Why build a tower of babel? The question has received many answers. One in particular is crucial for our world.

Rabbi Obadia Sforno, born in the late 15th century in Italy, argues that the tower was intended to unify the world in a certain practice of idolatry. This explanation may be a product of the world in which Sforno lived, but it also has a great deal to say to our own world.

15th century Italy, unlike anywhere else in Europe, was divided into independent city states. Therefore, it epitomized a condition already present in Europe in general, which is a distribution of authority.

Historian Jared Diamond makes this point about Columbus. Columbus first approached the rulers of Portugal to fund his voyage and they refused. Had Columbus been part of a single empire like that which prevailed in China, a first refusal would have been final. But he lived in Europe, where each country had its own government. Having been turned away in Portugal, he went next to Ferdinand and Isabella in Spain. They, along with private funders who also had a measure of autonomy, agreed and he set sail.

Sforno understood the power of plurality and diversity from his home in Italy. He also understood the temptation of totalitarianism. What is God’s solution to the building of the tower? Enforce diversity by breaking the people up into different groups with different languages.

Throughout history people have dreamed of making humanity conform in culture or language or politics. The 20th century built such “perfect places” with the ideologies of fascism and communism. We see such ideologies continued or revived today – people who insist others think and live as they do.

Judaism has long absorbed the lesson of diversity; it is a monotheistic faith that does not demand that others join our faith. Judaism asks others to be good, not to be Jewish. As the Rabbis teach, the stamp of human coins are identical but the Divine stamp makes each individual unique. From the time of the tower, we have recognized that God seeks human beings with diverse outlooks and gifts, to create a varied and multicolored world.