Motivations for Writing
Why should we tell the story of Noah's children?
There are two primary motivating causes for writing this work: God and Man. Hashem commands us to deepen our understanding of the Torah, and get closer to him through learning, and we must also then take that learning and teach others. Education regarding the Table of Nations in the Torah is an under-studied field of history that has been newly opened up to historical analysis through modern disciplines such as archeology, linguistics, genetics, and historiography.
For more than a century the academic field has shifted towards materialist perspectives on history, science, and art that seek to downplay the importance of human led achievement. Rather than viewing advancement as an individual creation birthed from the minds of great men, academia has attempted to devolve the story of humanity to one of inevitable non-causality. Reversing this degenerate status quo is necessary and requires forwarding a neo-Idealist approach to academia while remaining rigorous and genuinely intentioned to uncover truths. Without a faith based, and thus truthful approach to study of God’s creation we will never be able to collectively work towards something more complex than the pieces underlying the system and build a well kept garden with organized paths.
The story of humanity is not the same story of continual linear animalistic evolution that undergirded reality prior to the creation of man. Instead of attempting to minimize the overarching subtext of the Torah devolving it into its composite parts, we must seek to completely understand the full diversity of the 70 panem - or faces - of the Torah in their overflowing splendor. Despite the existence of these 70 panem, the archeological and linguistic faces of the Torah are currently deteriorating in the face of scientific, biblical minimalist challenges.
While a religious person should not concern themselves with those who do not believe, R. Elazar's dictum “Da mah lehashiv la'epikoros” translated as “know what to retort to the heretic” (Mishnah Avos 2:14) clearly requires us to bolster our own knowledge of the subjects of Torah that often serves as the severance point for the bifurcation of religious communities. Modern Judaism is frequently troubled by the existence of scientific and historical disciplines that on a cursory glance dispel supposed “myths” from an ancient past. However, when digging into these subjects oftentimes the very evidence used to rewrite truth is the precise evidence that certifies God’s Torah. Rather than throwing the baby out with the bath water and thinking God’s Torah is anything but perfect, we must approach our learning with genuine faith and a belief in the divine origin of Torah.
In the words of Moshe Chaim Luzzatto:
“The advantage of knowing things within the framework of their parts - according to their divisions and the structures of their relationships - over their knowledge without distinction is like the advantage of seeing a garden beautified by its flowerbeds, enhanced by its paths and planted in specific rows, over seeing a thicket of reeds or a forest growing mixed together. For in truth, the perception of many parts about which we do not know their connections or true places in the structure of all that is constructed by them is nothing but a heavy and joyless burden to the intellect that desires to understand [it].”
-Derech Hashem (The Way of God)
The entire goal of this work is in line with the principles outlined by Luzzatto in Derech Hashem, and the tradition in a line of great Rabbanim such as Joseph Karo (who laid out the Table Set of Jewish law in the Shulchan Aruch) Issac Luria (who systematized Kabbalah into the modern form of Lurianic Kabbalah) Rashi (who created a complete organized commentary of the entire Tanakh) Maimonides/Rambam (who systematized Jewish halacha in his Mishneh Torah) Saadia Gaon (who organized Jewish prayer in the Siddur, but was not the first, nor the last to do so, merely a critical link) Judah ha-Nasi (who redacted the entire Mishnah) or even Ezra the Scribe himself (who essentially wrote the book of Ezra, and possibly many others, and transcribed much of the original Hebrew texts we have today).
Judaism is a history of learning, teaching, relearning, and continually augmenting our understanding of ancient information through structured organization of the composite parts into a perfect whole. By organizing, and categorizing everything in its proper place, as we learn from Luzzatto in Derech Hashem, we create a beautiful garden with walkable paths rather than a ceaseless jungle that is impossible for all, but experts to traverse.
Weekly content on Noah’s sons returns next week! We will begin with Ham and his children. See you then!
Shalom