Noahide Laws
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The Seven Laws of Noah (Hebrew: שבע מצוות בני נח, Sheva mitzvot B'nei Noach), often referred to as the Noahide Laws are a list of seven moral imperatives which, according to the Talmud, were given by God to Noah as a binding set of laws for all mankind.[1] According to Judaism any non-Jew who lives according to these laws is regarded as a Righteous Gentile and furthermore only a non-Jew who carefully abides by these laws is assured of a place in the world to come (Olam Haba), the Jewish concept of eternal life[2]. Adherents are often called B'nei Noah (Children of Noah) or Noahides and may often network in Jewish synagogues.
The Noahide Laws were predated by six laws given to Adam in the Garden of Eden.[3] Later at the Revelation at Sinai the Seven Laws of Noah were succeeded by the Ten Commandments and the other laws of the Torah. According to Judaism, the 613 mitzvot or "commandments" given in the written Torah, as well as their reasonings in the oral Torah, were only issued to the Jews and are therefore only binding upon them, since they are regarded as having inherited the obligation from their ancestors. Furthermore it is actually forbidden by the Torah for non-Jews on whom the Noahide Laws are still binding, to elevate their observance to the Torah's mitzvot.[4]
Whilst several Jewish organizational bodies such as Chabad form the loose frame of a Noahide community, Noahides tend to congregate less than followers of other religions, thus their exact numbers are unknown. Noahides exist predominantly in the United States, South America and Europe. The Seven Laws of Noah have officially been recognised in the United States Congress:
- "Whereas Congress recognizes the historical tradition of ethical values and principles which are the basis of civilized society and upon which our great Nation was founded; Whereas these ethical values and principles have been the bedrock of society from the dawn of civilization, when they were known as the Seven Noahide Laws."[5]
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[edit] The Seven Laws
The seven laws listed by the Talmud are[6]
- Prohibition of Idolatry: - You shall not make for yourself an idol.
- Prohibition Murder: - You shall not murder.
- Prohibition of Theft: - You shall not steal.
- Prohibition of Sexual Promiscuity: - You shall not commit adultery.
- Prohibition of Blasphemy: - You shall not blaspheme.
- Prohibition of Cruelty to Animals: - Do not eat the flesh of a living animal.
- Requirement to have just Laws: - You shall set up an effective government to police the preceding six laws.
[edit] Background
According to rabbinic Judaism, as expressed in the Talmud, the Noahide Laws apply to all humanity through mankind's descent from one paternal ancestor who in Hebrew tradition is called Noah (the head of the only family to survive during The Flood). In Judaism, בני נח B'nei Noah (Hebrew, "Descendants of Noah", "Children of Noah") refers to all of mankind.[citation needed]
The Talmud also states: "Righteous people of all nations have a share in the world to come" (Sanhedrin 105a). Any non-Jew who lives according to these laws is regarded as one of "the righteous among the gentiles". Maimonides writes that this refers to those who have acquired knowledge of God and act in accordance with the Noahide laws out of obedience to Him. According to what scholars consider to be the most accurate texts of the Mishneh Torah, Maimonides continues on to say that anyone who upholds the Noahide laws only because they appear logical is not one of the "righteous among the nations," but rather he is one of the wise among them. The more prolific versions of the Mishneh Torah say of such a person: "..nor is he one of the wise among them."[citation needed]
According to the Biblical narrative, the Deluge covered the whole world killing every surface-dwelling creature except Noah, his family and the creatures of Noah's Ark. After the flood, God sealed a covenant with Noah with the following admonitions (Genesis 9):
- Food: "Also, flesh with the life -the blood- in it do not eat." (9:4)
- Murder: "I will also inquire about your blood, your life, from all animals, and from each human I will inquire about his brother's blood. Who sheds the blood of man, by man his blood will be shed, because in the image of God was man made."
The Talmud (tractate Sanhedrin 56a/b, quoting Tosefta Sanhedrin 9:4) states that the instruction to not eat "flesh with the life" was given to Noah, and that Adam and Eve had already received six other commandments. Adam and Eve were not enjoined from eating from a living animal since they were forbidden to eat any animal. [7] The remaining six are exegetically derived from a seemingly superfluous sentence in Genesis 2:16.
