Naked in his Tent

Genesis 9:20-27

Noah – naked in his tent. Ham – sees and tells. Brothers – cover and don’t look.

What does this mean?

Eli Munk: he goes into his tent to get out of the public eye – so his children would not see him in a drunken state.

Impact on the psychological effects of alcoholism.

What does it mean in Biblical times vs the political significance
Lev 18:3 – Sexual Depravity – do not copy the abhorrent practices of cultures in Egypt and Canaan (ref to Ham) – list of these practices in Lev 18 - 20
Political Message: If go to pagan nations you will encounter these practices – a recurring theme in Torah.
“Jews are EXPECTED to behave better” (not always happen ie. King David)

Rashi: Nakedness – reflexive view –
Possibly someone else took off Noah’s clothes

Possibly Ham took off Noah’s clothes

Peter Pitzele Bibleodrama
Book : "Our Father's Wells" by Peter Pitzele excerpt of a reflection of a son on his father’s alcoholism.

My Papa's Waltz by Theodore Roethke


The whiskey on your breath
Could make a small boy dizzy;
But I hung on like death:
Such waltzing was not easy.

We romped until the pans
Slid from the kitchen shelf;
My mother's countenance
Could not unfrown itself.

The hand that held my wrist
Was battered on one knuckle;
At every step you missed
My right ear scraped a buckle.

You beat time on my head
With a palm caked hard by dirt,
Then waltzed me off to bed
Still clinging to your shirt.

The image of a drunk father is a powerful one.

Ham – sees his father’s nakedness and tells his brothers.

Two issues with different interpretations.

Most see this as a literal interpretation but some interpret it as a sexual “nakedness” and it is not clear with whom – the details of this story are lost in time.

The word for Nakedness – Arvat – something shameful or dirty

Because Shem & Japheth ‘cover’ him up – most scholars do interpret it as literally without clothes. But there are some other midrash that go to all types of extremes – such as Ham castrated his father – Noah didn’t have other children after this.

Samson Raphael Hirsch reflects on the sin of children against their fathers also applies to generations: “cover the weakness of the former generation..”
The future has a bond to the past.
- sons who mock the traditions of the past will be mocked themselves.
- take what is good from the past rather than what is distasteful

Rashi – the Sin of Ham – his son Canaan was punished for the sin of his father
Possibly it was Canaan who ‘saw’ Noah
Explores options of other abhorrent sexual practices. Look for the sin because of the curse that follows

Leon Kass – Returns to the literal interpretation of nakedness.
The curse of the son leads to consequences to the son and future generations of alcoholism.

It effects the attitude toward parental authority.
Shame (derived from two terms in Greek)
Ham seeing his father is ‘metaphorical castration’
Dethrones the father – Ham lacks the awe and reverence for his father
Ham - the father of Canaan – later the source of abhorrent behavior.

Action of the two brothers to cover their father without looking.

Kass – deliberate cover up / Loyalty / correct the problem and protect the dignity of their father.There are some things the child should not know about their father.

After this incident Ham is not mentioned again.

Two views of the other brothers ‘cover up’

• See a problem and do something about it
• Cover up the problem to avoid dealing with it

Thoughts from this – thinking of the motivation for doing things.

More next week…