CITY OF SEVEN SINS. Parables. MAX JAKOBSON

      Tower of Babel

      New reading

      High mountains hid in the deep ocean along with the last hopes of returning home. For several years, the shaking of water and earth turned villages and cities into dust and dirt; billowing waves carried boats, crops and lives to the ocean. Nothing remained of the great empire, only the memories that survivors will pass on to their children and entrust to descendants to tell again.

      And they were only a few hundred, and they did not know if there was anyone else besides them in the whole world. The birds led their large ship, which was badly damaged by storms, into fertile land: on each side of the land great rivers flowed, quenching thirst and yielding food.

      A year after the flood, when the first crop was harvested and the second was ripening, the eldest survivor of the flood, Hanoch, proclaimed:

      “We mourned our great homeland and the departed. But the Almighty Father loves us for he saved our lives and granted us a beautiful land, the sun and a clear sky. We are gathering a rich harvest and building houses for our families. The time has come to give glory to the Almighty and to erect a temple to heaven in His honor and in His name, so that generations to come will see the greatness of the Creator, and the Almighty will continue to be merciful.”

      With rejoicing, the words of Hanoch were received. For he did not even learn the opinion of everyone, before the people leapt from their places and cried out:

      “Yes! Verily we will build a temple in the name of our Heavenly Father!”

      And all as one they elected to begin from tomorrow’s sunrise. And Hanoch, in addition to his venerable status, became the chief architect of the temple.

      The first rays of the sun barely reached over the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, before the entire nation, young and old, were standing at the house of Hanoch in readiness, waiting to hear the first orders for construction of the temple to the Most High.

      “Listen to me,” Hanoch began, “we must create a great temple, the highest, higher than those we had before the flood, so our Heavenly Father can see our love for Him and reverence and would not send the flood to our nation again! All will have work: someone will have to extract stone and fire bricks, someone will have to carry them to their place, someone will need to lay walls, someone will need to paint them, and someone will graze the livestock and grow wheat, so everyone will be fed.

      Hundreds of men and women as one soul welcomed Hanoch’s speech and set to work under his leadership unconditionally fulfilling all his directions, believing in their work as good. Yerachmiel was responsible for the selection and preparation of stone and brick; the most powerful of all – Shimshon, was responsible for the delivery of building material, he could alone lift a huge granite monolith and carry it from the mine to the site of the temple’s construction. Many great men helped Shimshon, including Ephraim, whose wife Gili gave him the great joy of many sons. Hayim and Zeev began the erection of the walls of the temple, and with them ten dozen men. For once before Hayim built a port in a big city and Zeev worked for him. Painting and embellishing the walls of the temple was entrusted to Hillel and Aaron, who had an eye for beauty, but also Hillel remembered the sacred texts of the forefathers well. Responsible for increasing and raising livestock was young Itzhak, whose beautiful wife Yonah weaved carpets for the temple from the wool of the sheep. Talia and Merav became the head bakers, and therefore one of the most respected wives of the whole community. Ilana and Lilach offered to create a garden of trees and flowers around the temple.

      And so, when a huge field was cleared for the future temple, Hanoch came out before the whole nation and made a speech, which gave them even greater strength and faith.

      “Today, in the early morning hour, I heard the voice of the Most High, and He told me what His temple should be and what we must do to be in His mercy.”

      An animated murmur ran down the rows of people, and some began to fall to their knees with tears in their eyes.

      “The Almighty said that it is necessary to build a pyramid, which will become a platform on which to build His temple. He also ordered all of us,” emphasized Hanoch, “to work every day, except for the days of the full moon, when it is needful to devote all of the time to prayer.”

      Cries of delight were heard far beyond the valley, for so great was the joy to see their prophet amongst them. And everyone rushed forward to build the pyramid. Zeev said that he participated in the construction of one pyramid in the old times, and Hillel hastened to bring from his salvaged library an encyclopedia of the great buildings of the past.

      Every morning, Hanoch took to the field and shared messages from the Almighty about the valiant labor and the great work of their nation: for all living, for the earth, and even the Heavens. And everyone paused in their work at this hour such was the reverence for Hanoch. They titled Hanoch a prophet and freed him from all labor, and all his needs were met by the help of everyone: whether it was building a new house or sewing ritual dresses. Over time the wife of Zeev, Galia who was quick-witted, began to record the messages of the Almighty, delivered through the prophet Hanoch, onto a large board in front of the pyramid being built. Now everyone could see the instructions of Heaven and reread them in moments of rest.

      The Prophet Hanoch became so busy with his service to the Almighty that he stopped coming to the builders in the morning, he voiced all the messages to Galia, and she delivered them to the others. Galia had become much respected; all came to her to learn more about the epistles of Hanoch.

      “Tell me, dear Galia, has the Almighty opened to our prophet Hanoch today what flowers to plant around the temple?” Asked Lilach.

      “Unfortunately, no, maybe tomorrow this will be opened to us,” answered Galia.

      And Lilach came to Galia the next day and the following days to learn more about flowers or anything else.

      The pyramid was being built, and now the first two levels were ready. The work went smoothly and efficiently, each helped each other, and no one was offended.

      “I already gave you a bowl of soup and three cakes, how much more do you want!” Old Merav protested in the kitchen when the ever-hungry Shimshon came to her.

      “Granite slabs are very heavy, Merav. Oh, tomorrow there will be no more beautiful slabs for facing from the northern quarry, there will not be any,” Shimshon started his pitiful song that never failed to touch Merav: she sighed and would soon find an extra loaf of bread and a bowl of soup for Shimshon.

      When the third level of the pyramid was ready, everyone in a single impulse began to build the fourth. The prophet Hanoch entered the construction field, and he was clearly serious, and his expression was sober.

      “This was a test for us. For the Most High tried our faith and our willingness to follow Him. And we followed Him and began to build a pyramid, but what is the need for a pyramid, is it a mirage of the former empire that was hidden under the sea waters? Why do we need to return that which is already gone and perished?”

      Nobody could understand, everyone left their affairs and listened