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
Keter Shem Tov Keter Shem Tov Keter Shem Tov, (, "The Crown of the Good Name") was the first published work of the teachings of Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov, the founder of Hasidism. The book was published in Zalkevo, 1794, more than thirty years after Rabbi Israel's passing. The book contains numerous, but brief, Hasidic interpretations of the Torah (Hebrew Bible). The Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic movement had republished the work in a number of new editions. In "Keter Shem Tov", the Baal Shem Tov stresses the importance and esteem placed on the recital of Psalms. A complete edition of "Keter Shem Tov" (titled