Universal Mission

Universal Mission, accepted! Today, on the birth date of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, of blessed and righteous memory, I declare, there is no code of conduct better than the one given by Hashem, the Almighty G-d of Israel!

The Seven Noachide Laws should be on the mind and on the lips of every human being that isn't a Jew. While every Jew toils in Torah, the rest of Mankind should be immersed in learning and pondering how to please our Blessed Creator in all aspects of life. The Sheva Mitzvot B'nei Noach truly lead humanity towards fulfilling the mission of each individual and each nation.

May every Jew heed the decree of Moshe Rabbeinu, given at Har Sinai, to teach the nations of the World, the G-d given Noachide Laws, and may the memory of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, always be for a blessing. Reply

To Mr. Karp So if you are not against teaching people not to steal and not to murder, which of the Noahide Laws are you objecting to? The prohibition against eating the flesh of an animal while it is still alive? How is such a rule racist? It includes no provisos for one's lineage. We say that the Laws apply to the descendants of Noah because all of humanity descends from him. It means that the Laws apply to everyone equally.

Did you watch the video? The point was that we should not think that G-d only requires Jews to be moral people because the Torah was given only to us. Rather everyone, Jew or not, must be moral, and we must encourage each other in our common task of making a more civilized world. Definitely not racist or offensive. Reply

To Baruch I'm suggesting no such thing:

It's more then fine to encourage others not to steal and commit murder.

I don't believe the concept of Bnei Noach and the 'noahide laws' is very effective in encouraging better behaviour from the Gentiles.

I think this concept is unnecessarily offensive to Gentiles (to the point of racism), and I suspect it is not actually a mitzvah for you to preach this to non-Jews.

Take the 'noahide law' against tearing a limb off a live animal:

Do you as a Jew want to imply that you have to teach that to a Gentile just because their mother is not of the same race (Hebrew) as yours?

That is racist and offensive, and doesn't truly represent why Torah was entrusted to you, methinks. Reply

Just Wrong So, Mr. Karp, you suggest that it is wrong to encourage Non-Jews to commit to such basic moral principles as not stealing and not murdering. That letting these things continue unabated is the better path to a civilized world.

The fact that the Torah doesn't specifically mention that Moshe and Hillel preach the Noahide laws is no indication that they did not do so. That just wasn't the story that it was telling. It was teaching a different lesson. Why not? Because that lesson was already taught much earlier with Avraham. He brought the passers-by into his tent and taught them of G-d and morality. Indeed, the Talmud says that his life marked the end of the epoch of chaos in the world, because he spent his life teaching the world to be civilized. Reply

Noahide Laws and "Non-Jews" How does this world have a peaceful existence if only the Jews have God's laws? Doesn't the whole world need to "be on the same page?" Without this, there is constant strife, constant war.

Man uses only 6% of his brain, on average. If the world's population was introduced to the Vastness, the Power, the Mercifulness, the Loving Kindness, and other Attributes of our God, perhaps they would be more willing to obey His Laws.

Then, His unified set of laws, formed by God, Who is Higher than His Creation, would be respected and obeyed by all. The world does not truly know the God of the Jews.

The Jews have a unique role in human history. They know God. They have studied Torah for thousands of years. They know the depth, breadth, symbolism, etc. Why not show the world WHO He Is? Why not sing His Praises, and with joy and excitement, for Who He Is, and what He has done, introduce Him to the world??? I challenge you: invite people to public meetings that teach what we know. Reply

Right and wrong. The Rebbe, albeit a brilliant, extremely intelligent man, and good role model to you, wasn't always right:

Yes, Torah was given you to make, eventually, a 'peaceful civilization' in and of the world out of the 'chaos' of creation.

But are the 'noahide laws', and the concept of Bnei Noach, really the way to this; and-

is it really a mitzvah for you to preach this to the non-Jews?

At the risk of making a naughty nudnik out of myself here, I would venture that it should more like a mitzvah to you NOT to preach the 'noahide laws' to non-Jews.

In Parsha Yitro, Moshe Rabbeneu does not preach the 'noahide laws' to Yitro.

In Talmud (Shabbat 31a, I believe it is), neither Shammai or Hillel preach the 'noahide laws' to Caleb.

I believe they were right not to do so.

And neither should you;-

not that you asked me. Reply