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B'nei Noah or "Children of Noah" is an ancient concept in Jewish Tradition. In ancient Greece they were known as the σεβομενοι, in Arabia as the صابئين. According to the tradition gentiles are required only to observe the 7 Noahide Laws rather than the more extensive observance required of the chosen people. The B'nei Noah are those gentiles who are observant of the Noahide Laws. The term now applies to a modern religious movement.

Theological Background

According to the Tanach, B’nei Noah are descendants of Noah. Noah’s children Shem, Ham, and Japheth along with their wives and Noah’s wife Naamah survived the flood aboard the ark along with Noah. Once the survivors were able to leave the ark for dry ground they began to start new families and repopulate the earth. Thus to the B'nei Noah all living humans are descendents of Noah and are thus subject to the Noahide laws - although Jews as the chosen people have further responsibilities placed on them.

The Medieval sage Rabbi Moshe Ben Maimon (the Rambam) collected all of the decisions in the Talmud and halachic decisions in his time and laid them out clearly in his great work the Mishnah Torah. In additional to Jewish Laws and their explanations, Noachide Laws were also collected with their explanation in the Rambam’s work in Sefer Shoftim in the last book Hilchot Melachim U’Milchamot, portions of which are available in English online

The Seven Laws of Noah

Main article: Noahide Laws

The seven laws listed by the Talmud are

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.

Modern Movement

A modern movement known as the B'nei Noah or B'nei Noach has appeared in which members endeavour to follow the Noahide Laws.

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, certain ones affiliated with Dor Daim and strict students of Maimonidies.

Small groups calling themslves the B'nei Noah (children of Noah) have recently organised themselves into a religion. Some Orthodox Jewish groups have sought ties with these groups. The High Council of B'nei Noah is particularly reflective of an apparent success at forming such ties. There are several very different approaches within Judaism to B'nei Noah. and in recent years tens of publications and websites have appeared.

Some of their organizations include:

United Noahide Academies

The United Noahide Academies was launched in 1995 as a project of Chabad Lubavitch. It is patterned after a "university" where students have an opportunity for in-depth learning based on selected materials provided online at their website.. Many authorites require someone interested in Noahidism to declare their intent before a Rabbinical court. With the UNA, students of Noahide Law may request to present a noahide declaration at a UNA recommended "Beis Din," in person, by mail or by e-mail after successful completion of several introductory courses.

High Council of B’nei Noah

Main article High Council of B’nei Noah

A High Council of B’nei Noah was endorsed on January 10, 2006 by the newly formed Sanhedrin in Israel and was set up to represent B'nei Noah communities around the world.

United Noahide Council

In April 2006, Noahide leader Billy Jack Dial founded a noahide council called the "United Noachide Council, Inc." to serve the needs of Noachides worldwide. It was the second council to be formed in conjuction with the Jerusalem Court for Bnei Noah

B'nei Noah in the News

Chabad-Lubavitch has been the most politically active in Noahide matters, believing that there is spiritual value to non-Jews by even just acknowledging the seven laws. In 1989 they had a reference to these laws enshrined in a congressional proclamation: Presidential Proclamation 5956, 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".

In April 2006, the spiritual leader of the Druze community in Israel, Sheikh Mowafak Tarif, met with a representative of Chabad-Lubavitch to sign a declaration calling on all non-Jews in Israel to observe the Noahide Laws as laid down in the 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.

In March 2007, Chabad-Lubavitch gathered ambassadors from six different countries came to take part in a gathering to declare in the name of the states they represent, their support of the unversal teachings of Noahide Laws. They represented; Poland, Latvia, Mexico, Panama, Ghana, and Japan, they were part of a special program organized by Harav Boaz Kali.

In April, the Abu Gosh mayor Salim Jaber accepts seven Noahide laws as part of a mass rally by Chabad at the Bloomfield Stadium in Tel Aviv

In May, the newly elected president of France Nicolas Sarkozy, met with the Lubavitcher Rabbi Dovid Zaoui, who presented the president with literature on the unversal teachings of Noahide Laws.

References

External links

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