Igniting the Light to the Nations

Ashirah Yosefah, Co-Director of Shuvoo Eilai

Antiquity Merges with the Future

We are living in days of incredible paradox, wherein we are experiencing a Divine conjunction of antiquity and the future.  An eternal reality that too long has been suppressed by human volition has suddenly come center stage, clearly in focus, and with a strong prophetic significance.  For the first time in nearly 2000 years, Righteous Gentiles stood before the Beit Din of a Sanhedrin and pledged to love and fear Hashem, and to live in accordance with the Seven Universal Laws for all mankind.  We call them “the Noahide Commandments.”  Curiously, this term does not appear in the Written Torah … not even in Parasha Noach, where Hashem expressly tells Noach that he and his descendents were to live by these laws. 

The truth is these Divine guidelines were not new to Noach.  Noach was deemed by G-d to be “righteous in his generation,” therefore, we can assume that he did his best to live in accordance with the seven laws which would later be associated with his name.  The Noahide Commandments, so-called, actually precede Noach.  They find their roots, their shoresh, at the beginning of time, on the day of the creation of Adam.

Rabbis Chaim Clorfene and Yaakov Rogalsky, in their book The Path of the Righteous Gentile, noted that …

“The Seven Noahide Commandments comprise the most ancient of all religious doctrines, for they were given to Adam, the First Man, on the day of his creation.” (Source:  Mishneh Torah, Laws of Kings, chapter 9, law 1)

“Wondrously, the Seven Noahide Commandments remain the newest and most uncharted of all religious doctrines.  Humanity as managed to keep them new by ignoring them throughout history.  But now, in these latter days when the footsteps of the Messiah can be heard by all who will listen closely, the Seven Noahide Commandments must finally be studied and observed by all the people of all the nations.”[1]

 

More than Just for Gentiles  

Let us consider that last statement by Rabbis Clorfene and Rogalsky:

“… the Seven Noahide Commandments must finally be studied and observed by all the people of all the nations.”

Is Israel not counted among the nations of the world?  Did Hashem not call, form and create this peculiar nation by His own Divine Will and His outstretched arm when He took us out of Mitsrayim?  Do the Noahide Laws apply to Jews, too?  They do.  For more reasons than appear obvious.

What are the obvious reasons that these Seven Laws are binding upon Jews as well as Gentiles?

1)       All of mankind find their source in Adam, then in Noach.  Our forefathers Avraham, Yitzchak and Ya’akov were Bnei Noach, descendents of Noach.  According to our Sages, they studied these laws, together with the rest of Torah known at that time, in the Yeshiva of Shem and Eiver.  They practiced them from day to day, growing in righteousness from their adherence to them.

2)       Each of the seven Noahide Commandments can be found in the Torah that was given to Moshe at Har Sinai.  As part of the 613 Commandments, they are incumbent upon Jews.  In fact, three of them can be found in the Asseret HaDibrot, the Ten Commandments.  Further, Torah Sh’ba’al Peh tells us that G-d instructed Moshe that Israel was to teach these seven laws to the nations.  It is part of our role as a Kingdom of Priests and a Holy Nation (Shemot 19:6).

3)       Since the time of Creation, these Seven Universal Laws have been the foundation of mankind’s relationship with G-d.  They are the "measuring stick" by which any religion can be evaluated.  If a religion contradicts these basic laws, it is necessarily flawed.  As Jews, we uphold Torah as the ultimate Truth; therefore, we must also uphold and promote the Noahide Commandments.

These are the obvious reasons, but there are yet more.  There are at least three more reasons that I would like us to consider.  One goes back to Avraham Avinu.  Another reaches clear back to Gan Eden and it may well be of particular significance to women.  The third is central to what G-d desires of us as Jews; in fact, it is a key to something of global magnitude for both Israel and the nations. 

Before I go on to discuss these reasons, let’s first review the Noahide Commandments, noting where each of them can be found in the Torah:

1.       Do not worship idols.  (Shemot 20:3)

2.       Do not murder.  (Shemot 20:13)

3.       Do not commit adultery. (Shemot 20:13)

4.       Do not steal.  (Vayyiqra 19:1)

5.       Do not blaspheme.  (Vayyiqra 24:16)

6.       Do not eat the limb of a living animal.  (Devarim 12:23)

7.       Establish courts of law.  (Devarim 16:18)

The validity of these laws is obvious to anyone who sincerely desires a meaningful relationship with G-d and with man.  They establish secure parameters for human conduct … and they allow mankind to “connect” with their Creator.

