The Curse of Hham

Do you believe that the children of Hham are cursed?  Do you believe that the Jews are cursed?  I believe that the children of Hham are not cursed just as the the Jewish people are not cursed, but blessed!!  They both received a blessing and they both made the same, albeit fixable, mistake.

When a blessing comes down, it can either fall "heads up" for lack of a better word or "tails up" in which case it is a curse.  It all depends on one's behavior. 

So what was this blessing that came down and went wrong?  Can it be corrected?

BACKGROUND

In the story of Hham.  His father was the tzaddik of the generation -- the righteous one of the generation.  He got the call to build an ark and to enter it with many of the animals because of an incoming flood.  So he did.

All this is done out of mercy.  Hashem had mercy on the world; it had gone so badly, with people hurting one another, stealing from one another, and mating in an unnatural way to the point that it became the law of the land.

So he built the ark and as a window, he used a precious stone to bring light into the ark according to some commentaries.

Precious stones are also embedded in crowns.  According to Rebbe Nachman of Breslov, the crown -"keter" - is the highest tip of one level.  Looking through the precious stone one can see into the next level -- the lowest part of the next level.  Hham may have stared into that precious stone and received a revelation -- i.e. he studied and pondered until he "knew" something.

Knowing has lots of different connotation.  It can mean understanding a piece of information or it can me mating; such as Adam Knew Eve/Chava.  But really they both mean the same thing.  Knowing someone or something well; all the contours, all the ins and outs, understanding.

So Hham had intercourse in the ark.  He knew something.  He got a revelation of something and understood something.  As a result of this understanding he was stricken in the skin.

Along with Hham, the dog and the raven also "had intercourse" in the ark.  As a result, the dog is made to be tied.  In other words, the dog also understood or figured something out and they are brought into the human world -- tied to the human -- a step higher than the animal world.

The raven was made to expectorate.  Ravens are one of the smartest creatures on the earth.  In fact, it is said they are even better at speech than the parrot.  Speech is a human quality -- one step ahead of the animal world.

These animals moved to a higher level away from the animal world and into the human world.

Hham was already in the human world.  So there was only one place for him to move.  The spiritual world.  The skin being stricken caused the move to the spiritual world.  In fact the melanin is controlled by the pineal gland -- that which is activated when we pray or meditate.

THE CURSE

After the ark everyone came out and began life anew.  However, Noah shamed himself by drinking from the vineyard, stripping himself naked, and doing who knows what.  Already, problems can begin.  Because even if Noah was mating with his wife, he shouldn't do this while drunk.  And if he wasn't with his wife, the last thing the world needs is spilled seed on the holy, freshly washed land.

Hham did not like that.  He and his fourth son, Canaan went and did something to Noah.

But where Hham did wrong is that afterwards, he went to Shem and Yaffet and reported what he saw.  They then took a sheet and covered Noah up.

When Noah woke up and found out what happened, he cursed Hham.  He said Hham would be a slave to all his brothers.

If Hham had to go to his brothers and hear what they say rather than stand on his own knowledge, his own center, and his own two feet and make decisions, he basically is putting himself under whatever people's reactions are to his ways.  That is the curse.

THE JEWS

It's not a rare mistake.  There was another group who made have done the same thing.

In the story of the Jewish people, the Jews left Egypt (along with some Egyptians) and went to the mountain of Sinai.  There the prepared themselves for the "wedding canopy" with Hashem.  In this time, they all received the Torah -- a set of instructions carved in stone.  Although the Torah was received in stone, when it gets written, it can only be on leather, i.e. skin -- usually the hide of a cow.  Cows are also known to have high melanin content.

They were so amazed from it all, they responded "we will DO and we will hear!"

Commentaries have said that right then and there antisemitism came into the world.

It could be that when they said "we will DO" that was the blessing.  They were willing to do God's will.  They would receive it and do it.

But then, just like Hham ran and told his brothers, the Jews spoke and said "and we will hear!"  Hear what?  They had to have heard already before they can do.  So what is this second hearing?  Some commentaries say that the second hearing is for the parts of Torah to come.  But it could be that this "we will hear" is listening to what the world says about their actions.  And listening to what the world says is making them very hard press to live their lives as they should, with conviction, determination, etc.

THE ANSWER

The answer is that both the children of Hham and the Jewish people need to stop listening to what the world says -- especially to what the West says.  Why the west?  Because Esav/Esau is the one who it's said was a man of war.  Who goes around with trickery and is under the angel Satan.  If they see that there is a person, or group of people who are waiting to hear what is said -- waiting for validation, that is an opening for a tricky person to take advantage of the situation.  That is a controllable person -- put before the wrong person, they are in trouble.

STEP BY STEP

Both groups need to clear out their candelabrum so they can be better.  The candelabrum I speak of is the black lights -- the two eyes, the two nostrils, the two ear holes and the mouth.  Take great care what is let in.  And use the best oil for the light.  Taking in negative news, self-negating programs, seeing gross imagery, bloody imageries, illicit relationships (for the nose is related to the reproductive parts), eating the wrong food or even speaking negatively about one's own are all things that will ruin our candelabrum.  The candelabrum must be pure in order to shine far and wide.  What is it that we are using the candelabrum to sense?  The truth.   With the light of the Truth, we will know where to walk and where to go.

The Jews have the extra light of Torah that must be kept pure and that is doing good deeds (mitzvoth) and acts of kindness.

For Black folks, there is the extra light of the candelabrum which is the black skin -- that is also a light and must be kept pure -- doing good deeds and acts of kindness.

THE FUTURE

In the long run, doing the right thing is beneficial for the entire universe and so well worth the efforts.  This includes the environment, the animals, the plants, and the people.  It behooves us to find the strength, like Joshua/Yehoshua ben Nun to be strong and courageous.

But before we even go there, good strong character traits are needed otherwise will can fall right back to listening to what others say and being unsure and seeking validation.  Traits and values such as diligence, patience, generousity, faith, wisdom, and mercy.  These traits and values must be instilled as quickly and consistently as possible -- we must raise and teach our own children to make sure that these values are in place --on LOCK.  And the learning must be continuous.  Hopefully, this way an "other" will not be able to come and shake them.

Plus, pride should have no part in this.  If one becomes proud, the mouth opens up.  Then we may find it necessariy -- even commendable -- to try and teach others.  But if others aren't ready to hear it or may feel inferior because they don't understand it, what good did we do?  We would have only created envious creatures.  The knowledge is for us.  We are the ones who need it.

Be strong and courageous.