Noah's Flood and the Tower of Babel's Message

   This Shabbat I continued reading Rabbi Jonathan Sacks' book, "Not in G_d's Name."  I was struck by how much the Torah had told us, but we could not understand it's depths.  Rabbi Jonathan Sacks clears up a great deal.
   "The Bible is explicit about the failings of the generation of the Flood.  The people were wicked, violent, and 'every inclination of the thoughts of their heart was only evil all the time' (Genesis 6:5)  This is the language of systematic moral failure.
    "The mood at the beginning of the story of Babel seems, by contrast, almost idyllic.  'The entire earth had one language and a common speech' (Genesis 11:1).  Unity seems to prevail.  The builders are intent on construction, not destruction.  It is far from clear what their sin was.  Yet from the Bible's point of view Babel represents another serious wrong turn, because immediately thereafter G_d summons Abraham to begin an entirely new chapter in the religious story of humankind."
     Rabbi Sacks then illuminates upon what was just a mystery to me.  Before the Flood mankind was a tribal structure.  Tribes competed for resources and there was no overriding moral code.  Mankind took from each other and the environment in evil ways.  This era was about the individual and selfishness and not about a community.  The Flood washed this era away and the Noahide Laws were put in place to avoid this era from ever reoccurring:

1. Do Not Deny God
2. Do Not Blaspheme God
3. Do Not Murder
4. Do Not Engage in Incestuous, Adulterous or Homosexual Relationships.
5. Do Not Steal
6. Do Not Eat of a Live Animal
7. Establish Courts/Legal System to Ensure Law Obedience

     Shortly after Noahide civilization developed there were 70 kingdoms with their own languages and customs and there was peace and respect for the fact that humans were made in G_d's image, yet were very diverse.  Diversity was enjoyed.
     Then there came the time of Babel and all a sudden there was one language.  What happened?  A few neo-Assyrian conquerors happened.  Per Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, "We have historical evidence dating back to the neo-Assyrians that conquerors imposed their own language on the peoples they defeated.  One inscription of the time records that Ashurbanipal II 'made the totality of all peoples speak one speech.'  A cylinder inscription of Sargon II says, 'Populations of the four quarters of the world with strange tongues and incompatible speech...whom I had taken as booty at the command of Ashur my lord by the might of my sceptre, I caused to accept a single voice.'"
     So Babel was a story about the people being dominated by an emperor and losing their individual freedom and being forced to work together to build an empire.  The people of Babel lost their identity, their individuality, which G_d has given to each of us to come to love Him in our own individual ways.
     Rabbi Jonathan Sacks states, "When a single culture is imposed on all, suppressing the diversity of languages and traditions, this is an assault on our G_d-given differences.  As the Quran (49:13) puts it, 'Oh, mankind!  We created you from a single (pair) of a male and female, and made you into nations and tribes, that ye may know each other (not that ye may despise each other)."
     When G_d tore down the Tower of Babel and confounded the languages of the peoples, He was restoring the world to live in kingdoms governed by Noahide Laws and thriving in diverse cultures and worship of Elokim, the universal G_d.  He almost immediately made a covenant with Abraham, which was one of love.  Abraham dwelt peacefully amid many nations without judging them and loved G_d with his mind, heart, and soul.
    Per Rabbi Jonathan Sacks,"There is no single, simple system that will honour both our commonalities and our differences.  Tribalism-identity without universality-leads to violence.  Imperialism-universality without identity-leads to the loss of freedom and the suppression of the very diversity that makes us human.  That is why the Bible sets out two covenants [Noahide and Abrahamic and Mosaic Covenants], not one:  one that honours our common humanity, the other that sanctifies diversity and the particularity of love.  And the universal comes first.  You cannot love G_d without first honouring the universal dignity of humanity as the image and likeness of the universal G_d."
    Rabbi Jonathan Sacks continues to discuss in his book, "Not In G_d's Name," how in Modern Times we have forgotten about the lessons of the pre-Flood era and the time of Babel.  We have tried these ways of building societies again with Imperialism, Communism, Enlightenment, Crusades, Tribalism, and dethroning the group in celebration of the individual---resulting in erosion of family and community and morality.

