Musar su Genesi 11:4

והיה עקב תשמעון . In the previous paragraph (7,7) the Torah explained that G–d's love for the Jewish people is not based on our superior numbers, seeing that we are "small," numerically speaking. The Talmud Chulin 89a states in the name of Rabbi Eliezer that the meaning of this verse is that G–d likes the Jewish people because even when they are riding high (economically) they still humble themselves, i.e. they behave as if they were מעט מכל העמים, the least significant of all nations. Abraham, for instance, described himself as: אנכי עפר ואפר, "I am but dust and ashes" (Genesis 18,27). Moses and Aaron (Exodus 16,7) said of themselves: ונחנו מה, "What do we amount to?" David described himself as: ואנכי תולעת ולא איש "I am only a worm, not a man" (Psalms 22,7). On the other hand, the "great" men among the Gentile nations did not react in this fashion to the greatness I (G–d) have bestowed upon them. I have given greatness to Nimrod; he responded by building a Tower in order to assert himself against Me. I gave greatness to Pharaoh; he responded by claiming "Who is the Lord that I should listen to Him?" (Exodus 5,2). I made Sancheriv a mighty ruler and he reacted by saying: "Who among the gods of all these lands has saved them from me that you should imagine that the Lord will save you from me?" (Kings II 18,35). Similar expressions of arrogance are recorded as having been used by Chirom the king of Tzor, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and others. Rava or Rabbi Yochanan are reported to have said that the continued existence of the universe would not have been permitted had it not been for Moses and Aaron and people of their caliber, all of whom said of themselves: "what do we amount to?" It is interesting that G–d is described in Job 26,7 as תולה ארץ על בלימה, "suspending earth over merely מה" (hardly something), a reference to Moses and Aaron who had described themselves as נחנו מה. Rabbi lla'i, also on folio 89 Chulin, suggests the meaning of the verse in Job to be that the earth will be allowed to survive for the sake of people who בולם את עצמם, "put the brakes on their ego" at times of strife. Rabbi Abahu, on the other hand, says that he who considers himself as if he did not exist is the "salt of the earth." He uses Deut. 3,27: ומתחת זרועות עולם, in the sense of "he who is trampled by the world is the real 'arms' supporting the universe." Rabbi Yitzchak derives this same message from Psalms 58,2: האמנם אלם צדק תדברון מישרים תשפטו בני אדם. He understands this verse to mean that maintaining a silent (אלם) profile and speaking out only in matters of צדק, i.e. Torah, is what keeps the world going.

[The author continues to see additional symbolisms in the juxtaposition of certain vowels in the words מגדול, מגדל. I have decided to omit those. According to these symbolisms it was David's task to rescue mankind from the effects of the Tower מגדל בבל, and this is why we have these various spellings of the word מגדל in the Book of Samuel. Ed.] The result of G–d's dispersing the people who had built the מגדל, Tower, in Genesis 11,5 was to create seventy nations. It will be the task of the Messiah, i.e. David reincarnate, to repair the damage caused at the time that Tower was built. He will conquer all those nations and he alone will rule. We find an allusion to this when the people of the generation of the Tower justified their action by saying: נעשה לנו שם, "Let us make a name for ourselves." We also find that it is said of David: ויעש דוד שם, "David made a name for himself" (Samuel II 8,13).

Even when the generation of the Tower set out to build the Tower saying "we want to make a name for ourselves, they still meant to serve and respect G–d. That part of their intention was laudable. Their sin consisted in their wanting to isolate G–d's name, (which represented the attribute of מלכות, dominion), to the heavens. They wanted a clear separation of earthly and heavenly authority. The earth was supposed to be under human sovereignty only. All this is explained in detail by Nachmanides, Rekanati and the Tziyoni. When G–d dispersed those people all over the earth, He only practiced the principle of מדה כנגד מדה, measure for measure. Just as they had tried to separate G–d from themselves, so G–d separated them from each other.