 

Connecting to our Source

As Jews, we are taught that observance of the Torah Mitzvot enables us to grow in understanding and appreciation of G-d’s Will and wisdom.  His wisdom is a G-dly light that illuminates our neshamah.  It is the Light of Torah radiating from within us, purifying us and providing a living witness of Hashem’s reality to the world around us.  Through keeping the Torah Mitzvot, we learn Yirat Shamayim, the love and fear of G-d.   The Noahide Commandments function in a similar way.  “Commandment” is the Hebrew word “mitzvoth”. It comes from the root word “mitzvah”, which means “connection”.  Simply put, mankind was given these seven Universal Laws at the time of Creation in order that we might connect with our Creator.

Rabbis Clorfene and Rogalsky bring down commentary on this connection to the Light of G-d’s wisdom from the Likutei Torah, Rav Sheur Zalman of Liadi (Bekhukoty, page 45, column 3):

“This G-dly light is eternal, and in it the soul earns eternal reward. By observing the Seven Noahide Commandments, a Gentile fulfills the purpose of his creation and receives a share in the World to Come, the blessed spiritual world of the righteous.”[2]

 

Repairing the Past

In the Mishneh Torah, RAMBAM states that these Seven Universal Laws were given to Adam on the day he was created.  They were given form and force in Gan Eden.  But what else happened in Gan Eden?  Adam and Chavah ate of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.  In so doing, they damaged the unique relationship they had enjoyed with their Creator.  Their special connection to G-d was broken … first by Chavah, then by Adam.  What is broken needs repair … it requires tikkun.  Could it be that observance of the Seven Universal Laws effects a tikkun of the chet of Gan Eden?   The Torah Sh’Ba’al Peh tells us that Gentiles who observe these laws merit a share in the World to Come; therefore, they represent a way for mankind to rectify their spiritual condition and that of the world in which they live. 

Chazal tell us that when the descendents of Yaakov had descended to the 49^th Gate of Impurity in Mitzrayim, it was the women who first began the process of tikkun that rallied their husbands and families to turn to Hashem and cry out for His deliverance.  In Midrash Rut Raba, we are told that the Redemption will begin in the merit of righteous women.  This is traditionally understood to mean that during Chevlai Moshiach, the birthpangs of Messiah, it will once again be women who initiate a process of tikkun. If we think back to Gan Eden, it was Chavah who initiated the chet. Based on history, and based on the gender dynamics between men and women, husbands and wives, it would seem plausible that the righteous women of the world have an inherent responsibility to facilitate tikkun for the chet of Gan Eden.  As Jews, we have the Torah to help us re-establish our connection to Hashem and counteract the chet of Gan Eden.  The Noahide Commandments provide the means for Gentiles to connect to G-d.  But as Jews, we have a responsibility with respect to the Noahide Commandments that Gentiles do not.

 

The Blessing of Avraham

Our forefathers began as Gentiles.  Avraham Avinu became the first Hebrew.  He willing left his Gentile roots and became the first man to “lech lecha”, to get himself out of his past and “pass over” from the paganism of his time to ethical monotheism.  Avraham Avinu was the first ger, the first convert.  Parasha Lech Lecha 12,5 tells us that Avraham and Sarah made many converts, that they “acquired many souls” –וְאֶת-הַנֶּפֶשׁ, אֲשֶׁר-עָשׂוּ בְחָרָן

What did they offer these converts that enabled them to transform their lives from paganism to monotheism?  They offered them knowledge of Hashem and the Seven Universal Laws. 

Once Avraham and Sarah and their entourage of converts had entered Canaan, Hashem made a promise to Avraham:

“And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make thy name great; and you will be a blessing.  And I will bless them that bless you, and curse them that curse you; and in you shall all the families of the earth be blessed.”  (Beresheis 12:2-3)

What does this blessing entail?  How are the nations to be blessed?  The nations are blessed when the knowledge of the One True G-d is shared with them.  Avraham and his descendents were to observe and to share the Seven Universal Laws that apply to all of mankind.  By doing so, mankind is offered the means by which they can connect to their Creator and begin a spiritual derech that will, b’ezrat Hashem, lead to deeper and broader observance of not only the literal application of the Seven Universal Laws, but the gradual embrace of many of the laws of justice, purity, mercy, compassion and reverence for G-d that are part and parcel of the Torah. 

