Noah about to be baptised. In medieval Christianity, Noah's three sons were generally considered as the founders of the populations of the three known continents, Japheth/Europe, Shem/Asia, and Ham/Africa, although a rarer variation held that they represented the three classes of medieval society – the priests (Shem), the warriors (Japheth), and the peasants (Ham). In medieval Christian thought, Ham was considered to be the ancestor of the people of black Africa. So, in racialist arguments, the curse of Ham became a justification for the slavery of the black races. Isaac Newton, in his religious works on the development of religion, wrote
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