In honour of Parashat Noach and the Tower of Babel; this week’s Torah portion. I visited the Hieroglyph exhibition at the British museum with Rafael and my father David. Seeing the Rosetta Stone moved into this exhibition demonstrating the process of decoding from hieroglyphics to Demotic to Greek couldn’t have manifested Torah’s description better;
Genesis 11:9 Therefore its name is called Babel; because the Eternal confounded the language of all the earth: and from this the Eternal scattered them abroad across the face of all the earth.
The deciphering and decoding of French Egyptologists like Jean-Francois Champollion changed our understanding of the ancient Near East and it adds to our biblical comprehension as well.
The story of Babel and the challenge of communication is usually understood as a myth about hubris and human audacity. But this week at the British Museum I was reminded that the attempt to converse and or understand each other is the most human response to life we have. It's a nice lesson to be reminded of.
Please note this week is our final call for HHD charity donations and we now turn towards our Mitzvah Day plans with the Rainbow Centre- We are looking for accountants for their much relied upon debt advice service, ex-teachers for homework help, craft-y people for February Half Term holiday club.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rebecca