“Shem and Japheth took a garment and placed it on both their shoulders...”
The positive aspect of the relationship between Judaism and Greek/Hellenic wisdom can be found in the account of their respective forefathers, the two brothers Shem and Japheth. Noach’s three sons are normally regarded as inspiring three foundational human cultures, represented by their most important offspring:
- Shem is the father of Eiver, who begat Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and thus corresponds to Judaism.
- Japheth is the father of Greece and thus corresponds to Greek/Hellenic culture.
- Ham was the father of Kush, Egypt, and Canaan—centers of ancient idolatry and sorcery—and thus corresponds to ancient pagan culture.
The most important story the Torah relates regarding Noach’s three sons identifies Shem and Japheth as relatively moral compared to Ham is portrayed as steeped in crude materiality. After the flood, Noah, the man of the earth, began by planting a vineyard. He drank some of the wine and became drunk and uncovered himself inside his tent. Ham, the father of Canaan saw his father’s nakedness and described it to his two brothers outside. Shem and Japheth took a garment and placed it on both their shoulders. They then walked backwards and covered their father’s nakedness while facing away from him, so that they did not see their father’s nakedness.
What does Shem and Japheth’s sensitivity to their father’s modesty symbolize—a sensitivity that Ham did not share? In general, acting and dressing modestly stems from a feeling that a person has that the essence of his self lies inwardly, causing him to cover his external self—his body. By covering the body, we signal others that to know us they need to divert their gaze towards our soul, our self that dwells within and not focus on our body. Modesty shifts the eyes of those around us from the body to the soul.
Shem and Japheth’s shared sensitivity to their father’s modesty serves as a testament to their awareness of an inner, concealed reality that cannot be directly perceived by the eyes (and the other physical senses). In this case, they were sensitive to their father’s soul, to the image of God that lay within him.
Shem and Japheth’s sensitivity stands in contradistinction to Ham’s offensive violation of Noach’s modesty. As such, it beautifully reflects the difference between the three cultures they represent. Judaism and Greek wisdom recognized Creation’s Divine origin. According to both, Creation is the Creator’s handiwork. But because pagan culture lacked a sensitivity to the soul within the body, it also lacked the realization of the Creator’s role. By recognizing the “image of God” imbued in their father, Shem and Japheth were able to recognize the original supernal Father of all Creation: God.
The connection between the two goes deeper. The description of Shem and Japheth taking the garment in the Hebrew text is written in the singular, stressing as it were that they were acting in perfect unison, like a single individual. Before the wars with the Greeks, prior to the conquest of Judea by the Greeks, there was peace and understanding between the forefathers of the two nations.
Indeed, this sense of cooperation is captured in the way the sages understood Noach’s blessing to Japheth, “May God decorate Japheth, but may He [God] dwell in the tents of Shem.” According to the sages, it means that Japheth’s appreciation of beauty should dwell in the tents of Shem. Or, in other words, that the parts of Greek wisdom that are good and beautiful should be brought under the wings of Judaism and be made part of it.
We find that the sages put their understanding into practice by adopting many point of Greek wisdom into Judaism in a process known as the conversion of wisdom.
(Olamot, pp. 230-232)
