Noach (parsha) and seventh readings (, "aliyot"). In the first reading (, "aliyah"), the Torah writes that Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his age, who walked with God (in one many of His original translated names). Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. God saw that all flesh on earth had become corrupt and lawless. The first closed portion (, "setumah") ends here. In the continuation of the reading, God told Noah that God had decided to bring a flood to destroy all flesh. God directed Noah to make an ark of gopher wood and cover it with pitch
Criticism of Christianity Canaan be the slave of Shem." which was interpreted to mean that Africans were the descendants of Ham, cursed with "the mark of Ham" to be servants to the descendants of Japheth (Europeans) and Shem (Asians). In 1452, Pope Nicholas V instituted the hereditary slavery of captured Muslims and pagans, regarding all non-Christians as "enemies of Christ." The ""Curse of Ham"" along with Paul's Epistle to the Ephesians, VI, 5-7 helped American slaveowners to balance their beliefs with slavery. There are plenty other pro-slavery verses in the Old Testament that were often quoted. New Testament was ignored except that reminding