Children are wonderful but when they cause trouble they need to be disciplined. Many parents will confess that when their kids get into trouble together, the joy of seeing their sibling cooperation on display - albeit for a naughty purpose - is so wonderful, and they dial down the scolding and punishing.
This week’s parshah Noach is all about disasters. First we learn that humanity deteriorated to the point that thievery, murder and promiscuity was the living standard; every man for himself in the most intense and gruesome fashion.
G-d was so disgusted and appalled by the moral and ethical state of affairs that a complete reset was needed. Every living specimen was annihilated from the face of the earth with only eight humans and a sample couple of each specimen miraculously surviving the year long disaster on the Ark to start it all up again.
After giving the world a good sanitizing G-d was confident humanity would never descend into such chaos and promised Noach such devastation would never happen again, placing the rainbow in the clouds as an assurance of that oath. Lo and behold, a few generations later, as humanity started repopulating the earth, they once again descended into the moral and ethical abyss.
The conspiracy theorists among them pontificated that the Great Flood would happen approximately every 1,500 and they needed to wage war with the vengeful G-d to ensure their legacy will not evaporate like that of the pre flood generation. Rallying the vast majority of civilization, they settled in the flatlands, built a huge city and in its center started constructing a massive tower meant to reach the heavens. They figured it was their best chance to beat G-d who threatened their eternal legacy.
In response to this blatant blasphemy G-d determined it was time to disperse humanity by robbing them of their ability to communicate with each other. Up until that point everyone spoke the same language. All of a sudden seventy new languages were transplanted into their minds and a new world order of seventy distinct nations - grouped together by their common language - emerged.
It was a traumatic transformation which caused much turmoil and quickly terminated the massive construction project.
Why was the pre flood generation annihilated while the post flood generation was merely dispersed? Surely attempting to wage war on G-d is a grave sin worthy of severe consequences. These two punishments are extremely disproportionate.
Our sages explain that the unity of the post flood generation was their saving grace. Although their sin was against G-d Himself, their cooperation and cohesion set them apart from the discord and chaos that characterized the pre flood generation. While building the massive tower to fight with G-d was bad and had to stop, their unity signaled the spark of morality and divinity still alive within them and the possibility for rehabilitation. When everyone's for themself, all hope is lost.
While there is certainly much that sets people apart from each other, remember that we are in the journey of life together, and emphasizing our commonality is the first step to preparing our world for its ultimate perfection in the era of Moshiach when peace and tranquility will reign for all.