by Rabbi David Katz

The Ark of Noach carried the weight of one heavily anchored commandment: “refrain from relations.” As simple as this may appear to be easily kept, much investigation into this commandment could be at hand for further revelation. Cham son of Noach did just that: by attempting to understand and rationalize the great secrets within Divine Seed and Blood. Cham sought to identify with bloodlines, genetics, inheritance, and the overall knowledge of how the world works in association with the upper realms. Armed with this knowledge, one essentially can distinguish every part of the Divine plan, gaining a powerful upper hand. There are however two ways to achieve this Teaching: Through study, or by venturing into the vast unknowns of sin and evil. Welcome to the Worlds of Shem and Cham; two direct and antithetical paths of wisdom, Shem chose the Torah while Cham chose to rebel against God. Shem in his steadfastness to God merits to be the Father of the Torah, while Cham merits to shed light on a difficult realm of Torah: The Messiah, even if he chose the much longer route. Cham had attempted to undermine his brother Shem, yet in the end we just understand Shem and his Torah all the more so.

Fast forward into the future, and we see this sibling rivalry in a much clearer light, with awesome insight into exactly what went on between Shem, Cham, and their involvement with Noach their father. Shechem son of Chamor in Parashas Vayishlach, takes Dinah a daughter of Jacob, and offspring of Shem, and violates her, arousing the wrath of the brothers of Dinah. One must ask, “Why did Shechem desire Dinah with such lust?” Shechem being of the offspring of Cham (and the cursed son Canaan, of whom Ancient Israel is named after), had desired to overtake the Land not only physically but spiritually as well. If Shechem could overtake bloodlines and seed inheritance, then Cham could finally prevail over his long departed brother Shem. Levi, sensing a threat to the Priesthood of Shem, and therefore his own Priesthood that he would inherit from Shem, takes vengeance and slays Shechem by the very method of his cunning tactics: To slay after the enemy is weakened from circumcision. Levi may have salvaged that which was threatened, yet we now have an existential problem: Dinah is pregnant with Shechem’s baby! Thus Shechem has succeeded in his infiltration of the blood and seed, and a saga has begun. Enter the seed (or lack thereof) of Shem into the picture. Shem may have suppressed his seed to find Abraham, yet it is his daughter Tamar that will carry the torch of Shem, even if it must come through the sins of Cham. The question is, “what is the “nature” of these bloodlines and inheritances through seed?”

Look no further than Judah the son of Jacob to shed light onto this enigma that dates back to pre-flood timeframes with ramifications that directly affect the Redemption and Rectification of the World.

After the closing of the last Parsha and moving on from the story of Dinah and Shechem, we are quickly thrust into this Parsha encountering Judah, his sons, and the women involved.

The Torah begins this segment by mentioning that Judah has, “gone down from his brothers and turned away towards an Adullamite Man whose name was Hirah ( from there Judah married a Canaanite woman; an extension of Cham). Again we lay witness that the seed of Cham somehow covets to take over the seed of Shem, and to take now not only the Priesthood, but the Kingship as well, represented with Judah. It was this metaphysical science that Cham was after in the Ark: To “Know” the nature of how the world works, with joining spiritual forces into physicality. By castrating Noach, Cham would attempt to change reality of creation through blood and seed. The Torah now begins to tell the tale that Cham practically killed to find out through sin. We began to see from Dinah, and we now are learning the message loud and clear from Judah. Enter Tamar daughter of Shem.

After Judah’s downward spiral into the grips of the forbidden, we are strangely introduced to the deaths of his sons, through none other than blood and seed issues. The Torah begins to get intense in its message, yet with no real destination in sight as to what the driving point the Torah is aiming at achieving. Out of nowhere we are introduced to Tamar, who at the time was the wife of these sons of Judah. Yet it is Judah that uncontrollably takes Tamar in a union that would leave her pregnant of all scenarios!

The message within this conception is quite clear: Judah being “infected” with the blood and seed of Cham, experiences exactly what Cham and Shem were aware of in the Ark: The seed of Cham desires the seed of Shem. Judah now having been acquainted with Cham on an intimate level with his falling from stature with his first wife, insatiably falls for Tamar, who is as close to Shem as one could possibly be! Now we can understand why Cham resented Noach and Shem to such extent; as Cham’s destiny is to unite within Shem. When Cham attempted to takeover Shem’s seed and blood, it created the desire to unite with Shem. For once Cham entered Judah, he went directly for Tamar, and Joseph having married the offspring of Shechem and Dinah, now has a mission to unite with Shem, i.e. merge back into graces with Judah ( and by association Tamar, and ultimately Shem ) thereby repairing schism amongst the brothers.

It is through the reality of creation in the sons of Noach, showing that Cham did and would again attempt to overthrow Shem and his destiny of greatness. Shem having understood this scenario through Torah study and his search for Abraham, he had prepared his daughter Tamar to be the representative of Shem and his bloodlines and inheritance. By the sins of Cham, Shem is thrust back into the Nation that Shem himself had prepared, where his influence would directly affect Torah, Redemption, and Rectification of the World. Tamar became united with Judah, and claimed her rights of being the Mother of Moshiach / Messiah according to Torah Commentaries and Tradition.

With Tamar pioneering the way into the Jewish People and the Torah, Shem now can be the influence on the Kingdom of Priests, through bloodlines and seed, going back to the revelation of this truth in the Ark, one that Cham could not face.

Tamar may have conceived the way of Redemption with Judah, but now the conception is so much greater: There would be an eternal attraction to Shem, guaranteeing the World’s continued existence and survival of Torah. Judah and Joseph (through his seed as coming from Cham as well) would be blessed to merge together while seeking the spiritual surge of Shem, and paving a way of repairing schism, not just amongst the Tribes, but of the World! This is the meaning of the Prophecy of Ezekial: “That the wood of Judah would merge with the wood of Joseph.” Shem would now have a vehicle to drive consciousness that is embedded into basic life. This is the Truth that was the downfall of Cham: it is Cham who covets Shem. Shem knew this to be true from Torah, whereas Cham had two choices: cooperate or learn through sin. He chose the latter, and it is the choices of Cham that have brought about the miraculous intervention of Shem. This was the reality in the Ark, and this was the reality of Judah, Dinah, and Joseph. Through history, freewill choice, and Divine Reality, the World will reach its destiny. This Destiny will be the Torah that Shem righteously chose to abide by and study all of his life. Shem succeeded in his days in the Ark by being true to Hashem, and it is in his merit that the World will learn the Torah of Shem without sin, while experiencing the unity of God.

For it is the language and Teaching of Shem that will pull the World together under the wings of the Torah and proclaim God’s Name with a clear language to all. Cham may have chosen the long route, but in the end, all roads lead to Noach’s firstborn son : Shem. Destiny shall be shared in the direction of Shem the Great One, a Lover of God.

In the end, there were two schools of thought: Torah or sin. With Shem having chosen and illuminating Torah,  we are blessed with guidance and Torah, in the merit of Shem and his longevity. To go against God, as always, only proves to be futile, a lesson that Shem continues to show the World through the Torah of Hashem.