Noah: Violence
Noah: Violence
An important theme in Noach is the generation of nations. We know that Noach and his family will be the sole survivors of the deluge. All of humanity is descended from the righteous Noach. It is by virtue of his righteousness that our species ( and many other species) was saved.
After the flood, the curse of Ham separates him, and his descendants, from Shem and Japheth. The story implies that Ham's problem included child rearing because we are told of the involvelemt of his son Canaan.
The story of the Tower of Babel is foundational in the generation of nations. Language is one of the most important ways in which peoples are divided. A lack of understanding is very helpful in making people not get along.
The parsha ends with the birth of Abraham and the saga of his family: Terach is an old father, Abraham is born when Terach is 90. Terach is a refugee from Ur Casdim. He son dies there ( circumstances not given in the text) They emigrated to Haran., on the road to Canaan Is there a parallel between Noah and his three sons and their wives and Terach , his three sons and their wives? Is Terach going to Canaan to fulfill the Noach's words, that Canaan will be a servant, thus the land of Canaan is open for domination by the Semites?
I find it tempting tp read the theme of domination into this chapter. The tower of Babel could be seen as a watchtower, a way to make sure that no one strays from the official gaze of the government. The violence that brought the deluge must have had an element of one person trying to dominate over another person or group.
In the Torah, the individual perpetrators of violence are usually sentenced to exile. They are removed from the polis, their threat and message is isolated. In the age of the social media, there is no exile. The violence message is instantly broadcast and magnified. Malcolm Gladwell wrote a piece in the New Yorker called "Thresholds of Violence". He says that acts of violence facilitate further acts of violence. This is a position that is syntonic with studies behavioral economics... it feels right. This lowering of the bar to violence is going on in America and it is an element of the current violence in Israel. The situation in Israel is inflamed by politicians casting these acts of adolescent rage as political. I reject the idea that a 15 year old with a knife is making a political statement. Politicians should not lower the threshold to violence further.
There are political problems in Israel. Those problems have a root in domination, definitions of peoplehood, the status lands, the meaning of sales, national and racial prejudices, conflicting religious directives, evolving ideas scriptural interpretation. Those issues are present on all ( there are more than 2, more than 20) sides of the conflict. We should not glorify the violence....it could bring a flood...of violence
The parsha ends with the birth of Abraham and the saga of his family: Terach is an old father, Abraham is born when Terach is 90. Terach is a refugee from Ur Casdim. He son dies there ( circumstances not given in the text) They emigrated to Haran., on the road to Canaan Is there a parallel between Noah and his three sons and their wives and Terach , his three sons and their wives? Is Terach going to Canaan to fulfill the Noach's words, that Canaan will be a servant, thus the land of Canaan is open for domination by the Semites?
I find it tempting tp read the theme of domination into this chapter. The tower of Babel could be seen as a watchtower, a way to make sure that no one strays from the official gaze of the government. The violence that brought the deluge must have had an element of one person trying to dominate over another person or group.
In the Torah, the individual perpetrators of violence are usually sentenced to exile. They are removed from the polis, their threat and message is isolated. In the age of the social media, there is no exile. The violence message is instantly broadcast and magnified. Malcolm Gladwell wrote a piece in the New Yorker called "Thresholds of Violence". He says that acts of violence facilitate further acts of violence. This is a position that is syntonic with studies behavioral economics... it feels right. This lowering of the bar to violence is going on in America and it is an element of the current violence in Israel. The situation in Israel is inflamed by politicians casting these acts of adolescent rage as political. I reject the idea that a 15 year old with a knife is making a political statement. Politicians should not lower the threshold to violence further.
There are political problems in Israel. Those problems have a root in domination, definitions of peoplehood, the status lands, the meaning of sales, national and racial prejudices, conflicting religious directives, evolving ideas scriptural interpretation. Those issues are present on all ( there are more than 2, more than 20) sides of the conflict. We should not glorify the violence....it could bring a flood...of violence
posted by Sheldon Goldberg at 8:28 AM
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