Historical race concepts Classical ideas with the notion that humanity as a whole was descended from Shem, Ham and Japheth, the three sons of Noah, producing distinct Semitic (Asiatic), Hamitic (African), and Japhetic (Indo-European) peoples. This theory dates back to the Babylonian "Talmud", which states, "the descendants of Ham are cursed by being black, and [it] depicts Ham as a sinful man and his progeny as degenerates." In the 9th century, Al-Jahiz, an Afro-Arab Islamic philosopher, attempted to explain the origins of different human skin colors, particularly black skin, which he believed to be the result of the environment. He cited a stony
Yoel Baal Shem Rosh yeshiva for some 50 years. Rabbi Yoel Baal Shem (I) was the teacher of Rabbi Adam Baal Shem of Ropczyce () who instructed Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov in Kabbalah. Stories and teachings of Rabbi Yoel Baal Shem (I) can be found in various kabbalistic "sefarim", especially in two "sefarim", "Mifalos Elokim" and "Toldos Adam" which earned the imprimatur of his grandson, Rabbi Yoel Baal Shem (II), the son of Uri. Rabbi Yeshaya Heilprin, son of Yoel Helprin (II), was also a kabbalist and expert in kabbalistic amulets. Yoel Baal Shem Yoel Baal Shem () was an Orthodox Jewish