Learn Noah’s 7 Laws (2025)-1
Why 7 and not 613?
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Rabbi Zvi Aviner
Noahidesevencommandments.com
Today we begin a new cycle of classes about Noah’s Seven Commandments.
To those of you who have attended our former classes, I would encourage to listen again, since you’d certainly gain a better insight you’ve missed before.
In principle, learning Torah is based on repetition and digesting the material time and again.
For instance – We read in the Synagogues on the Sabbath the entire five Books of Moses within a year, only to start fresh next year. And we keep repeating it all our lives.
And each time it looks new, said the Rabbis.
The wisdom of the Torah and its depth is so vast,
that no human mind can grasp it by one time reading.
To those who join our class the first time, I know thar you will be challenged by the Torah vocabulary, its terms and ideas. It wouldn’t be easy.
Other religions are based on believe only. Judaism is based on learning and understanding. It is not enough to say I am a Noahite for I believe in Moses and the Torah. One must know the Seven Commandments to become a true Noahite.
About the material used here –
Be sure we draw our material from the Talmud, the Midrash, the Commentaries, the Zohar and from our prayer books. In other words, the class presents mainstream, orthodox Judaism.
So, what are the Seven Comm of Noah? What is the source of them? Where can we see them in the text?
Unfortunately,
No one in the Book of Genesis is depicted coming down from a mountain
Holding tablets inscribed with the Seven Comm.
And yet, their existence permeates the entire book.
For instance –
Adam and Eve were punished in Eden, for having violated G-d Comm. They disobeyed their Father in Heavens and their King of the Universe. That is tantamount of IDOLATRY
In addition, if the woman in Eden had sexual relation with the Serpent, she committed ADULTERY.
Next –
Cain was punished for killing Abel, for having violated G-d THIRD Comm of BLOODSHED.
Noah’s generation was SEVERELY punished for having transgressed all the Comm. In particular BLOODSHED and THEFT, which is God Comm number four.
Sodom and Gomorra were overturned for their evilness. their Disorder and Injustice. They exceled in violating Civil Order and Justice, God Comm number five.
Hence, without being mentioned in the open,
The Book of Genesis takes for granted the existence
Of moral Laws given by G-d.
The text also shows getting reward for keeping G-d Laws.
Noah was rewarded for being righteous, walking with G-d’s Laws,
Abraham was rewarded for being so charitable.
Jacob was rewarded for seeking the truth and pursuing Justice.
Thus, GH-d gave humanity a set of moral laws, much before Moses revelation on Mt Sinai, in the Book of Exodus.
Those laws of Genesis are named after Noah, though they were later incorporated into Moses’s Ten Commandments of Sinai. By this, Moses applied them to both Noahites and Israelites.
What are the Seven Comm?
There are several lists in the Rabbinic literature. In our class we will use the list mentioned above, based on the flow of event depicted in the Book of Genesis text. The Book of Genesis presents them one by one, They are:
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Noah’s 7 Laws
I: IDOLATRY
II: ADULTERY
III: BLOODSHED
IV: THEFT
V: INJUSTICE
VI: BLASPHEMY
VII: EATING A TORN LIMB with its blood in it.
Do not be fooled by the small number 7.
In fact, each Comm is a headline, a title for many sub- title Laws
that brunch out of each Comm.
The corpus of the Comm occupies a major part of the Talmud.
One may spend a lifetime studying it.
They all fall in the category of Comm between Man and his Fellowman, beside IDOLATRY that is a Comm between Man and God.
(Why 7, and not 613?)
Let me address now a
question that is often raised at that point:
We know that Israel is obligated to abide by 613 Comm, given by Moses at Sinai.
Why then are Noahides obligated by only seven?
Why such a large disparity?
After all, we all believe in Moses and his revelation at Sinai.
So why the difference?
Another question that is often raised –
– why should Noahites relate to Noah rather than to Moses?
We all believe in Moses!
