Are Hamites all considered to be evil?
I dont think that is the case... There is a curse on the Hamites because of how Ham dealt with Noah after the flood.
http://www.noahidenations.com/content/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=323
A Shameful Curse
Parshat Noach
Adam PenrodOne of the greatest tragedies that I have seen is when the Torah is used, not to illuminate the darkness of this world, but to defend some shameful idea that the Torah really has nothing to do with. One of the most shameful uses of the Torah has been to claim that one of the three great families of humanity is nothing more than a slave to the rest.
I first saw the Torah used to support this view when I was a child in school. While covering slavery in America the teacher mentioned that one of the defenses that many slave owners used to defend their use of the African community, particularly, as slaves was none other than the book of Genesis (Bereishit).
In Parshat Noach we learn that Noach, after finally leaving the ark, planted a grape vine from which he made wine. Noach drank so much wine that he eventually fell asleep. The text tells us that Ham, Noach’s son, found his father naked and went to tell his other brothers about this. Shem and Yapheth, not impressed, took a garment walked in backwards and placed it over their father.
Eventually Noach woke up and “sees” what his youngest son had done.< [1]< Once awake Noach says, “…cursed be Canaan surely a slave he will be to his brothers”< [2]< It is clear that Canaan is cursed to be a slave to his brothers, but what that means is not yet clear.
A Strange Curse
There has always been some wonder at why Canaan was cursed. Concerning the text of the Torah it is unclear that Canaan had anything to do with Noach. All we know is that Ham saw his father’s nakedness, told his brothers, and Noach awoke to curse Canaan. At the very least this is a strange sequence of events.
There are several theories offered to explain this strange event. One theory is that since Ham had already been blessed by God Noach was unable to curse him and so cursed his son instead. This is very strange if Noach were only naked. Cursing someone with slavery for seeing their nakedness does not sound just for someone as righteous as Noach.
There are two primary theories about what happened. The first is that seeing his father’s nakedness Ham had an illicit affair with Noach while he slept. This gruesome scene does not seem to fit with the curse. The punishment must be equal to the crime. The second theory seems more likely. Ham, seeing his father’s nakedness realized that if Noach had another son, a fourth son, that the world would be split between four peoples and not three. Realizing this, Ham thought it best if Noach were not able to produce any more heirs and castrated his father.
As a result Noach cursed Canaan to be a slave to his brothers. A slave does not rule, everything the slave owns is actually the master’s. The reasoning behind this explanation was that just as Ham had castrated his father Noach to prevent a fourth son of Noach from having a share in the world; Noach would curse Ham’s fourth son, therefore preventing him from having a true share in this world.<!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->[3]<!--[endif]-->
Canaan not Ham
For some reason people jump from the curse of Canaan back to Ham. Instead of only applying Noach’s curse to Canaan, which the Torah seems very clear about, they apply it to all of Ham’s descendants.
The world was divided into three groups, descendants of Shem, Ham and Yapheth. The descendants of Shem were apportioned the near to Middle East regions, Ham’s descendants were given Africa, and Yapheth’s descendants were given the lands to the north around the Mediterranean. There is debate as to whether the Far East went to Yapheth or Shem.
Canaan went to dwell in Israel—territories belonging to Shem. It is unclear whether this was done of Canaan’s volition or if this were part of his curse or both. Whatever the reasons for Canaan taking control of the land; the territories that were taken over by Canaan did not belong to the descendants of Ham. The land of Canaan should have been the land of Shem!
The Canaanites built up the land of Israel over the centuries until it was finally taken into the possession of the Israelites—the true heirs of Shem! God promised Israel this in the Torah when he said: “And it shall be, when the Lord your God shall have brought you into the land which he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you great and goodly cities, which you did not build”< [4]< God promised a land to Israel that would be ready for them to move into.
The True Heirs to the Land
The first Rashi in Bereishit asks why the Torah begins in Bereishit rather than later in Exodus with the giving of the first commandment by God to Israel. Rashi’s answer is that it was to serve as an answer to the nations who accused Israel of theft when they took the Land from the Canaanites. The answer was that Bereishit gives the account of God creating the world and therefore he may give the Land to whomever he chooses and take the Land from whom he chooses and give it to another.
The second response to the challenge of the nations against Israel is that the Canaanite nations were slaves to the House of Shem. Israel being the truest heir of Shem (both physically and spiritually) is the masters of the Canaanites. As we said, whatever possessions a slave may possess do not really belong to the slave but to the master. Therefore the Land of Canaan was really the property of Shem and therefore the property of Israel!
The Jewish people’s claim to the land of Israel at the time of the Canaanites was several. First, God being the creator and therefore owner of the Universe could give and take away the land. Second, Canaan did not have a legitimate claim to the Land. They came into and took over Land that rightly belonged to the Shemite families—specifically this Land belonged to Israel as Shem’s chosen heir (chosen by God). Lastly, Canaan as a slave to the house of Shem did not truly possess the land but worked it and built it up. The true ownership of the Land and all that was in it belonging to Israel.
Back to the Point
It may seem that we have strayed from our original discussion. However, it was very important to first establish that Canaan was a family who had been cursed to be slaves to their brothers. It was also important to build from this that the land of Israel (then known as Canaan) legitimately belonged to Israel for the above reasons. Now we may return to the focus of this paper.
Although Canaan was clearly cursed by Noach to be a slave to Shem and Yapheth, this curse had no bearing on the remainder of the Hamitic peoples. The curse was very specific, only Canaan was cursed. If you will remember we discovered earlier that it was impossible for God to curse Ham because he had already been blessed by God. As such, to go back and then claim that the curse of Canaan some how applied to all of the Hamitic peoples violates this very clear teaching.
Even more to the point, Egypt (called Mitzraim) was the first “Super Power” in the ancient world. Egypt was an African empire begun by the Hamites. It wasn’t until much later in the history of Egypt that it was ruled by Semitic peoples (possibly conquered by Amalek after the Israelites had left Egypt).< [5]<
A Shameful Teaching
The teaching that Hamitic peoples are somehow lesser, a slave people, is very clearly not a teaching of the Torah. Even more, the Rabbis say that due to the mixing of the Nations it is no longer possible to point out Canaanites and therefore the curse of Noach is no longer in effect. This curse, in my opinion, was fulfilled when Israel came into the Land of Canaan, and took possession of the cities, towns and produce, all of which were the work of the Canaanite families.
To attempt to apply this curse to any people today is nothing less than shameful and a complete, and intentional, misreading of the Torah. It is with this in mind that we should all strive for the true teaching of the Torah which is that all peoples are brothers and that our cooperation and striving together with one another is our true aim in life.
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