Judaism holds that gentiles (or goyim "non-Jews [literally 'Nations']") are not only not obligated to adhere to all the laws of the Torah (indeed, they are forbidden to fulfill some laws, such as the keeping of the Jewish Sabbath in the exact same manner as Israel [8]). Rabbinic Judaism and its modern-day descendants discourage proselytization. The Noahide Laws are regarded as the way through which non-Jews can have a direct and meaningful relationship with God or at least comply with the minimal requisites of civilization and of divine law.[citation needed]
A non-Jew who keeps the Noahide Law in all its details is said to attain the same spiritual and moral level as Israel's own Kohen Gadol (high priest) (Talmud, Bava Kamma 38a). Maimonides states in his work Mishneh Torah (The laws of kings and their rulership 8:11) that a Ger Toshav who is precise in the observance of these Seven Noahide commandments is considered to be a Righteous Gentile and has earned a place in the world to come. This follows a similar statement in the Talmud (tractate Sanhedrin 105b). However, according to Maimonides, a gentile is considered righteous only if a person follows the Noahide laws specifically because he or she considers them to be of divine origin (through the Torah) and not if they are merely considered to be intellectually compelling or good rules for living.[9]
Noahide law differs radically from the Roman law for gentiles (Jus Gentium), if only because the latter was an enforceable judicial policy. Rabbinic Judaism has never adjudicated any cases under Noahide law (per Novak, 1983:28ff.), although scholars disagree about whether the Noahide law is a functional part of Halakha ("Jewish law") (cf. Bleich).
In recent years, the term "Noahide" has come to refer to non-Jews who strive to live in accord with the seven Noahide Laws; the terms "observant Noahide" or "Torah-centered Noahides" would be more precise but are infrequently used. The rainbow, referring to the Noahide or First Covenant (Genesis 9), is the symbol of many organized Noahide groups.[citation needed] A non-Jewish person of any ethnicity or religion is referred to as a bat ("daughter") or ben ("son") of Noah, but most organizations that call themselves בני נח (b'nei noach) are composed of gentiles who are keeping the Noahide Laws.[citation needed]
[edit] Subdividing the Seven Laws
Various rabbinic sources have different positions on the way the seven laws are to be subdivided in categories. Maimonides (Melakhim 10:6 of the Mishneh Torah) lists one additional Noahide commandment forbidding the coupling of different kinds of animals and the mixing of trees. Rabbi David ben Solomon ibn Abi Zimra (Radbaz), a contemporary commentator on Maimonides, expressed surprise that he left out castration and sorcery which were listed in the Talmud (Sanhedrin 56b).
The tenth century Rabbi Saadia Gaon added tithes and levirate marriage. The eleventh century Rav Nissim Gaon included "listening to God's Voice", "knowing God" and "serving God" besides going on to say that all religious acts which can be understood through human reasoning are obligatory upon Jew and Gentile alike. The fourteenth century Rabbi Nissim ben Reuben Gerondi added the commandment of charity.
The sixteenth century work Asarah Maamarot by Rabbi Menahem Azariah of Fano (Rema mi-Fano) enumerates thirty commandments, listing the latter twenty-three as extensions of the original seven. Another commentator, Rabbi Zvi Hirsch Chajes (Kol Hidushei Maharitz Chayess I, end Ch. 10) suggests these are not related to the first seven, nor based on Scripture, but were passed down by oral tradition. The number thirty derives from the statement of the Talmudic sage Ulla in tractate Hullin 92a, though he lists only three other rules in addition to the original seven, consisting of the prohibitions against homosexuality and cannibalism, as well as the imperative to honor the Torah.
Talmud commentator Rashi remarks on this that he does not know the other Commandments referred to. Though the authorities seem to take it for granted that Ulla's thirty commandments included the original seven, an additional thirty laws is also possible from the reading.
