Noah began to be a master of the earth, and he planted a vineyard. And he drank of the wine and became drunk, and he uncovered himself within his tent.
Genesis 9:20-21
According to the Tor
ah, Noah becomes the first man to cultivate grapes for the magical substance we call wine. Unfortunately, he has no idea of the potency of alcohol and gets drunk. 
In his drunken state, he then becomes the first flasher in recorded history, perhaps even the first masturbator of note. Most people have found alcohol to lower their inhibitions. Have enough wine, beer, scotch, whiskey, vodka (my personal favorite) and you, too, may find yourself "uncovering" your nakedness for all.
What I find really interesting is how this relates to what comes next:
And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father's nakedness, and he told his two brothers outside. ...And Noah awoke from his wine, and he knew what his small son had done to him. And he said, "Cursed be Canaan; he shall be a slave among slaves to his brethren."
ah, Noah becomes the first man to cultivate grapes for the magical substance we call wine. Unfortunately, he has no idea of the potency of alcohol and gets drunk. In his drunken state, he then becomes the first flasher in recorded history, perhaps even the first masturbator of note. Most people have found alcohol to lower their inhibitions. Have enough wine, beer, scotch, whiskey, vodka (my personal favorite) and you, too, may find yourself "uncovering" your nakedness for all. What I find really interesting is how this relates to what comes next:
And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father's nakedness, and he told his two brothers outside. ...And Noah awoke from his wine, and he knew what his small son had done to him. And he said, "Cursed be Canaan; he shall be a slave among slaves to his brethren."
Genesis 9:22, 24-25
There are a lot of theories as to what Ham does that deserves being cursed. Some say that he castrated Noah. Others say he sodomized him. Many accept the text for what it says, Ham saw his father in all of his nakedness and proceeded to tell the world, as they knew it. [Knowing the Torah, his curse could just as easily be a punishment for gossiping--Miriam & leprosy, anyone!]
Honestly, I don't necessarily care about Ham and his curse. When reading this, I cannot help noticing that while Ham gets the shaft for, well, seeing his dad's shaft, Noah is not punished at all. Noah invents liquor. Noah gets drunk. Noah exposes himself. One would think that any of these things could incur the wrath of our tradition! On the contrary, Noah has a long life after the flood and is held up by our tradition as someone who was able to rise above the evils of his community.
So, what if alcohol was not so bad after all? Maybe it is ok to get drunk sometimes. (I have got one word for you: Purim.) But more importantly than all of that--because we know that Judaism is ok with alcohol in moderation and even with getting drunk, sometimes--what if this story tells us that it is ok to be lewd. It is ok to uncover our nakedness. It may even be ok to masturbate ;)
Noah is never hand slapped for what he does because there is nothing wrong with what he does. There is nothing wrong with getting a little bit crazy. There is nothing wrong with enjoying our own bodies. In fact, one could argue that the only bad move here was Ham telling everyone about it behind Noah's back.
In honor of Noah, go have a drink. You may even want to splurge a bit and get a bit tipsy. No matter how much you decide to imbibe, this shabbat, take some time to uncover your own nakedness. Enjoy your body--there's no curse in that!
Shabbat Shalom!
Honestly, I don't necessarily care about Ham and his curse. When reading this, I cannot help noticing that while Ham gets the shaft for, well, seeing his dad's shaft, Noah is not punished at all. Noah invents liquor. Noah gets drunk. Noah exposes himself. One would think that any of these things could incur the wrath of our tradition! On the contrary, Noah has a long life after the flood and is held up by our tradition as someone who was able to rise above the evils of his community.
So, what if alcohol was not so bad after all? Maybe it is ok to get drunk sometimes. (I have got one word for you: Purim.) But more importantly than all of that--because we know that Judaism is ok with alcohol in moderation and even with getting drunk, sometimes--what if this story tells us that it is ok to be lewd. It is ok to uncover our nakedness. It may even be ok to masturbate ;)
Noah is never hand slapped for what he does because there is nothing wrong with what he does. There is nothing wrong with getting a little bit crazy. There is nothing wrong with enjoying our own bodies. In fact, one could argue that the only bad move here was Ham telling everyone about it behind Noah's back.
In honor of Noah, go have a drink. You may even want to splurge a bit and get a bit tipsy. No matter how much you decide to imbibe, this shabbat, take some time to uncover your own nakedness. Enjoy your body--there's no curse in that!
Shabbat Shalom!
Thank you for this post... I really needed to read this.
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