Friday, January 13, 2017

Torah...for the Nations? Part 9


The Noachide movement, although it has gained adherents all over the world, has failed to capture the imagination of most people. The main reason for that is, I believe, that people find it difficult to have a meaningful religious life, in a system that consists almost entirely of "Thou shalt nots". I believe that the Torah intended the Noachide laws to be a "lowest common denominator" for a decent society.When Hillel told the potential convert who wanted to learn the whole Torah while standing on one foot, responding "What is hateful to you, do not do unto your neighbor", many question why he didn't simply say "love thy neighbor as thyself", The answer is that for one raised in a pagan society, demanding universal love would simply go over everyone's head. Not to hurt anyone is, for a former pagan, already a big leap forward. Likewise, the Noachide laws are saying to Mankind "You believe in G-d? Then don't hurt anyone". But most people seek a religion that binds them to G-d, and guides them through the ups and downs of life. Most likely, the Torah intended conversion for such people. We see in the story of the three potential converts referred to above, where one wanted to learn the whole Torah while standing on one foot, one wanted to accept only the written Torah, while one wanted to convert on condition he could be High Priest, Hillel first converted them, and only afterwards showed them the errors in their request. But conversion today, especially in the last two decades, has been made a non option for most people. Some of the books intended for Noachides attempt to correct this, by creating ceremonies reminiscent of the mitzvot of the Torah. But, as these are man made, few can find meaning in them. As I have shown earlier, according to RAMBAM, a non Jew may voluntarily accept any Torah observance, except for those that state specifically "It is a sign between Me and the Children of Israel", which only occurs in three cases. RAMBAM makes clear that this is not just an exercise in futility; but the non Jew receives a Divine reward for these observances. The idea that it is forbidden for a non Jew to study Torah, is obviated by RAMBAM's statement that we SHOULD teach Torah to those non Jews who will not mock it, but rather seek Truth in it. This is especially true today, when virtually all Jewish texts have been translated, and many simply seek in depth explanation of these texts. Even Chabad, that has encouraged Noachidism so much, has not dealt with these issues. Others must. I realize that other medieval rabbis disagreed with RAMBAM, and felt that non Jews keeping mitzvot was a desecration. I prefer to see these ideas in the context of the extreme persecution of Jews in Christian Europe. It's time for men  of both scholarship and courage to revisit this vital matter.

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