     We have attained nationalism, racism and communism, two world wars, the Holocaust and the Gulag.  We have  attained repression.  We have attained acceptance of violations to the Noahide Laws.  We have attained moral decay, hatred, lust for violence, isolation with technology, and indifference to loss of life of those who oppose us.
    Many have lost a sense of community by the decay of family structures.  Many have forged their own version of a code of ethics which is not of G_d.  Many blindly seek what they innately need and find wolves in sheep's clothing waiting to lead them down horrible paths of extremism.
    Now is the time to love G_d with our minds, hearts, and souls.  Now is the time to recognize that every soul is precise.  Now is the time to love each other.  Now is the time to try to celebrate diversity within the scope of the covenants.  Now is the time to recognize that G_d's righteous are in many nations and religions.  Now is the time to come together in peace and love.

Kings of Israel

   "...all the elders of Yisra'el gathered themselves together, and came to Shemu'el to Rama, and said to him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways:  now make us a king to judge us like all the nations." (1 Samuel 8:5-6)
   "And the Lord said to Shemu'el, Hearken to the voice of the people in all that they say to thee:  for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them." (1 Samuel 8:7)

    Why did Israel need to be like the other nations?  Samuel warned them that the king would just take from them, but they still wanted a king and got Saul who then lost his kingship due to taking from G_d when he took booty from a battle that G_d had allowed Saul to win.
    A king in the Torah is code for one of the 10 Sefirot, one of the 10 shells of the spiritual universe.  Kingship or Malkut is the lowest level of spiritual attainment, because a king receives his rewards in this world by purely taking.

     Per Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan in "The Bahir Illumination," "What are the 10 kings? They are the seven voices and three sayings (Amarim).
    "What are the three? (Proverbs 4:7) 'The beginning is Wisdom:  Acquire Wisdom, with all your acquisition, acquire Understanding."
    (Job 32:8) "The soul of Shadai gives them Understanding."
     The Bahir states, "What is the third one?  As the old man said to the child, 'What is hidden from you, do not seek, and what is concealed from you, do not probe.  Where you have authority, seek to understand, but you have nothing to do with mysteries."
     Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan explains the cryptic Bahir.  "The Ten are divided into two groups, seven Voices and ten Sayings.  The lowest of the Ten Sefirot are usually called Attributes (Midot), while the highest three are called Mentalities (Mochin).  An Attribute is something that is externalized, while a Mentality or mental process is completely internal.  Similarly, a voice is externalized, while a saying without voice is not.
     "The Sefirot are called Kings in many places in Kabbalistic literature, especially in their state in the Universe of Chaos before the rectification.  These are alluded to by the Kings of Edom at the end of Genesis 36.  They are called kings, since a king only takes from his subjects, and does not contribute to the economy of his kingdom.  Similarly, these Sefirot of the Universe of Chaos could only receive, but could not give.
      "Of the three Sefirot mentioned here, only Chakhmah-Wisdom and Binah-Understanding are mentioned explicitly.  With regard to Keter-Crown, we are merely warned not to speculate into its mysteries."

      Keter-Crown is the highest of the 10 Sefirot and a purely giving state, emanating G_d into this world and bringing to this world a godly domain.  This Sefirot is amazingly hard to attain by a human being.  Wisdom (Chakhmah) is a state which can be more easily attained than Keter-Crown and is the second highest Sefirot.  Understanding (Binah) is the third highest Sefirot.  All three of these Sefirot are states of giving.  The givers are servants of G_d.
     Yes, G_d did not want Israel to have kings, because kings dwell in the lowest of the 10 Sefirot, Malkut-Kingship, and are receivers, not givers.  Israel was chosen to be servants of G_d, not emperors of this world.  Israel was chosen to give to this world.  Israel rejected their mission by asking for a king.  It was not until Solomon asked for Wisdom as his only request from G_d that G_d was able to have his chosen servants build a Temple for Him.  King Solomon had asked G_d to allow him to become a giver of His light by requesting Wisdom.  Israel was again ready to give to this worldly domain by bringing G_d into it.