The tenth century Shmuel ben Hophni Gaon lists thirty Noahide Commandments based on Ulla's Talmudic statement, though the text is problematic[10]. He includes the prohibitions against suicide and false oaths, as well as the imperatives related to prayer, sacrifices and honoring one's parents. The commandments, according to Shmuel ben Hophni Gaon, cover:
[edit] Prohibition against idolatry
[edit] Prohibition against blasphemy
- To believe in the singularity of God, see, Monotheism
- No blasphemy
- No witchcraft
- No divination
- No conjurers
- No sorcerers
- No mediums
- No demonology
- No wizardry
- No necromancy
- To honor father and mother
[edit] Prohibition against murder
- No murder
- No suicide
- No Moloch worship (infant sacrifice)
- According to Maimonides's interpretation, no abortion
[edit] Prohibition against theft
- No stealing
- No kidnapping of persons
[edit] Prohibition against sexual immorality
- No adultery
- Formal legal marriages
- No incest with close relatives
- No sodomy (i.e. male to male anal sex)
- No bestiality
- Not to crossbreed animals
- No castration
[edit] Prohibition against eating the limb of a living animal
- Not to eat a limb of a living creature (whilst it is still alive)
- Not to eat or drink blood
- Not to eat carrion (for those recognised by a Beth Din)
[edit] Establish courts of justice
- To establish courts and a system of justice
- No false oaths
The contemporary Rabbi Aaron Lichtenstein counts 66 instructions but Rabbi Harvey Falk has suggested that much work remains to be done in order to properly identify all of the Noahide Commandments, their divisions and subdivisions.
Theft, robbery and stealing covers the appropriate understanding of other persons, their property and their rights. The establishment of courts of justice promotes the value of the responsibility of a corporate society of people to enforce these laws and define these terms. The refusal to engage in unnecessary lust or cruelty demonstrates respect for the Creation itself as renewed after the Flood. To not do murder would include human sacrifice.
[edit] Recent developments
Orthodox Judaism does not usually promote conversion to Judaism but does, on the other hand, believe that the Jewish people have a duty to help establish the Noahide Laws, based on Maimonides. Some Jewish groups have been particularly active in promoting the Seven Laws, notably the Chabad-Lubavitch movement and certain ones affiliated with Dor Daim and strict students of Maimonidies. Chabad-Lubavitch even succeeded in having a reference to these laws enshrined in law. In Presidential Proclamation 5956 [1], then-President George H. W. Bush, recalling Joint House Resolution 173, and recalling that the ethical and moral principles of all civilizations come in part from the Seven Noachide Laws, proclaimed April 16, 1989 and April 6, 1989 as "Education Day, U.S.A." Subsequently, Public Law 102-14, formally designated the Lubavitcher Rebbe's birthday as "Education Day, U.S.A.", with Congress recalling that "without these ethical values and principles the edifice of civilization stands in serious peril of returning to chaos", and that "society is profoundly concerned with the recent weakening of these principles that has resulted in crises that beleaguer and threaten the fabric of civilized society".[2]
Small groups calling themslves the B'nei Noah (children of Noah) have recently organised themselves into a religion.[citation needed] Some Orthodox Jewish groups have sought ties with these groups.[citation needed] The High Council of B'nei Noah is particularly reflective of an apparent success at forming such ties.
[edit] Other religions as Noahide
From the Orthodox Jewish perspective, if a non-Jew keeps all of the laws entailed in the categories covered by the Seven Noahide commandments, then he or she is considered a Ger Toshav "Sojourning Alien" amid the people of Israel. Jewish law only allows the official acceptance of a "Ger Toshav" as a sojourner in the Land of Israel during a time when the Year of Jubilee (yovel) is in effect. A "Ger Toshav" is the only kind of non-Jew who Jewish law permits to live among the Jewish people in the Land of Israel. A Ger Tzedek is a person who prefers to proceed to total conversion to Judaism, a procedure that is traditionally discouraged by Judaism and allowed only after much thought and deliberation over the conversion has taken place.
The term Noahide is not the name of any specific religion but a term used to describe religions and cultures compliant with the Noahide Laws outside of Israel.
Although the term "Noachide" is often used to describe those individuals attempting to be compliant with the Seven Laws the term itself is defined as being a non-Jew, that is, a gentile.
[edit] Druze
In January 2004, the spiritual leader of the Druze community in Israel, Sheikh Mowafak Tarif, signed a declaration calling on all non-Jews in Israel to observe the Noahide Laws as laid down in the Hebrew Bible and expounded upon in Jewish tradition. The mayor of the Galilean city of Shefa-'Amr (Shfaram) - where Muslim, Christian and Druze communities live side by side - also signed the document. The declaration includes the commitment to make a better, more humane world based on the Seven Noachide Commandments and the values they represent commanded by the Creator to all mankind through Moses on Mount Sinai.
