Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 5 Cheshvan, 5784
Parsha Noah: (Genesis 6:9- 11:32) 
Sixth Portion: Genesis 9:18 – 10:32

Today’s portion is significant.  After Adam and Chavah eating from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, we see another descent into slavery.  Let’s look at the beginning of the passage (Genesis 9:18-22):

18And the sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth; and Ham he was the father of Canaan.

19These three were the sons of Noah, and from these, the entire earth spread out.

20And Noah began to be a master of the soil, and he planted a vineyard.

21And he drank of the wine and became drunk, and he uncovered himself within his tent.

22And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father’s nakedness, and he told his two brothers outside.

There is a lot of confusion in the text here.  Reading it there are questions.

• Why is Canaan introduced here? He didn’t seem to be pivotal.
• Why did Noah plant a vineyard?
• Why did Noah become drunk, and what does “he uncovered himself within his tent” mean?
• And why did Ham “see” his father’s nakedness, and why tell his brothers outside?

Let’s keep going (Genesis 9:23-27):

23And Shem and Japheth took the garment, and they placed [it] on both of their shoulders, and they walked backwards, and they covered their father’s nakedness, and their faces were turned backwards, so that they did not see their father’s nakedness.

24And Noah awoke from his wine, and he knew what his small son had done to him.

25And he said, “Cursed be Canaan; he shall be a slave among slaves to his brethren.”

26And he said, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem, and may Canaan be a slave to them.

27May God expand Japheth, and may He dwell in the tents of Shem, and may Canaan be a slave to them.”

More questions:

• Why was it so important for Shem and Japheth NOT see their father’s nakedness.
• How did Noah know what Ham did to him? If it was just about seeing nakedness, there is NO WAY Noah would have known if he was passed out drunk.
• Why did Noah curse Canaan? What did Canaan do?
• Why is Ham not mentioned in these verses?

After these passages, we get into more of a family tree; so we are going to focus on these passages.

I’ve written a ton in answer to these questions below over the past two years. But I want to highlight some things:

• Noah was righteous before the flood
• Noah built an ark – a lifeboat. And a prison.
• The flood came
• The flood left
• Noah was on dry ground and knew it. He stayed on the ark
• Hashem called him out.
• He left the ark.
• Hashem told Noah to be fruitful and multiply

That’s the context.

And what did Noah do? Planted a vineyard and got drunk.

And. Likely was sexually assaulted by his son. Or at least physically assaulted. But Noah, as a response to trauma he experienced “degraded himself” and got drunk.  And instead of owning the responsibility? He placed the burden on someone else.  And instead of getting angry at Ham? He cursed Ham’s son. Noah used Ham’s kids to hurt Ham.

So now – because of Noah’s decision to plant a vineyard – instead of going out to be fruitful and multiply – we have new trauma introduced into Humanity.

Let’s bring this back to us.

We go through amazing times of safety with storms raging around us.  And Hashem takes care of us.  Keeps us safe. And the storm ends, and we leave our survival – and we really don’t know what to do with ourselves.  We don’t want to live in peace.  Even those who were righteous before the storm.  Noah is flawed. And yet, he is a venerated person in the Torah.

We don’t have to be ashamed of our past. If Noah can navigate this, so can we.

The final takeaway – are we living out our purpose (being fruitful and multiply was Noah’s – but our purpose may be different) or are we planting vineyards so we can get drunk and distract ourselves from the Trauma of our past?

That is my takeaway today.  What is yours?

Here is my commentary from the past two years:

Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 3 Cheshvan 5783

Wow. I read today’s Torah portion – and then read my thoughts from a year ago. This is such a powerful portion.

This year, reading it, I continue to be struck how Noah “degraded” himself by planting a vineyard first and got drunk. He just survived a lot of trauma. The Torah judges his actions. And yet, his son assaults him.

Reading it this go around, I didn’t really seem to believe Ham did anything wrong. Why did he talk about what he did with his brothers? I’m guessing it’s because maybe he thought he was justified? And why did Noah get upset at his grandson Canaan and not his son who assaulted him? Is it because Ham WAS justified? Because Noah didn’t curse Ham. He cursed Canaan.