The best answer was given to me
by Rev. Jack Sanders of Chattanooga, Tennessee, who said –
Yes, we all believe in Moses, Israelites as well as Noahites
But Moses is telling us, the Children of Noah,
to abide only by the commandments
that Noach had observed.
In other words – Moses is honoring Noah.
He did not come to replace Noah but, rather,
support Noah in the eyes of his Children, all Mankind.
You see, false prophets typically claim
They came to replace the previous prophets.
They demand obedience to their words only.
That is true for both Christianity and Islam.
But Moses, the modest of all people,
The true prophet who had no ego, is different.
He came to restore the faith of Noah in the eyes of his children
and teach them the forgotten Noah’ Seven Laws.
If so,
If Noah is so important in Moses’ eyes,
why did Moses add so many new Comm to Israel,
613, after Noah?
A good question,
But a close look into the 613 shows that the bulk of them
can be traced directly to Noah’s 7 Laws,
which are between Man and his Fellowman.
Most of Moses’ Ten Comm and the rest of the Torah
deal with
IDOLATRY, ADULTERY, BLOODSHED, THEFT AND SOCIAL JUSTICE, the same issues addressed by Noah.
Moses, then, repeated Noah’s Laws to Israel.
By this, the Talmud says, he made the laws applicable to both Noahides and Israel.
In contrast,
These new comm that Moses added to Israel, while Noah did not know or observe, ar relevant only to Israel.
A close look at those Comm shows that
they typically deal with the Holy Temple,
the offerings, the ritual purity, Kosher food,
the Holidays and the Sabbath.
These Laws were given to establish Israel
as a holy nation and a kingdom of priests,
appointed by G-d to be the teacher of
Noah’s Comm to all Mankind.
Note that the Torah does not wish
to convert all Mankind to be Israel or Jewish.
The Torah aspires Mankind to become Noahides,
to adapt the Seven Laws.
Those Seven are the base of this world,
You see that in the prophecy of Isaiah Ch2.
It envisions the Messiah, the Son of David,
teaching all Nations the Seven Comm
and the knowledge of Hashem.
Now since Israel is appointed to serve as a nation of priests,
the rest of the world – Noahite nations – comprises Israel’s Congregation.
Now you may wonder who is more important,
the priest or the congregation?
Obviously, the two are intertwined.
For there is no meaning to priesthood without a Congregation
and a congregation can’t move forwards without a priest,
who lead the Cong in prayers and spiritual growth.
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It is also granted that the priest would follow more rules
In a striker way to show an example.
Another question a Noahite may ask –
why do we relate Noah? Why not to Adam and Eve?
Or another Patriarch?
What is so special about Noah?
First, Noah is the father of all humanity.
After the Flood, he and his wife Naama
have replaced Adam and Eve
as our physical and spiritual parents.
Moreover –
Humanity today is still living under the terms of
Noah’s Rainbow Covenant,
where G-D promised Noah
that the Flood would not return as long as
his children – his descendants – kept his faith
and observe the Seven Commandments.
The Rainbow Covenant is the first of its kind ,
creating a bond between the Creator and Mankind.
This Covenant is still in effect today as it was in Noah time.
If w we violate all the Noahites’ Laws,
we would face the return of the Flood
The evolution oof the Comm number from Noah’s Seven
To Israel’s 613 was gradual. It is depicted in the Book of Genesis.
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Adam 6—Noah 7—Abraham 8—Jacob 9 —Israel 10–
Seeing that the generations after Noah forgot Noah and his Comm,
Resorting to idolatry and all the sins as before the Flood,
God wished to fulfil his promise to Noah and prevent another Flood,
He therefore sent Mankind precious souls, the Patriarchs,
whose task was to remind Mankind of Noah and hids7 Comm.
Thus, according to Maimonides,
God sent Abraham to restore Noah’s faith.
