“Shem and Yefet took the garment, they placed it upon the shoulders of both of them, they walked backward, and they covered the nakedness of their father and they faced backward, and they did not see the nakedness of their father” (Genesis 9:23). “Shem and Yefet took the garment” – Rabbi Yoḥanan said: Shem began with the mitzva first, and Yefet came and heeded him.32He heeded Shem’s request to help him.
That is why he [Shem] merited the prayer shawl33Shem is the ancestor of Israel. and Yefet, the regal cloak. “They placed it upon the shoulders of both of them, they walked backward, and they covered the nakedness of their father.” From the fact that it is stated: “They walked backward,” do I not know that “they did not see the nakedness of their father”? Rather, it teaches that they placed their hands over their faces as they were walking backward, conducting themselves with respect, in keeping with the [appropriate] reverence for a father upon his son.
The Holy One blessed be He said to Shem: ‘You covered your father’s nakedness, by your life, I will repay you, [as it is written]: “Then these men34Ḥananya, Mishael and Azaria, who were descendants of Shem. were bound in their sarbaleihon […and were thrown into the fiery furnace]”’ (Daniel 3:21). [What is sarbaleihon?] Rabbi Yudan and Rabbi Huna, Rabbi Yudan said: Their cloaks. Rabbi Huna said: Their robes.35They were not stripped of their garments when thrown into the furnace, in the merit of their ancestor Shem.
The Holy One blessed be He said to Yefet: ‘You covered your father’s nakedness, by your life, I will repay you [as it is written]: “It will be on that day, I will give Gog36Gog is the king of the nation of Magog, who are descendants of Yefet (Genesis 10:2). a place of burial there, in Israel, the valley of the passersby east of the sea, and it will block the passersby, and they will bury Gog and all his multitude there, and they will call it the valley of the Multitude of Gog”’ (Ezekiel 39:11).37Just as Yefet covered Noah’s body, so will the bodies of his descendants be covered up, in burial.
The Holy One blessed be He said to Ḥam: ‘You brought shame to your father’s nakedness, by your life, I will exact retribution against you: “So the king of Assyria will lead the captives of Egypt and the exiles of Kush, youths and elders, naked and barefoot and bared of buttocks, the nakedness of Egypt”’ (Isaiah 20:4).38Egypt (Mitzrayim) and Kush were descendants of Ḥam (Genesis 10:6).