Rashi, commenting on Parasha Tolodot, tells us that Yaakov spent fourteen years studying in the Yeshiva of Shem and Eiver after he left  his father’s home and before he arrived at the house of Lavan in Paddan-Aram.  The Seven Universal Laws were the basis of demonstrating belief in G-d at that time; the Torah had not yet been given, although the Talmud tells us that the essence of the Torah Mitzvot were, in fact, known to the Patriarchs based upon their actions as recorded in Chumash.  Still, fourteen years is a long time to study seven simple laws … or are they really that simple? 

The answer is that the application of the Seven Universal Laws begins on a peshat level of literal simplicity, but their application expands with obedience to naturally encompass much of Torah.  The Noahide Laws are actually “chapter headings” for a lifestyle of deep affinity with Torah.  When properly understood, studied and obeyed, the lifestyle that results is one parallel in many respects to that of a Torah-observant Jew.  There are, of course, obvious distinctions, such as Shabbat and Chagim observance, as well as the Torah Mitzvot that are exclusively between Hashem and Jews, such as the Laws of the Beit HaMikdash, the Cohanim and Leviim.   Rav Yoel Schwartz has written numerous books for Bnei Noach.  A Chabad Rabbi in Haifa has written an entire “Shulchan Aruch for Bnei Noach” in recent years, and the book “Path of the Righteous Gentile” by Rabbis Clorfene and Rogalsky contains 126 pages explaining the broader application of true observance of the Noahide Commandments. 

 

Added Merit

We are told by our Sages that when we serve Hashem voluntarily, our actions do not have the same weight of merit as they do when we perform a mitzvah because we are obligated under the Covenant of Torah to do so.  This is because it is the natural inclination of man that we resist doing that which we are told we must do.  When we overcome our Yetzer haRa and keep the mitzvoth even when we might not feel like it, we have greater merit in the eyes of Hashem.

Gentiles who keep the Noahide Commandments do so voluntarily.  There is no standing obligation upon them to do so.  Obviously, they gain merit before Hashem because the Talmud tells us that by observance of these mitzvoth, a gentile becomes righteous and merits a share in the Olam HaBa.  On the 9^th of Tevet, 5766 (January 9^th, 2006), nine men of the High Council of Bnei Noach and a Council Advisor took a pledge of obedience before the Sanhedrin and before G-d to keep the Noahide Commandments.  This is very significant.  These men will now be under a legal obligation to keep these laws.  It is the opinion of HaRav Shalom Elyashiv that in the keeping of the commandments under this new obligation, they will acquire greater merit before G-d in a manner similar to that of Jews submitting to our Torah obligations.  Prior to the destruction of the Second Temple, it was not uncommon for gentiles to appear before a Beit Din of the Sanhedrin and take such an oath of allegiance, but history has seen 2000 years elapse during which the Noahide Commandments were ignored and Bnei Noach became all but extinct in any respect other than genealogical descent. 

Speaking with Rav Yoel Schwartz a month or so ago, he commented that in the Zohar, in the commentary on Parasha Vayekhal, it tells of a future time when there would be a war involving what is now modern-day Iraq.  There would be no victor in this war, but at that time the world would see a resurgence of Bnei Noach.  We are obviously living in those days, but what does that mean for Jews?

 

A Unique Nation Among Nations

Rabbi Yitzchak Ginsberg, in an article entitled “Reaching Out to the Non-Jew”, available on his website at www.inner.org , commented:

“Our generation is the first since the dispersion of the Jewish People in which the Jew is able (and therefore obligated) to reach out to the non-Jew. The purpose is to create a movement among righteous gentiles worldwide, a forsaking of false religions and an acceptance of the seven Noahide commandments.”

During the years of exile amongst the nations of the world, Jews lived under the jurisdiction of foreign governments.  Prophesying in advance of the Babylon Exile, Yirmeyahu told Jews to pray for the peace of the nation wherein they would be exiled.  Living in these foreign nations, uprooted from our Land, Jews were not at liberty to promote the Noahide Laws because it would have amounted to encouraging rebellion against the religions of those countries.  We know only too well that simply being Jews in these countries and living in accordance with Torah brought untold persecution.  But now Hashem has returned us to our Land, a land from which we are told by both Yeshayahu and Micah that the Torah and the Word of  G-d will go forth “in the days to come”.

