep over it. But if a brick fell down and broke, everyone began to cry. That, of course, was not good.

Hashem was also grieved that the people were not grateful to Him and even wanted to fight against Him. That is impossible, of course, for Hashem is invisible — but the people did not know that then.