Is There Racism In The Torah? (6 minutes)
Rabbi Yaron Reuven addresses the misconception of racism in the Torah. He uses the story of Tzipporah, Moses' wife, to illustrate that black people were not considered inferior. He highlights that Tzipporah was considered beautiful and was from a region known to have black people. He also points out that a significant convert, Yitro, was black and was praised by HaShem. Rabbi Reuven then explains that the curse of Ham is often misunderstood. While it's true that Ham's descendants were associated with a black complexion, this doesn't mean that all black people are cursed. He emphasizes that one's religion determines their status, not their skin color. He concludes by saying that anyone who converts to Judaism is no longer cursed and becomes part of the chosen people, blessed by HaShem. If you'd like to invite R' Yaron Reuven to give a lecture at your synagogue, home or office please call 917.468.2324 or email Yaron@BeEzratHaShem.org . Yaron Reuven is based out of Boca Raton, Florida, but travels around the world to give lectures to different groups. Visit us at www.BeEzratHaShem.org Click here https://soundcloud.com/yaronreuven/sets/daily-chidush To Listen to our very popular "Daily Chidush" short audio series on soundcloud.com Join one of our interactive "Interesting Torah" Whatsapp groups to get daily messages of short Torah clips that can uplift your day by texting the number above. Please join our Facebook page Be'Ezrat HaShem page and join our group "Torah Lessons To Help Our Lives". This Group is solely about publicizing HaShem's holy Torah from my lectures as well as great Rabbi's such as Rabbi Efraim Kachlon, Rabbi Yosef Mizrachi, Rabbi Zamir Cohen, Rabbi Pinto, and anyone else that is teaching interesting and relevant Torah. We will also bring you some brand new lectures directly from a Kollel in Jerusalem you won't find anywhere else. Torah posts will be in Hebrew and English. There are plenty of places to find entertaining stories that sound great, but this group is about showing you Torah that can impact your life, hence the name Torah Lessons To Help Our Lives. If it's not impactul, then it won't fit in. I watch and read all that I personally post, so I promise to do my best to bring you only the best quality of Hashem's amazing Torah. The Torah is the only thing in the world that you can learn and have an outcome that makes you SMARTER, WISER, And a BETTER Human Being. If the Torah you're learning is no longer impacting your life in a positive way, than its time for a change. If you haven't learned Torah in a long time or ever, then its time to start friend. I guarantee you will enjoy the journey and life will never be the same, if you just give it a real chance. Kiruv and Kiddush Hashem is our #1 goal. So please feel free to contact me if you are interested in getting more FREE material. We would be have to send you Torach lecture DVDs, CD's and a Book for FREE to anyone that is serious about learning them. If you are far from Hashem and His Torah, our goal is to get help you get closer. Thank you for the opportunity and May Hashem bless you with a life full of Torah #Judaism #jewish #rabbiyaronreuven #torah #conversion #conversiontojudaism #noahides #noahide #emunah #HaShem #God #bible #bitachon #jewishworld #jewishpeople 00:00:00 Intoduction 00:00:12 Miriam and Moshe's Wife: The Kushit 00:01:10 Interpreting Kushit: Beauty and Lashon Hara 00:01:50 Tzipporah's True Identity: A Black Woman 00:02:40 Yitro: A Black Convert of Significance 00:03:29 Addressing Racism and the Curse of Cham 00:03:59 Conversion and Descendants of Cham 00:04:28 Complexion vs. Religious Identity
Transcript
0:12expand further on the whole black people issue that people think is also another thing. If you look at the Abarbanel and also Midrash Merav Paltiel, he talks about how during the time of Moshe Rabbeinu, you all remember that we learn about the significance of Lashon Hara from Miriam and Miriam was a prophetess. She spoke to God and received answers. We could speak as much as we want, but He answers. She spoke to God and He answered. On top of that, there was a river of water that followed Am Yisrael for 40 years only because of her merit. When she died, it stopped, and everyone went into a panic, which means that Miriam was Kodesh Kodashim. But Miriam... Saw that Moshe Rabbeinu left his wife Tzipora, and she asked the question: Why did he leave the Kushit? Why did he leave the black woman? Some sages say that the word Kushit is essentially an opposite tongue, meaning that it says Tzipora was so beautiful.
1:36She called her and asked, "Why do you leave the ugly person just so there's no confusion?" As I mentioned before, "black" does not refer to a black complexion like that of a black person; rather, it means someone who is sick or something like that. representing ugliness. She said, "Why do you leave that ugly person?" because she was so beautiful. Did they say why to leave his wife? Everyone knew it could immediately connect Moshe Rabbeinu's wife with beauty. It creates lashon hara. It creates different things in their minds, all types of things. That's common. Most people know what's the chidush. Both the Abarbanel and Midrash Meforshim say, "No, no, no, no." Tzipporah was actually from Midian. Midian was the next-door neighbor to what? Kush. Kush is what? It's where all the black people are. It's in Africa, meaning Tzipporah was a black woman.
2:40which means that the wife of Moshe Rabbeinu was black and was extraordinarily beautiful, which also means that one of the most important converts in all of history was also a black person by the name of Yitro. Yitro left everything, left all the Avodah Zarah in the world, The wealth, all the money, all the everything, and he came to Am Yisrael to become part of Am Yisrael, came to Hashem Yitbarach, and that's why there's a Parsha named after him. That's why he had the merit for his daughter to be married to Gedol Hador, the prophet of all prophets. So obviously, this is an obvious example that being black is not frowned upon, chas v'shalom, not by Chazal, not by God, not by anyone that actually knows Torah. As far as the curse of Cham, this is also a... When you actually understand the concept of what I'm going to tell you right now, you're going to understand the answer that I'm going to give you right now, which is also mentioned in Parashat Noach, but also by the Rambam. You'll understand how silly the question is. How silly the question is by the answer. This is, again, no offense to anyone. This is, again, for all of those people who think that number one is...
3:59There's no type of racism in the Torah. There's no negativity in the Torah against people or against Hashem's creation. Okay, so now the question is: If someone is black and he converts, does he still have an issue because, in essence, he's a descendant of Cham (Ham)? descendants of Cham were signified by their black complexion, but it doesn't mean that anyone who's black is cursed. Why? Because that's just the complexion. What you are, as far as religion is concerned, is up to you. So when someone joins Am Yisrael and... Decides to accept upon themselves Torah and mitzvot. They not only are no longer cursed, but they become part of the chosen people that is blessed to such an extent that Hashem Yitbarach told our Avot, Avraham Avinu, Yitzchak, and Yaakov: "I will bless those that bless thee, and I will curse those that curse thee." Anyone that blesses you, I'll bless them; anyone that curses you is gonna get a special VIP mail from Me of a curse.
