Unity for the sake of Heaven endures

בענין דור הפלגה דכ' זכור ימות עולם כו' וכתבתי במ"א בשם מו"ז ז"ל הן עם אחד ושפה אחת הוא בנ"י שנק' גוי אחד כו'.

Regarding the Dor HaPlagah (Generation of Dispersion), of which it is written, "Remember the days of old," etc. (Devarim 32:7) — and I have written elsewhere in the name of my grandfather, of blessed memory, that "behold, they are one people with one language" alludes to Bnei Yisrael, who are called "one nation," etc.

The Sefas Emes introduces the Tower of Babel, citing his grandfather that the oneness of "one people, one language" really belongs to Bnei Yisrael, the true "one nation."

והענין הוא כמ"ש בסידור הבריאה והארץ היתה תהו כו' אח"כ יהי אור ויבדל הבדילו לצדיקים.

And the matter is as is written in the order of creation: "and the earth was tohu (chaos)," etc., and afterward "let there be light," and "He separated" — He set it apart for the tzaddikim.

The Sefas Emes maps the early generations onto the sequence of creation: first chaos and void, then light, then the separation of that light, which Chazal say Hashem hid away for the righteous.

וכ"ז נתקיים בדורות אלו כי דור המבול היו רשעים גמורים ומעשיהם תהו ובהו.

And all this was fulfilled in these generations: for the Generation of the Flood were complete resha'im (wicked ones), and their deeds were tohu va'vohu (chaos and void).

The Generation of the Flood corresponds to the primal chaos — utterly wicked, their actions amounting to formless void.

ובדור הפלגה כבר התחיל האור להאיר אך שלא היו הרשעים כדאי לקבל האור.

And in the Generation of Dispersion the light had already begun to shine, except that the wicked were not worthy to receive the light.

By the time of the Tower of Babel the hidden light of creation was beginning to emerge, but those wicked people were unfit to absorb it.

ועליהם דרשו בזוה"ק וימנע מרשעים אורם ע"ש פ' לך.

And concerning them the holy Zohar expounded, "and from the wicked their light is withheld" (Iyov 38:15) — see Parshas Lech Lecha.

The Zohar applies the verse about light being withheld from the wicked to this very generation: the light was present, but denied to them.

והיינו האור שהי' צריך להתגלות וזכה אברהם אבינו וקיבל שכר כולם.

And this is the light that needed to be revealed, and Avraham Avinu merited it and received the reward of them all.

That same light, which the generation could not receive, was instead earned by Avraham, who took for himself the reward that all of them had forfeited.

והנה הרשעים הבינו כי נמצא בהם האור הזה ורצו להתחכם באומרם פן נפוץ כו'.

Now the wicked understood that this light was present among them, and they sought to be clever, saying, "lest we be scattered," etc. (Bereishis 11:4).

The builders of Babel sensed that this special light resided among them and schemed to hold onto it by force, fearing dispersion — they wanted to seize the unity for themselves.

אבל השי"ת רצה שיהי' לו אומה מיוחדת ושיתבטלו כל עובדי האלילים לאומה זו ג) וממילא הי' לכולם שייכות להקדושה.

But Hashem desired that He have a distinct nation, and that all the idol-worshippers be subsumed (be nullified) to this nation, and then they would all have had a connection to holiness.

Hashem's plan was different: He wanted one special nation to which all the idolaters would become subordinate, so that through that nation even they would have shared in kedushah.

וזה האחדות שהי' נמצא בהם הי' אאע"ה.

And this unity that was present among them was Avraham Avinu.

The true point of oneness latent in that generation was none other than Avraham himself.

רק שלא זכו להתחבר עמו והבדילם השי"ת לרשעים.

Only that they did not merit to join with him, so Hashem separated them as wicked ones.

Because the generation failed to attach themselves to Avraham, Hashem set them apart as resha'im — dispersing them.

ד) ונטל האחדות מהם.

And He took the unity away from them.

Hashem removed the power of true oneness from the wicked.

ונשאר לבנ"י כמ"ש חז"ל פיזור יפה לרשעים.

And it remained with Bnei Yisrael, as Chazal said: "dispersion is good for the wicked."

The capacity for genuine unity was left to Bnei Yisrael, while for the wicked, as Chazal teach, scattering is the fitting outcome.

נאה להם ונאה לעולם.

It is good for them and good for the world.

Dispersing the wicked benefits both them and the world, since their gathering only produces harm.

וכינוס נאה לצדיקים.

And gathering is good for the tzaddikim.

For the righteous, the opposite is true: their unity and assembly is a benefit to all.

ובאמת לבוא לזה האחדות א"א בלי עזר אלקים כאשר נתן לנו השי"ת תורה ומצות ובכחם מתקיים האחדות בבני ישראל אבל לרשעים ה) הי' כנסי' שלא לש"ש ולא נתקיים כדכתיב אם ה' לא יבנה כו' ישמר עיר.

And in truth, to arrive at this unity is impossible without the help of Hashem — as Hashem gave us the Torah and mitzvos, and by their power the unity of Bnei Yisrael endures; but for the wicked it was a gathering not for the sake of Heaven, and it did not endure, as it is written, "If Hashem will not build [a house]... [in vain does] the watchman guard the city" (Tehillim 127:1).

True unity cannot be achieved by human effort alone; it requires Hashem's help, which He gave through Torah and mitzvos, and that is what sustains the oneness of Bnei Yisrael. The builders of Babel gathered without that divine purpose, so their project collapsed — as the verse teaches, without Hashem's involvement all building and guarding is futile.

והכל תלוי בכוונה לש"ש ודור המבול הי' מחלוקת שלא לשם שמים.

And everything depends on intention for the sake of Heaven. The Generation of the Flood was a machlokes (strife) not for the sake of Heaven.

The decisive factor is whether one's purpose is for Heaven's sake. The Flood generation embodied division and conflict that had no holy intent.

והפלגה כנסי' שלא לשם שמים.

And the Dispersion was a gathering not for the sake of Heaven.

The Babel generation embodied the opposite extreme — unity and assembly, but again without any sake-of-Heaven purpose, so it too was doomed.

וכמו כן בצדיקים נח הי' עמהם במחלוקת לשם שמים וניצל.

And so too among the righteous: Noach was with them in a machlokes for the sake of Heaven, and he was saved.

On the righteous side, Noach stood in opposition to his generation — a strife that was for the sake of Heaven — and therefore he was spared.

והם נמחו.

And they were blotted out.

The wicked of his generation, whose strife was not for Heaven's sake, were wiped away.

ואאע"ה הי' מכניס ומאחד מהם כל האורות כדאיתא שקיבל עליו שכר כולם ונתקיים בו כנסי' שהיא לשם שמים סופה להתקיים:

And Avraham Avinu gathered in and unified from them all the lights, as it is brought that he took upon himself the reward of them all — and in him was fulfilled "a gathering that is for the sake of Heaven, its end is to endure."

Avraham represents the holy counterpart of the Babel builders: he gathered and unified all the scattered lights for Heaven's sake, earning the reward of the entire generation, and so embodied the principle that a gathering undertaken for Heaven's sake is destined to last.

Summary: The early generations parallel the order of creation — the Flood generation was the chaos of tohu, while the Dispersion generation arose as the hidden light began to shine but proved unworthy to receive it. The true unity latent among them was really Avraham, who alone gathered in all the lights for the sake of Heaven and received the reward of all. Everything hinges on intention: strife or gathering "not for the sake of Heaven" cannot endure, while the unity of Bnei Yisrael, sustained by Torah and mitzvos and rooted in Avraham, is "a gathering for the sake of Heaven" whose end is to endure.