“In the days to come, the Mount of HASHEM’s House shall stand firm above the mountains; and it shall tower above the hills.  The peoples shall gaze on it with joy, and the many nations shall go and shall say, ‘Come, let us go up to the Mount of HASHEM, to the house of the G-d of Jacob that He may instruct us in His ways, and that we may walk in His paths.’  For instruction shall come forth from Zion, and the Word of HASHEM from Jerusalem.”  (Micah 4:1-2)

Likewise, the Prophet Zechariah foretold:

“Thus said HASHEM of Hosts:  Peoples and inhabitants of many cities shall yet come – the inhabitants of one shall go to the other and say, ‘Let us go and entreat the favor of the HASHEM, let us seek HASHEM of Hosts; I will go, too.’  The many peoples and the multitudes of nations shall come to seek HASHEM of Hosts in Jerusalem and to entreat the favor of HASHEM.  Thus said HASHEM of Hosts:  In those days, ten men from the nations of every tongue will take hold – they will take hold of every Jew by a corner of his cloak and say, ‘Let us go with you, for we have heard that G-d is with you.’” (Zechariah 8:20-23)

These events are coming to pass.  Gentiles are turning towards Torah and to Jews and asking for help to find spiritual clarity, to find Truth.  They are seeking assistance to free themselves of the faulty inheritance they have received through the many religions of the nations, religions that scoff the authority of Torah, while at the same time borrowing its concepts and distorting them for their own use.  The question is, “Are Jews ready for this?”

“Now then, if you will obey me faithfully and keep My covenant, you shall be My treasured possession among all the peoples, indeed, all the earth is Mine; but you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.'  These are the words that you shall speak to the Children of Israel.”  (Shemot 19:5-6)

Each morning, when we daven Shacharit, we are reminded that Hashem has called Jews to be a “goy kadosh”, a holy nation.  He chose us and called us out from bondage in Mitsrayim for a purpose, not because we were the most numerous or the most righteous.  He called us out because He is faithful to His promises to our forefathers.  Remember that Hashem promised Avraham Avinu that all the nations of the world would be blessed in him, by means of the great nation that Hashem would make of him … the Nation of Israel.

Let’s consider the words of the Prophet Yeshayahu, words he addressed to Israel as   G-d’s servant…

“All the nations are gathered together, and the peoples are assembled; who among them can declare this, and announce to us former things? Let them bring their witnesses, that they may be justified; and let them hear, and say: 'It is truth’. You are My witnesses, saith HASHEM, and My servant whom I have chosen; that you may know and believe Me, and understand that I am He; before Me there was no God formed, neither shall any be after Me.” (Yeshayahu 43:9-10 )

No less than three times, the Prophet Yeshayahu reiterated that Israel is appointed to be Or l’Goyim … a light to the nations of the world.  What is that light?  David haMelek defined it well:

“Your Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.”  (Tehillim 119:105)

Or, as is written in our Siddurim and on many Shiviti:  (Ki im-cha m’kor chayim, b’Or-cha nireah or.) “With You is the Source of life and in your Light we find light.”

Where do we begin?  We begin by understanding and promoting observance of the Noahide Mitzvot to mankind, to the nations … this is the starting point .. this is “kita Alef”.

 

Being True to Ourselves

The reason that religions like Christianity and the various Messianic groups are so intent on “loving Israel and Jews,” and imitating Jewish traditions, is that they crave what Jews are supposed to be giving them, namely knowledge of G-d and Torah, beginning with the Seven Noahide Commandments.  Gentiles want Jews to share the Light that Hashem has given us in our Covenant, to feed them with Torah-based instruction.  If we don’t give it, if we don’t act like Jews, the nations will take what they need … often in a horrible way, as history has proven.

The idea is not to teach Torah, but to live Torah. Jews are to receive in order to share.  Jews were chosen and formed from among the nations to be Or l’Goyim, a Light to the Nations.  In the Torah we hold the cure for all the world’s illnesses and we are supposed to be curing the world. 

The world hates Jews because Jews are not doing what Jews are supposed to be doing … blessing the world in fulfillment of G-d’s promise to Avraham Avinu.  To bless the world means to live Torah, to speak clearly, to clarify truth from falsehood, and to be Or l’Goyim. We need to be true to our Divine inheritance and our Covenant, in which is contained each of the Seven Universal Laws for mankind, plus the injunction to teach them to the nations.  If we would act like Jews, perhaps we would cut the world off from the power of hate and fear and free them to connect to their Creator in the true and meaningful way that G-d intended.

 

 

Peaceful Partners

In closing, Rabbis Clorfene and Rogalsky made an interesting statement in their book, The Path of the Righteous Gentile, stating that Bnei Noach have a unique and specific spiritual role in the world:

“The Children of Noah are co-religionists of the Children of Israel.  Together, they are peaceful partners striving to perfect the world and thereby give G-d satisfaction.  By viewing himself as a Noahite, the Gentile becomes like the Jew, in that he is a member of a people whose peoplehood (not just his religion) is synonymous with its relationship to G-d.”[3]