Support for the spread of the Seven Noahide Commandments by the Druze leaders reflects the Biblical narrative itself. The Druze community reveres the non-Jewish father-in-law of Moses, Jethro, whom Arabs call Shoaib. According to the Biblical narrative, Jethro joined and assisted the Jewish people in the desert during the Exodus, accepted monotheism, but ultimately rejoined his own people. In fact, the tomb of Jethro in Tiberias is the most important religious site for the Druze community. [3]
[edit] Christianity
Within Judaism it is a matter of debate whether Christianity's doctrine of the Trinity constitutes a violation of the Noahide prohibition of idolatry or not.
The strict view is that Christian theology is considered avodah zarah (loosely translated as "idolatry") for all people, both Jew and gentile alike. This would be one reason to disqualify Christians from being considered Noahides. However, Unitarians and those followers of Jesus who do not believe that Jesus is a deity would not be so disqualified.
Other rabbinic views make a distinction between avodah zarah (idolatry) and shittuf (lit. "association"), defined as any doctrine that recognizes one Supreme G-d, but ascribes power, albeit secondary, to a created being (the term refers to one who does not deny the monotheistic and exclusionary aspect of G-d, but "associates" something else with Him). Judaism prohibits shittuf for Jews as idolatry, but not for non-Jews. The Tosafist Rabbeinu Tam (Rashi's grandson), in Bekhorot 2b and Sanhedrin 63b, apparently ruled that trinitarianism could be permitted to gentiles as a form of shittuf. This view was echoed by Rabbi Isaac ben Sheshet (Rivash, responsa 119) and apparently accepted by Rabbi Moses Isserles (Rema, Orah Hayyim 156:1.) However, no rabbinic source allows Jews to worship through any form of shittuf; rather, all worship must be directed to the one and only Creator.
Harvey Falk, in his book Jesus the Pharisee proposes that the spread of the Noahide laws may have been an important part of Jesus' intentions, as well as those of his early followers (see also Council of Jerusalem).
[edit] Christian criticism
Christian critics of the Noahide laws contend that insisting upon a basic set of moral laws is contrary to religious pluralism. Some believe that their existence implies that Jews may set up a legal system that would effectively outlaw Christianity. The Jewish community responds by noting that it makes laws and customs for its own members (like all faiths) and does not set up governments to force Jewish beliefs on non-Jews; in contrast, some non-Jewish faiths have carried out such actions in practice. In addition, with their minimal threshold of morality, the Noahide law may be compared to Catholic social teachings, especially natural law theory.
The major Christian bodies (e.g. the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Churches and the Protestant Churches) believe the Ten Commandments to be binding on them and would regard the Noahide laws as essentially a subset of these (though the requirement to set up courts, and the dietary regulation, are not explicit in the Ten Commandments). By contrast, most Jewish thinkers consider the Seven Noahide Laws a parallel system of general categories of commandments, each containing many components and details. Some Jewish thinkers regard the determination of the details of the Noahide Law as something to be left to Jewish rabbis. This, in addition to the teaching of the Jewish law that punishment for violating one of the seven Noahide Laws includes a theoretical death penalty (Talmud, tractate Sanhedrin 57a), is a factor in modern opposition to the notion of a Noahide legal system. Jewish scholars respond by noting that Jews today no longer carry out the death penalty, even within the Jewish community. Jewish law, in contemporary practice, sees the death penalty as an indicator of the seriousness of an offense; violators are not actually put to death. Some Jewish thinkers believe that penalties are a detail of the Noahide Laws and that Noahides themselves must determine the details of their own laws for themselves. According to this school of thought - see N. Rakover, Law and the Noahides (1998); M. Dallen, The Rainbow Covenant (2003)- the Noahide Laws offer mankind a set of absolute values and a framework for righteousness and justice, while the detailed laws that are currently on the books of the world's states and nations are presumptively valid.
[edit] Christian adherence
Some Christian writers [4], particularly those affiliated with Primitive Apostolic Christianity see the verses in Acts 15:19-21 as a directive from the first Council of Jerusalem to observe the basic understanding of the Noahide Laws in order to be considered Righteous Gentiles, and not be required to live completely as Jews. According to Acts 15, the Council of Jerusalem determined that circumcision was not required of new converts, only avoidance of "pollution of idols, fornication, things strangled, and blood" (KJV, Acts 15:20). The basis for these prohibitions as found in Acts 15:21 states only: "For Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every sabbath day". The evidence of these Noachian inclusions to primitive Christian observance were in addition to the moral Ten Commandments given to Moses at Sinai, which covers the most essential requirements of the Noachian covenant. The additions of the four cited above were to complete the requirements of the new Gentile converts to primitive Christianity.
