Abraham's Journey: Insights into a Divine Plan

In this week's Torah portion, Abraham is commanded to "Go forth from your land." Interestingly, before being commanded to go, Abraham was already on his way, as stated a few verses earlier: "Terach took Abram his son, and Lot... and Sarai... and they went forth with them from Ur Kasdim to go to the land of Canaan, and they came as far as Haran and settled there." So, Terach had already set out for the land of Canaan.

The previous story in the Torah is the Tower of Babel narrative, which begins with "The whole earth was of one language and unified purpose." Everyone was united around the project of building the tower, and Hashem said, "Now nothing will be withheld from them which they propose to do," and hence scattered them across the earth and confused their language.

Yet, if we read a few verses prior, we encounter a description of the descendants of Noah dividing into seventy nations, each with its own place in the world. About each of these groups, the Torah concludes: "These are the descendants of Ham, by their families, languages, lands, and nations," and similarly for the descendants of Japheth and Shem. So, were the seventy nations already divided with different languages before?

Connecting these stories teaches us about the divine plan. The Torah starts with sin: Adam's sin, which could have been attributed to a mistake, but the generation of the flood proved that humanity was inherently evil continually. Left alone, man descends into evil, a notion affirmed by Hashem, who regretted creating man and thus destroyed everyone but Noah. Yet, afterward, Hashem vowed not to do it again. Why?

Because we're back at square one. There's little difference between Noah and Seth: One man fathers many descendants, generations pass, and eventually, evil and sin prevail, precisely because humans are naturally inclined to evil without divine intervention. That's why obliterating humanity repeatedly would change nothing. The story would simply repeat itself.

This is illustrated by what happened after the flood: Ham's family sinned. Noah understood that each of his sons had different traits, and thus blessed them and set their futures: diverse characters and destinies. While many wicked descendants would arise, so would righteous ones. Why does Noah say "May Hashem extend Japheth, but he will dwell in the tents of Shem"? If Shem is to be righteous, Noah should insist that Japheth be subservient to Shem and declare clearly that Shem should carry on his legacy.

The reason, as we've stated, is that placing someone at the head of humanity and prohibiting them from certain actions would return us to the starting point. The divine plan moves in another direction. There's no use in destroying the wicked, as evil eventually increases, akin to the natural rise in disorder (the second law of thermodynamics). We aim to cultivate good so that it becomes independent and spreads by human deeds, from the ground up, rather than through Hashem's intervention from the top down.

Therefore, Noah informs his sons that Hashem will dwell in the tents of Shem, but practically, he divides them, dispersing them. Each goes to a suitable land, perhaps trying to escape his destiny, forming seventy nations, with their languages. Notably, in the map of the seventy nations, none inhabited the land of Canaan. The Canaanites received the coastal plane, not the interior, as the purpose was for one nation to start developing the good and repair.

When the tower planners traveled eastward, they initiated a renewed gathering of exiles. They sought to return to pre-flood splendor, recreate the greatness and vanity projects of ancient times. To do this, they wished to unify humanity, quickly morphing into a totalitarian regime. The sages' depiction of workers mourning a fallen brick more than a fallen person is prophetic insight and a deep understanding of reality, akin to totalitarian regimes like the communist one: acts of sabotage in Mother Russia's production plant were considered far more severe than the loss of human life.

Therefore, Hashem states: "Now nothing will be withheld from them which they propose to do." Why? Because man was created with immense potential and the divine image. He could master creation, as promised to the first man, but this isn't good. Humanity's totalitarian control would rapidly lead to another generation of destruction. Similar to the progressive regimes some of reason's believers aim to develop today. Hashem parceled the languages and nations, so they wouldn't focus solely on physical power; rather, each would develop independent thoughts, observe creation in its natural essence without political filters, and through this maintain their uniqueness until gradually, the goodness emanating from the divine image within man would sparkle, root, and spread, as people recognize its value. The change is not through divine command followed by flood or fear, but rather through mental and spiritual recognition sown in humanity's hearts.

Henceforth, the divine plan is not to destroy by flood, but to intervene subtly, preventing cancellation of the divine scheme. Consequently, Hashem dispersed the tower's inhabitants and confused them, leading them to a state of dispersion beneficial to them and the world. Yet, in Shinar - Babel - remained a core of people long bereft of independent thought, intent on subjugating all to their monumental buildings and giant idols.

Terach, although an idolater, opposed this approach. He learned the lesson from the dispersion generation and sought to depart for the land of Canaan, which was uninhabited and not yet claimed by any nation (Canaanites conquered it in Abraham's time). His son Abraham had taken a further step, severing ties with idolatry. Still, the king of Babel forced him to conform, but Hashem led him out of Ur Kasdim and commanded him to migrate to the land of Canaan. There, through wandering, hospitality, sanctifying Hashem's name, and many small actions, Abraham instigated a global revolution over four thousand years, resulting in today's majority of humanity attributing themselves to Abraham's faith and benefitting from it, as promised, "through your descendants all families of the earth shall be blessed."