Your donation will be tax deductible in the US to the extent allowed by the IRS.
To make a tax-deductible donation by wire transfer in the US, please contact:
Avrum Lapin, North American Representative
Toll-free: 1-866-830-3321
Email: schechter@thelapingroup.com
To make a tax-deductible donation in Israel, please contact:
Dina Gudai, Israeli Representative
Phone: 074-7800643
Email: dina@schechter.ac.il
Please mail your check to:
The Schechter Institutes, Inc. (a 501(c) 3 tax exempt organization)
Box #3566
PO Box 8500
Philadelphia, PA 19178-3566
Attn: Mr. Avrum Lapin, North American Representative
Toll-free: 1-866-830-3321
Email: schechter@thelapingroup.com
Please indicate the donation is "for your joint Schechter Institutes program."
Checks should be made payable to the Jewish Theological Society of Canada and mailed to:
Jewish Theological Society of Canada
c/o Camp Ramah in Canada
3845 Bathhurst St., Suite 310
Toronto, ON, M3H 3N2
Phone: 416-789-2193, ext. 2139
E-mail: accounting@campramah.com
Please mail a check to:
The Schechter Institutes
Attn: Dina Gudai, Finance Department
PO Box 16080,
Jerusalem, 9116002
Israel
For assistance, please call Dina Gudai at 074-780-0643 (8:00 AM – 3:00 Israel time Sunday through Thursday).
Your donation will be tax deductible in the US to the extent allowed by the IRS.
To make a tax-deductible donation by wire transfer in the US, please contact:
Avrum Lapin, North American Representative
Toll-free: 1-866-830-3321
Email: schechter@thelapingroup.com
To make a tax-deductible donation in Israel, please contact:
Dina Gudai, Israeli Representative
Phone: 074-7800643
Email: dina@schechter.ac.il
Please mail your check to:
The Schechter Institutes, Inc. (a 501(c) 3 tax exempt organization)
Box #3566
PO Box 8500
Philadelphia, PA 19178-3566
Attn: Mr. Avrum Lapin, North American Representative
Toll-free: 1-866-830-3321
Email: schechter@thelapingroup.com
Please indicate the donation is "for your joint Schechter Institutes program."
Checks should be made payable to the Jewish Theological Society of Canada and mailed to:
Jewish Theological Society of Canada
c/o Camp Ramah in Canada
3845 Bathhurst St., Suite 310
Toronto, ON, M3H 3N2
Phone: 416-789-2193, ext. 2139
E-mail: accounting@campramah.com
Please mail a check to:
The Schechter Institutes
Attn: Dina Gudai, Finance Department
PO Box 16080,
Jerusalem, 9116002
Israel
For assistance, please call Dina Gudai at 074-780-0643 (8:00 AM – 3:00 Israel time Sunday through Thursday).
Dr. Ari Ackerman, Lecturer for Jewish Philosophy and Jewish Education, examines the “Tower of Babel” story found in Parashat Noach. He explores what was the sin of building a new city with a tower that reached the heavens and why this angered God so much. From there, he reveals a relevant message about the importance of striving for more pluralistic and unorthodox societies where different members embrace different views.
At the end of chapter 11 of the book of Genesis, in Parashat Noach, is the episode of dor haflaga, or the generation of dispersion. This is the generation of human beings that tried to build a city and in the midst of the city, they built a great skyscraper that ascended to the heavens. We are told that this act greatly angered God and consequently He dispersed all of humanity throughout the world. What we’re not told, what is the sin? What so angered God as a result of their actions?
One suggestion is made by the famous 19th century Torah Scholar, biblical commentator, and Rosh Yeshiva, Rabbi Yehuda Zvi Berlin, or Netziv for short. In his commentary, Emek ha Davar, he focuses on the first verse, which tells us that they shared ‘common views’ or even identical views. He argues in contrast to earlier commentaries, particularly Rashi’s, that the sin does not relate to the content of their views and the Torah does not tell us what the content of their views was. Their sin was that they held conformed views and they all shared the very same views with each other.
For the Netziv, this social situation where there’s a certain orthodoxy shared by all members of the society is highly detrimental and eventually leads to violence and even murder. He points to the case of Abraham. For him, Abraham was an iconoclast who embraced unorthodox views. As a result, Abraham was jailed and the king attempted to kill him. The Netziv writes that this is exactly what was done in this dor haflaga. They tried to build a tower in an attempt to police society. The tower was high enough so that they could check that everyone held the same views.
The Netziv said the message of the story, and it obviously has deep contemporary relevance, is that we should strive for a pluralistic society where different members embrace different views. A society where we don’t attempt to bring about other members of the society to share our views, certainly not our violent ways and not in coercive manners, where we have a free society where there’s a multiplicity of views, in essence, an unorthodox society.
Prof. Ari Ackerman is the President of the Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies.
President Ackerman is Associate Professor for Jewish Philosophy and Jewish Education. Prior to his elevation to president, Ackerman held the (David) Golinkin Professor of TALI Jewish Education. He received his PhD in Jewish thought from Hebrew University and was a researcher at the Institute for Advanced Studies, Princeton University. His most recent book is a Critical Edition of the Sermons of Zerahia Halevi Saladin (Beer Sheva University Press, 2013). Prof. Ackerman’s new book on creation and codification in the philosophy of Hasdai Crescas – Hasdai Crescas on Codification, Cosmology and Creation (Brill Press, 2022) is newly published. President Ackerman lives with his family in Jerusalem.
