A Thought On Parshas Noach
A Thought On Parshas Noach
"...va'yomer arur Kanaan eved avadim....baruch HaShem
Elokei Shem......yaft Elokim l'Yefes..."
"...and Noach said Cursed is Kanaan, a slave's slave...Blessed be G-d
the Lord of Shem...May G-d expand Yefes..." (9:25-27)
I have known some people in my lifetime who have had unusual first names. I worked with a woman named Place once. I knew a Jewish man named Yad (hand). I met a child named Levy, not Jewish, whose hillbilly father chose the name because "he was soft like my best pants."
In Biblical times, our tradition relates, names were chosen with purpose, precision and at times with prophetic vision. How did Noach come up with the name Shem, which simply means "name"?
When Noach addresses his three adult sons and forecasts their descendant's destinies, there are some striking parallels between each forecast and the respective names that he had earlier chosen for those sons.
The Bechor Shor comments: the third son mentioned is Yefes. His name means to expand. The blessing later given to him is also one of expanding - yaft Elokim le'Yefes - HaShem will expand his borders so that his domain will encompass many lands. There is an audible linguistic parallel between Yefes and Yaft.
The first son mentioned is actually not a son but a grandson of Noach. Our tradition states that both that grandson, and his father, were guilty of a grave misdeed in disrespecting their father Noach. The grandson was Kanaan and the father was Cham. The dismal forecast began with how each of Cham's sons would become Kanaan-like, "a slave to slaves." The linguistic parallel with his name Kanaan is that the word nichnaa means to submit or to be subservient. The concept of "a slave to slaves" meant that his descendants would be a lowly nation who would seek slaves from among their own relatives. The Bechor Shor observes that, as an illustration of this, we see that MItzrayim (Egypt) was a son of Cham and brother of Kanaan. In various places, we find Egypt referred to as "bais avadim", the house of bondage or slavery. One would assume that this means that the Jews were slaves there (for example, we say "u'mi'bais avadim pidi'sanu" - You redeemed us from Egypt, the house of slavery"; in the Book of Shoftim (6:8) we also read v'otzie eschem mi'bais avadim - I brought you out of Egypt, the house of slavery.) The Bechor Shor suggests that an accurate reading of that expression is that Egypt is called a "house of slavery" because it was a home to slaves who took other slaves to serve them. This was the curse given to Cham that his descendants might subjugate other people but they would always remain lowly and under-civilized themselves.
The second reference is to Shem. The blessing is "blessed is HaShem the Lord of Shem." That seems like a reflexive blessing. Who is getting blessed, Shem, or G-d? The Bechor Shor suggests that the word parallel here is that the name Shem is actually a name of HaShem. Apparently, Noach named his son Shem as a means of bestowing honor to G-d Himself. We find that in the Book of Shmuel (II 6:2) it is written "asher nikra shem Shem HaShem." One way of understanding that verse is that it means a name of HaShem is "the Name". The veritable play on words in our verse, then, is that the blessing of HaShem is a blessing of the son who is also named Shem.
The mystique of that blessing is that, in contrast with Cham, the only One who is above Shem is G-d. There is no master who lords over Shem in the manner that masters and slave-masters subjugate the descendants of Cham. In that way, under any conditions, those who are still authentic Semites - the Jewish people - will always be a free nation when they and the world accept that the only master whom we honor and acknowledge is the One Above us all.
We've got a name to live up to, and a Name to live up to. Good Shabbos. D Fox
"...va'yomer arur Kanaan eved avadim....baruch HaShem
Elokei Shem......yaft Elokim l'Yefes..."
"...and Noach said Cursed is Kanaan, a slave's slave...Blessed be G-d
the Lord of Shem...May G-d expand Yefes..." (9:25-27)
I have known some people in my lifetime who have had unusual first names. I worked with a woman named Place once. I knew a Jewish man named Yad (hand). I met a child named Levy, not Jewish, whose hillbilly father chose the name because "he was soft like my best pants."
In Biblical times, our tradition relates, names were chosen with purpose, precision and at times with prophetic vision. How did Noach come up with the name Shem, which simply means "name"?
When Noach addresses his three adult sons and forecasts their descendant's destinies, there are some striking parallels between each forecast and the respective names that he had earlier chosen for those sons.
The Bechor Shor comments: the third son mentioned is Yefes. His name means to expand. The blessing later given to him is also one of expanding - yaft Elokim le'Yefes - HaShem will expand his borders so that his domain will encompass many lands. There is an audible linguistic parallel between Yefes and Yaft.
The first son mentioned is actually not a son but a grandson of Noach. Our tradition states that both that grandson, and his father, were guilty of a grave misdeed in disrespecting their father Noach. The grandson was Kanaan and the father was Cham. The dismal forecast began with how each of Cham's sons would become Kanaan-like, "a slave to slaves." The linguistic parallel with his name Kanaan is that the word nichnaa means to submit or to be subservient. The concept of "a slave to slaves" meant that his descendants would be a lowly nation who would seek slaves from among their own relatives. The Bechor Shor observes that, as an illustration of this, we see that MItzrayim (Egypt) was a son of Cham and brother of Kanaan. In various places, we find Egypt referred to as "bais avadim", the house of bondage or slavery. One would assume that this means that the Jews were slaves there (for example, we say "u'mi'bais avadim pidi'sanu" - You redeemed us from Egypt, the house of slavery"; in the Book of Shoftim (6:8) we also read v'otzie eschem mi'bais avadim - I brought you out of Egypt, the house of slavery.) The Bechor Shor suggests that an accurate reading of that expression is that Egypt is called a "house of slavery" because it was a home to slaves who took other slaves to serve them. This was the curse given to Cham that his descendants might subjugate other people but they would always remain lowly and under-civilized themselves.
The second reference is to Shem. The blessing is "blessed is HaShem the Lord of Shem." That seems like a reflexive blessing. Who is getting blessed, Shem, or G-d? The Bechor Shor suggests that the word parallel here is that the name Shem is actually a name of HaShem. Apparently, Noach named his son Shem as a means of bestowing honor to G-d Himself. We find that in the Book of Shmuel (II 6:2) it is written "asher nikra shem Shem HaShem." One way of understanding that verse is that it means a name of HaShem is "the Name". The veritable play on words in our verse, then, is that the blessing of HaShem is a blessing of the son who is also named Shem.
The mystique of that blessing is that, in contrast with Cham, the only One who is above Shem is G-d. There is no master who lords over Shem in the manner that masters and slave-masters subjugate the descendants of Cham. In that way, under any conditions, those who are still authentic Semites - the Jewish people - will always be a free nation when they and the world accept that the only master whom we honor and acknowledge is the One Above us all.
We've got a name to live up to, and a Name to live up to. Good Shabbos. D Fox
posted by Rabbi Dr. Fox at 9:18 PM
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