And how interesting in the Torah – the land of Canaan became the promised land. Why? So many questions stand out; and they center around Justice, right and wrong, and morality.

Maybe the takeaway is how nuanced everything is. It isn’t always something we can just “figure out.”

Noah’s was wrong according to the Torah. Canaan was wrong according to Noah. It is interesting the Torah doesn’t NECESSARILY condemn Canaan or Ham per se – other than through Noah.

So many questions. This is such a good portion. Thoughts?

Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 2 Heshvan, 5782

Torah thought of the day.

Today’s portion kind of smacks you in the face. To recap, Noah just came out of the ark, Hashem wanted him and his sons to be fruitful and multiply. But Noah was scared, Hashem gave him the rainbow to reassure him.

So what did Noah do with all of this reassurance?

He planted a vineyard. It says “he degraded himself” by planting a vineyard. Noah liked to drink. So with his newfound freedom and reassurance, he went back to old habits. And wow did it get him into trouble!

Now, we don’t know how fast the vineyard grew that he planted. It could have been immediate (the portion days Noah was a master of the soil) and the soil helped the vineyard grow fast; or it could have taken seasons. But whatever it was, led to trouble!

Basically Noah then got drunk and got naked in his tent. His son Ham “looked at his father’s nakedness.”

Upon first glance this passage doesn’t make a lot of sense. I’ve read it a bunch of times and wasn’t sure why Noah reacted the way he did. But the Talmud (I think it’s the Talmud – again I’m not an expert) says basically Ham assaulted his father in the tent while he was intoxicated. Some rabbis do believe Ham sexually assaulted Noah; which honestly would explain some things.

Regardless of the type of assault, maybe this is why Ham isn’t kosher? Badum tish.

Sorry. Let me go back to being serious;

Ham’s brothers treat this very differently than Ham. They are extra careful not to look at their father’s nakedness.

Noah wakes up and “realized what his youngest son had done to him.” Again, if it was just that Ham looked at him, I’m not sure why Noah would be so angry. It makes more sense that Ham did “something.”

In response, Noah curses Ham’s son Canaan (who is one of four sons). He basically said Canaan will be a slave among slaves to his brethren.

Why Canaan? What about Cush, Mizraim or Put?

The rabbinical thought is Canaan told his dad about Noah’s nakedness; which led to the assault.

My thought is that Canaan should have responded the way Shem and Japtheth did- act compassionately and cover up Noah’s nakedness. But instead he acted selfishly.

But WOW! What a messed up response to the rainbow!

We don’t read about any other children of Noah, even after Hashem asked him to be fruitful and multiply. You could imagine the trauma of Noah and how the assault may have impacted his willingness to be fruitful and multiply even with the rainbow. That’s some trauma.

As I chew on this passage I’m humbled by my own responses to Hashem’s blessings in my Life. Like Noah, Hashem could do something really great (like protecting our family during difficult times), and immediately after I go back to thinking only of myself and “planting a vineyard.”

As an example, we were in the ER last night because my daughter Natana had an allergic reaction to a flu shot. It was a localized infection. But Hashem protected us; Kari’s dad (who is a nurse) just happened to be in town and looked at it and encouraged to get her help. She’s fine. Hashem protected her.

Yet this morning is a new day; and the appreciation and gratitude for Hashem tends to want to go away. I’m reminded of how instinctually I want to go to a place of selfishness. Instead of living in the gratitude of being taken care of.

I’m working on that. Trying to refocus. Bring my eyes and heart to a perspective that allows me to grateful and live out that gratitude.

Instead of planting a vineyard (what are my vineyards I like to plant? What are yours?). I need to rest and trust that what I’m being asked to do is good. The rainbow is enough of a sign for me to not need to get “drunk” in the “vineyard I planted” to do what I’m asked.

What are we being asked to do? What is our purpose? Our “be fruitful and multiply?”

And what would we rather do instead that keeps us from our purpose? What “vineyards” do we want to plant, instead of living out our purpose?”

I think these are important questions to ponder. What do you think?