Unity for the sake of Heaven

בענין דור הפלגה שע"ז נאמר זכור ימות עולם כו' יצב גבולות עמים למספבנ"י.

Regarding the Dor Haflagah (the generation of the dispersion), about which it is said: "Remember the days of old… He set the borders of the peoples according to the number of Bnei Yisrael" (Devarim 32:7-8).

The Sefas Emes opens with the episode of the Tower of Bavel, linking it to the posuk that the very boundaries of the nations were arranged with Bnei Yisrael in mind.

שבאמת כח האחדות גדול מאוד לעורר כח השורש מן השמים.

For in truth the power of achdus (unity) is very great, to awaken the power of the root from Heaven.

When people join together as one, that unity has the strength to draw down the spiritual root from above.

אך שצריך להיות לשם שמים.

But it must be l'shem Shomayim (for the sake of Heaven).

The decisive condition is the intent: unity only accomplishes this when it is directed toward Hashem.

וזה נמצא רק בבנ"י שהרי דור הפלגה התאספו כולם ולא עלתה בידם.

And this is found only among Bnei Yisrael, for the Dor Haflagah all gathered together yet did not succeed.

The builders of Bavel had perfect unity, but because it was not for Heaven's sake their project came to nothing.

רק לבנ"י חלק ה' עמו ניתן כח האחדות וזהו הבנין ודאי הי' דבר גדול רק דכ' ונעשה לנו שם.

Only to Bnei Yisrael, "Hashem's portion is His people" (Devarim 32:9), was the power of unity given. As for that building — it was surely a great thing, except that it is written: "and let us make for ourselves a name" (Bereishis 11:4).

The capacity for true unity belongs to Bnei Yisrael. The tower itself was an impressive undertaking, but its flaw lay in its self-serving goal — to make a name for themselves.

ולא הי' כנסי' לשם שמים ולא נתקיים.

It was not a gathering for the sake of Heaven, and therefore it did not endure.

A union built on self-glory has no lasting foundation and inevitably collapses.

ובבני ישראל נתקיים אח"כ בבנין המקדש.

But among Bnei Yisrael it was fulfilled afterward in the building of the Bais Hamikdash.

The true counterpart to Bavel's failed tower is the Mikdash, where unity for Heaven's sake achieved permanence.

כי ביהמ"ק לא הי' בנין עצים ואבנים בלבד.

For the Bais Hamikdash was not a building of wood and stones alone.

Its essence was not physical material but something far deeper.

רק שע"י התחברות בנ"י שכל איש ישראל יש בו איזה חלק וכמ"ש בונה בשמים כו' ואגודתו על ארץ.

Rather, it was built through the joining together of Bnei Yisrael, for every Jew has within him some portion of it, as it is written: "He builds His upper chambers in the heavens, and has founded His band (agudah) upon the earth" (Amos 9:6).

Each Jew contributes a personal share, and it is the binding-together (agudah) of all these shares that forms the structure on earth.

וכ' ירושלים הבנוי' כו' ונעשה בנין למטה ע"י נפשות בני ישראל שיש בכל אחד אות או נקודה כמ"ש כל הנקרא בשמי כו'.

And it is written: "Yerushalayim that is built…" (Tehillim 122:3) — a building is made below through the neshamos of Bnei Yisrael, for in each one there is a letter or a point, as it is written: "everyone that is called by My Name…" (Yeshayahu 43:7).

The earthly structure is assembled from the souls of Bnei Yisrael, each holding its own letter or inner point of holiness that bears Hashem's Name.

וזהו נקרא לשם שמים שיחול על הכנסי' שמו ית' כמ"ש אם ה' לא יבנה כו'.

And this is what "for the sake of Heaven" means — that His Name should rest upon the gathering, as it is written: "If Hashem will not build the house…" (Tehillim 127:1).

"L'shem Shomayim" is precisely when Hashem's Name comes to rest on the assembled people; without His participation no true building stands.

וע"י בנין המקדש נתעלו להיות דבקות לנפשות בנ"י בעולם העליון כמ"ש ששם עלו כו'.

And through the building of the Mikdash they were elevated, so that the souls of Bnei Yisrael had dveikus (attachment) in the upper world, as it is written: "for there the tribes went up…" (Tehillim 122:4).

The Mikdash lifted the souls of Bnei Yisrael into cleaving to the higher world.

ורמזו חז"ל בפסוק עלה נעלה אפילו אומר עשו סולמות ועלו לשמים נצליח כו'.

And Chazal hinted at this in the posuk "We shall surely go up" (Bamidbar 13:30) — even if he says, "Make ladders and ascend to Heaven," we shall succeed.

Calev's confidence expresses the same idea: with Hashem's help even an ascent to Heaven is attainable.

והרי זה ממש כמאמר נבנה עיר וראשו בשמים כו' רק ע"י שהי' לשם שמים נתקיים בידם:

And this is literally like the statement "Let us build a city with its top in the heavens" (Bereishis 11:4) — only that because it was for the sake of Heaven, it endured in their hands.

The very ambition that doomed Bavel — reaching to the heavens — succeeds for Bnei Yisrael precisely because their aim is Hashem rather than themselves.

Summary: The power of unity is immense, but it only endures when it is l'shem Shomayim. The Dor Haflagah united to make a name for themselves and collapsed; Bnei Yisrael, joined together in the Bais Hamikdash through the inner point in every soul, reached the heavens and lasted — because their unity was for the sake of Hashem.