In the tents of Shem – No’ach
Noah’s three sons were Shem, Ham and Yefet or Japheth. The Torah assesses each, and says of the third, “God enlarge Yefet; may he dwell in the tents of Shem” (Gen. 9:27).
Yefet’s name is linked with yofi, beauty. Shem comes from the word for “name”. According to tradition, Yefet was the progenitor of the Greeks, whose leading concern was aesthetics; Shem was the ancestor of the Jews, who were concerned with truth.
By wishing Yefet to dwell in the tents of Shem, the Torah indicates its order of priorities. It appreciates beauty, but says it should be subservient to truth.
In his intriguing “Universal Bible”, which presents those parts of the Torah that are addressed to all mankind, not only to the Jews, Solomon Schonfeld argues that as against the Greek notion of beauty for beauty’s sake, Judaism taught beauty for goodness’ sake.
He says, “The prohibition of idolatry carried with it the prohibition of those kinds of artistic productions that claim value merely for their own sakes. But artistic effort for useful purposes or holy causes is encouraged. The arts of music and song, prose and poetry, building and decorations, furnishings and clothing, are encouraged in the Bible, and considerable appreciation is given to noble looks and to general aesthetics. Music, style and poetry should enhance righteous words and ideas, decorations should beautify worthwhile structures, and personal beauty should bring admiration only to goodly personalities”.
For Judaism, beauty is not unimportant; indeed one should say a b’rachah on seeing something beautiful. But it has to be harnessed to a constructive purpose, a moral goal.
Yefet has to dwell in the tents of Shem.
