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Judaism -->
What is Judaism |
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Bnai Noach
The righteous of all
nations and peoples have a share in the World To Come.
According to Judaism, the
Noahide laws apply to all humanity through their descent
from Noah after The Flood. In Judaism, B'nai Noach
(Hebrew, "Descendants of Noah", "The Children of Noah"),
and Noahide, are non-Jews who live in accord with the
seven Noahide Laws (below). A non-Jewish person of any
ethnic/religion is referred to as a bat (daughter) / ben
(son) of Noah. Any organization of B'nai Noach is
composed of gentiles who follow these rules.
All denominations of Judaism hold that gentiles
(non-Jews) are not obligated to follow halakha (Jewish
law and custom); only Jews are obligated to do so.
Judaism has no tradition of active conversion, and
modern-day Judaism discourages proselytization. Rather,
for non-Jews, the Noahide Laws are considered the way to
have a meaningful relationship with God.
Maimonides states in his work Mishneh Torah (The laws of
kings and their ruler ship 8:11) that a non-Jew who is
precise in the observance of these Seven Noahide
commandments is considered to be a Righteous Gentile and
has earned the afterlife. This follows a similar
statement in the Talmud (tractate Sanhedrin 105b).
However, according to Maimonides, a share in the World
to Come is only earned if a person follows the Noahide
laws specifically because they consider them to be of
divine origin (through the Torah) and not if they simply
consider them a good way to live (in which case they
would simply be a wise person). Other authorities do not
make this distinction.
The seven laws
The seven laws are first
mentioned in Tosefta Sanhedrin 9:4 and Talmud Sanhedrin
56a/b:
- Do not murder.
- Do not steal.
- Do not worship false
gods.
- Do not be sexually
immoral (forbidden sexual acts are traditionally
interpreted to include incest, sodomy, male homosexual
sex acts and adultery)
- Do not eat anything
of the body of an unslaughtered animal (This is a
humanitarian command; in many regions the practice was
to cut meat from animals still alive, despite the
suffering caused. See
Kosher).
- Do not blaspheme.
- Set up righteous and
honest courts and apply fair justice in judging
offenders.
The Talmud says: "Righteous people of all nations have
a share in the world to come" (Sanhedrin 105a). Any
person who lives according to these laws is known as
"the righteous among the gentiles". Maimonides states
that this refers to those who have acquired knowledge
of God and act in accordance with the Noahide laws.
Various rabbinic
sources have different positions on the way the seven
laws are to be subdivided in categories. Maimonides (Melakhim
10:6) lists one additional Noahide commandment
forbidding the coupling of different kinds of animals
and the mixing of trees. Radbaz expressed surprise that
he left out castration and sorcery which were listed in
Baraita (Sanhedrin 56B). The tenth century R. Saadia
Gaon added tithes and levirate marriage. The eleventh
century R. 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 R. Nissim ben
Reuben Gerondi added the commandment of charity.
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The
sixteenth century Asarah Maamarot of R. Menahem Azariah
of Fano enumerates thirty commandments, listing the
latter twenty-three as extensions of the original seven.
Another commentator (Kol Hiddnshei Maharitz Chayess I,
end Ch. 10) suggests these are not related to the first
seven, nor based on Scripture, but were passed down by
tradition. The number thirty derives from the statement
of Ulla in Hullin 92A though this third century C.E.
Talmudic sage 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. Rashi then remarks 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 R. Samuel ben Hophni Gaon's list of
thirty Noahide Commandments is based on Ulla's Talmudic
statement though the text is problematic. 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 Rav Shmuel ben Hophni Gaon (early Middle Ages),
cover:
- Idolatry
- No idolatry
- To pray
- To offer ritual
sacrifices only to God
- Blasphemy
- To believe in the
singularity of God
- No blasphemy
- No witchcraft
- No soothsayers
- No conjurers
- No sorcerers
- No mediums
- No demonology
- No wizardry
- No necromancy
- To respect father
& mother
- Murder
- No murder
- No suicide
- No Molech worship
(infant sacrifice)
- Property
- Sexual Immorality
- No adultery
- Formal marriages
via bride price & marriage gifts
- No incest with a
sister
- No homosexuality
- No bestiality
- Not to crossbreed
animals
- No castration
- Food Laws
- Not to eat a limb
of a living creature
- Not to eat or
drink blood
- Not to eat carrion
(for those recognized by a Beth Din)
- Justice
- To establish
courts and a system of justice
- No false oaths
The contemporary Rabbi
Dr. 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 as being forbidden. |
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