Parshat Noach; Genesis 6:9 –11:26 by Rabbi Denise L. Eger

In the second portion of the Torah we encounter the pre-history of the Jewish people. Noah and his family are not Jews. Judaism doesn’t really begin until the call to Abram by God in next week’s parasha- Lech Lecha. Yet, the Torah acknowledges the righteousness of Noah. It says he was “blameless in his age.” (6:9). Noah even walks with God. Surely one who is able to walk in the presence of God is a person of goodness and merit.

In many religious traditions only those who adhere to the tenets of that faith can be righteous or saved. There are many communities that condemn those who do not believe as they do. There are preachers who teach that only by accepting their brand or versions of faith will a person go to heaven or be granted Divine grace. But here in our sacred Scripture there is at the very beginnings of the text the acknowledgement that even those who are not of our faith can walk with God!

This has profound implications for our outlook upon other faith traditions and communities. Even as Judaism and its teachings and the commandments of God bind Jews to our covenant, our belief system recognizes that other peoples and other nations have their own pathways to the Divine. That while ours is good for us—their traditions are good for them. We don’t assert that they have no place in the world to come. We don’t try to proselytize or force our way of believing upon them.

Even as Judaism asserts our unique destiny as the Jewish people to live by the covenant God made with Abraham and Sarah and later with Moses and the people of Israel at Sinai, early on our Torah is not afraid to admit that other peoples have their unique relationships and destinies to fulfill. Noah, though not Jewish, lives by a set of ideals that causes him to rise above the violence and corruption that surround him. Jewish tradition teaches that Noah lived by a code of behavior and ethics. These are called the “Seven Laws of Noah," and since all humans are descended from Noah these special covenantal laws are then the obligation of all human beings. These seven laws as explained in the Talmud are:

Do not murder.
Do not steal.
Do not worship false gods.
Do not be sexually immoral.
Do not eat the limb of an animal before it is killed.
Do not curse God.
Set up courts and bring offenders to justice.

Maimonides, the great rabbinic teacher explains that any human being who faithfully observes these laws earns a proper place in heaven.

Thus while the Jewish people have their unique covenant to observe, non-Jews have one as well.

As we read the story of Noah this week we are reminded of the terrible price the world paid once for the violence and corruption that ate away at the soul of humanity. Noah’s inheritance to us is these seven simple laws for interacting in the world. Let us be reminded that perhaps the corruption and violence in our world could be abated if everyone began to fulfill the seven laws of Noah.

Posted by Lee at November 2, 2005 03:11 PM