Several Christian congregations have abandoned traditional Christianity (rejecting the Nicene Creed) and adopted the First Covenant or Noahism in recent years.[citation needed] In the United States a few organized movements of non-Jews (primarily of Christian origin) have either chosen to reject mainstream religious affiliation and live by the Apostolic Decree, which they view as the original Christian observance of Noahide Laws, or, under the influence of Orthodox Judaism, adhere to the Talmud's listing of the Laws (without converting to Judaism).
Jubilees, part of the Ethiopian Orthodox Bible, generally considered to be a 2nd century BCE Jewish apocrypha, Chapter 7, verses 20-33 states: "And in the twenty-eighth jubilee [1324-1372 A.M.] Noah began to enjoin upon his sons' sons the ordinances and commandments, and all the judgments that he knew, and he exhorted his sons to observe righteousness, and to cover the shame of their flesh, and to bless their Creator, and honour father and mother, and love their neighbour, and guard their souls from fornication and uncleanness and all iniquity. For owing to these three things came the flood upon the earth ... For whoso sheddeth man's blood, and whoso eateth the blood of any flesh, shall all be destroyed from the earth."
[edit] Islam
Muslims believe that Noah was a true Prophet of Allah and was given laws. The laws set by him and other earlier Prophets like Moses and Jesus are included in the revelation of the Quran to Muhammad. The Noahide laws, such as prohibitions against idolatry, witchcraft, suicide or anal sex, and others, are still valid in the Quran .
[edit] References
- ^ compare Genesis 9:4-6
- ^ Sheva M Bnei Noach, Mishnah Torah
- ^ Genesis 2:16
- ^ Yerusha LeYacov,[citation needed] Talmud Bavli
- ^ Public Law 102-14, H.J. Res 104, 102nd Congress of the United States of America, March 5, 1991.
- ^ Sanhedrin 56
- ^ Rashi on Gensis 9:3
- ^ Jewish Encyclopedia but are forbidden to observe them.Gentiles May Not Be Taught the Torah.
- ^ Mishneh Torah Shofitm, Wars and Kings 8:14
- ^ Each surviving manuscript is defective between the seventeenth and nineteenth positions, cf. The Seven Laws of Noah by Rabbi Aaron Lictenstein, pp. 119
[edit] Further reading
- Bleich, J. David. "Judaism and natural law" in Jewish law annual, vol. VII 5-42
- Bleich, J. David. "Tikkun Olam: Jewish Obligations to Non-Jewish Society" in: Tikkun olam: social responsibility in Jewish thought and law. Edited by David Shatz, Chaim I. Waxman and Nathan J. Diament. Northvale, N.J.: Jason Aronson, 1997. ISBN 0-7657-5951-9.
- Broyde, Michael J. "The Obligation of Jews to Seek Observance of Noahide Laws by Gentiles: A Theoretical Review" in Tikkun olam: social responsibility in Jewish thought and law. Edited by David Shatz, Chaim I. Waxman and Nathan J. Diament. Northvale, N.J. : Jason Aronson, 1997. ISBN 0-7657-5951-9.
- Clorfene C and Rogalsky Y. The Path of the Righteous Gentile: An Introduction to the Seven Laws of the Children of Noah. New York: Phillip Feldheim, 1987. ISBN 0-87306-433-X. Online version.
- Lichtenstein, Aaron. "The Seven Laws of Noah". New York: The Rabbi Jacob Joseph School Press and Z. Berman Books, 2d ed. 1986. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 80-69121.
- Novak, David. The image of the non-Jew in Judaism: an historical and constructive study of the Noahide Laws. New York : E. Mellen Press, 1983.
- Novak, David. Natural law in Judaism. Cambridge ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 1998.
- Rakover, Nahum. Law and the Noahides: law as a universal value. Jerusalem: Library of Jewish Law, 1998.
- Michael Dallen. The Rainbow Covenant: Torah and the Seven Universal Laws - Clearest explanations about the Noahide Laws - Very Readable - ISBN 0-9719388-2-2 Library of Congress Control Number 2003102494 online excerpts
