The Seven Noahide Laws
Abstract
subject to hell, but the righteous Gentiles are invited into heaven. 8 Letters from the Rebbe, Vol 3 (OSL, 1998), 131. 9 Maimonides laws of Kings 9:1.Midrash Rabba Genesis 16:6.Extrapolating all six laws primarily from the prohibition to eat from the tree of knowledge.The laws can also be derived from other sources, and throughout this article I will mention and discuss those sources as relevant. 10 Genesis 1:29-30 11 Genesis 9:2-5 commandments to the entire world besides the other 606 commandments that were given to the Jewish people. 12Further, the Talmud says that a non-Jew who studies and masters the seven Noahide laws is equivalent to the high priest. 13 This reiterates the importance of studying and fulfilling the seven Noahide laws.This article will explain and expound on some of the details of the seven Noahide laws, as well as some of their history.This article will also contrast American law, explaining how some of the laws are enforced by American law, and some of them are not.And stress that the laws are still prudent for a fulfilling life, to fulfill the mission for which G-d created us.As the prophet Isiah says, "I did not create the world to leave it empty" 14 and it is explained that the seven Noahide laws are G-d's instructions to mankind on how to inhabit and fill the world. 15 Biblical commentaries explain that when we do not fulfil the instructions, it would lead to our removal and destruction from the world. 16 In many places, we see that G-d's laws are referred to as something like an instruction manual for the world on how to best settle it and cultivate it, as the world was created with guidance from the Torah. 17For the sake of clarity, it is important to understand the Jewish approach to heaven, hell, and the term sometimes used interchangeably with heaven, the world to come.Hell is the punishment phase for a soul, that typically lasts only twelve months, after which the soul is 12 Maimonides laws of Kings 9:1; Sanhedrin 59a.Explaining that the seven Noahide laws that were repeated at Mount Sinai were repeated to apply also to non-jews. 13 Id. 14Isiah 45:18. 15Likkutei Sichos Vol. 25 Pg.49 16 Rabbi David Kimchi on Isiah 45:18. 17Genesis Rabbah 1:1 (discussing that every craftsman needs a blueprint before they start to build so too "[G-d] looked in the Torah and created the world").Likkutei Sichos Vol. 3 pg.991 (Describing that every story in the Torah is meant to teach us something as the word "'Torah' comes from the word 'horaah' meaning lessen").Rabbi Dovid Kimchi on Psalms 19:8 ("the Torah teaches a person what the straight path")