A word of Torah:    

       Tower of Babel
“People gathered together, saying: ‘Let’s build a tower that reaches to heaven and make a name for ourselves lest we scatter.’” (Gen. 11:4).

        This story follows the story of Noah and the flood. The people of the Babel story must be worried about another flood, despite God’s promise. A tower that will rise to heaven will surely save them from any flood, no matter how catastrophic. They want absolute unity. Everyone speaks one language and works on one project. Their hope is that this will prevent them from scattering. Ironically, as bad as the chaos of the flood generation was so too is the unity of the tower generation.  If there is only one language and one vision, there is no room for other ways of looking at things. There is no outside critic.  Leon Kass writes on this story: “Awareness of the multiplicity of human ways is also the necessary precondition for the active search for the better or best way. Discovering the partiality of one’s own truths and standards invites the active search for truths and standards beyond one’s making.” (from The Beginning of Wisdom, p.238).
            Religion is often understood as being about eternal truths. But in fact, religion isn’t about providing us with the truths in which to believe. Its purpose is the opposite. Religion reminds us that we, humans, do not have the truth—only God does. We live in a world of partial truths and of conflicting subjective truths; as each of us has our own version of the truth. The response to the chaos of the world is not to have a world of lockstep unity. It is not only that lockstep can too easily become goosestep. In fact, diversity encourages the flourishing of criticism and challenges the way things are. While it would be easier to live in a world where everyone spoke the same language, it would also encourage a sameness to life. Different languages, different races, and different countries all lead to notions of multiple truths. Diversity allows individuals to be individuals rather than be forced to conform to one collective vision of the world. The answer to the challenges of life isn’t that we should all be the same, but that we all be fully our unique selves.
        Indeed, the path to unity is through embracing the diversity of the world. Judaism doesn’t want the whole world to be Jewish. It is a serious mistake to think there is only one truth. This planet is filled with endless species reminding us that diversity is the basic paradigm of our world. We are meant to embrace difference. Judaism’s religious language bolsters the notion that all people are created equal and worthy. All human beings are created in the Divine Image—without exception. We are all equal and at the same time all different.