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ViewPoint

Torah u'Mesorah . . . for B'nei Noach
October 2000

The following ViewPoint was intended to provoke thought and discussion.

We have Torah - as it applies to non-Jews. We have accepted the responsibility to keep and observe G-d's commandments - the Sheva Mitzvot B'nei Noach. However, we must ask ourselves: "Do we have Mesorah?" Do we have tradition, and is it important to B'nei Noach?

In the November 1997 ViewPoint, I discussed B'nei Noach's need to be taught each mitzvah's halacha. The commandments (mitzvot) and their specific manner of observance (halachot) are inseparable, and tradition (mesorah) is the living dimension wherein the mitzvot are performed.

Here is what I mean by mesorah: Judaism is, for the Jewish people, the way of life. Judaism is the complete living of Torah u'Mesorah. King David said in Tehillim (Psalm) 19:

The Torah of Hashem is perfect, it restores the soul. The testimony of Hashem is trustworthy, it makes simple people become wise. The instructions of Hashem are proper, they make one's heart happy; the commandment of Hashem is clear, it enlightens the eyes. The fear of Hashem is pure, and endures forever. The judgments of Hashem are true, consistently righteous. They are more desirable than gold, even more than the purest gold! Sweeter than honey that drips from the honeycombs.

The Torah is the reason the Jewish people live and exist, the reason why the non-Jewish people live and exist; the Torah is the reason the world exists. According to the Midrash, Hashem created the Torah two thousand years before He created the universe (Midrash Bereishis Rabbah 8). When the time came to create the universe, Hashem used the Torah as a blueprint. Just as a builder places walls where the blueprint says to put them, and doors where the blueprint says to put them, Hashem created the Torah and used that as a blueprint. (Midrash Bereishis Rabbah 1:1). The Torah was not only the blueprint for Creation, it is also what keeps the world in existence today! In fact, Chazal (the Sages of blessed memory; the Rabbis) teach us that the observance of the Covenant of Circumcision and the Covenant of the Torah keep the world in existence (Babylonian Talmud, Shabbos 137b; Pesachim 68b; Nedarim 31a). Chazal also teach that when Hashem created the universe, He stipulated the specific condition that "If Israel will accept the Torah, the universe will continue to exist. If not, I will return the world to the empty void it was at first" (Babylonian Talmud, Shabbos 88a).

This, therefore, is the fundamental role of the Torah. It gives existence to the world, and it gives existence to Jews as a people, both as a whole and as individuals. Therefore, King David continues, "I will never forget Your teachings, because through them You kept me alive" (Psalms 119:93).

Torah also gives existence to non-Jews, giving us the responsibility to make the world a moral and ethical dwelling place wherein the Jewish people can fulfill their role as a nation of priests and kings - studying Torah, keeping the mitzvot, thereby elevating and purifying the entire world. Together, we are partners in the Ultimate Redemption.

The Jewish people have the mitzvah to teach the Torah to their children and to their students, as it says, "And you shall teach them thoroughly to your sons..." (Devarim [Deuteronomy] 6:7). Jewish mesorah began when, in the Sinai Desert, Hashem taught Moshe Rabbenu (Moses our teacher) both the Oral Torah and the Written Torah in their entirety. Moses then taught both the Oral and the Written Torah to the Children of Israel, which has since been passed down from generation to generation. The Jewish mesorah, the tradition and way of life, has been in existence for thousands of years...

However, it has only been within the last twenty years that measurable numbers of non-Jews have begun to study Torah in earnest (for its own sake), to embrace it, and to keep those mitzvot specific to non-Jews. But we have not inherited mesorah. We do not have mesorah. B'nei Noach can (perhaps, G-d willing) begin to live our own mesorah, but it is a mesorah which can only develop as the result of being taught the Torah (specifically the mitzvot-halachot of the Sheva Mitzvot B'nei Noach) by the orthodox (frum) Jewish people. Increasingly (B"H), we are seeing rabbis becoming involved with B'nei Noach, but I still must ask, "Are we really being taught enough?" I advocate that the Sheva Mitzvot are comprised of mitzvot, halachot, and mesorah! We can't be taught one without the other - they are inseparable elements.

Again I ask, "Is mesorah important to B'nei Noach?"

What's your opinion? Write us and share your thoughts with us... please include the words "October 2000 ViewPoint Opinion" in the subject line of your email.

L'Shanah Tova!

Read this month's ViewPoint Response for more information.

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