As a reward, to strengthen Abraham’s stance,
He added to Abraham the Circumcision,
as Comm number 8, one above Noah’s 7.
Then , seeing that humanity continued to slide down spiritually,
God sent Isaac and Jacob to teach Mankind the 7 Comm.
As a reward, to strengthen their stance,
God added to Jaco a new Comm, number 9,
the prohibition to eat the Sciatic Nerve.
Then, after the Exodus, when Mankind sank
into the lowest form of IDOLATRY and violation of G-d Comm,
God took out Israel to become His Nation of Priests
Whose task is to teach Mankind Noah and the Seven Com.
He gave Israel the Ten Comm to establish their position
As the dedicated Nation of priests
Thus we see here the entire evolution of the Comm –
From Adam’s Six,
To Noah’s Seven,
To Abraham’s Eight,
To Jacob’s Nine,
To Israel’s Ten.
Now a question may be raised,
since both, Abraham and Jacob, were still considered Noahites,
Shouldn’t all Noahites abide also with Comm number 8 and 9, like Abraham and Jacob? above Noah’s seven?
In fact, the Talmud asks that very question.
The answer it gives goes back to Moses.
It was Hashem’s decision, through Moses
To regard all the Commandments given after Noah
as applicable to Israel only.
Hence, Circumcision and the Sciatic Nerve Laws,
Which are Comm number 8 and 9, pertain to Israel,
whereas all the Comm given earlier to Noah
pertain to both Israel and Noahites.
Let us now focus on the list of the seven commandments
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Let’s talk about the Comm and Man’s psychology.
I want to show that they address our innermost drives.
Tradition says that
Six of the Seven were given to Adam and Eve in Eden,
Before they were driven out to live on Earth.
then Noah added the Seventh after the Flood.
It forbids eating blood and a living animal organ.
They were given in Eden
For God knew well
that down here on Earth,
people would need strong instincts of survival,
to live and thrive.
He therefore planted in us features like
Wisdom, Passions, strong Sex Drive and
a strong Drive to rule over.
As it says in Chapter One
At the same time,
God knew well that these strong instincts, those gifts,
might lead Mankind estray to sin and to self-destruction.
He therefore
gave Adam and Eve the Six Comm,
to guide them how to tam and curtail
those important drives.
Thus,
He gave IDOLATRY, against Man’s strong imagination, that might draw him to worship other entities instead of G-d.
He gave them ADULTERY, to curtail the strong Sexual Drive
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He gave them BLOODSEHD, against our strong natural inclination to destroy and kill.
He gave them THEFT, to curtail our strong desire to accumulate wealth, and own things.
He ordered them to do justice and social order,
against Man’s strong drive to rule over other people
and exploit the socially weak.
He gave them BLASPHEMY, against Man’s inclination to rebel against God, as the people of Sodom did.
Hence the Comm are listed according to our innermost drives.
That is true also regarding their specific order. They form a slippery slide upon which a man can fall into the abyss.
People may stumble upon then one by one.
Thus,
IDOLATRY comes first, because it is a key.
if you do not recognize the Creator, you will not recognize His commandments either.
ADULTERY comes second, because if a person denies the existence of G-d, who and what will stop him from committing ADALTERY with his best friend’s wife?
The third Comm, BLOOSHED, follows for having committed ADULTERY, wouldn’t you expect the humiliated spouse to run after you with a knife of a gun? Or, wouldn’t you try to eliminate that spouse?
Theft follows, for if you have stolen a man’s wife, why not his property?
Injustice follows because wouldn’t you try to cover your deeds with lies?
BLASPHEMY follows, since if you live in a society that allows all the above to happen unpunished, wouldn’t you end up cursing your parents and curse G-d for bringing you to the world?
You see this predicted downfall in many books and movies.
Also shown in the Bible
Take King David and Bat-Sheva, for example.
The Bible tells us that David was so successful in wars that pride affected his mind. In other words, his Ego grew tall, forgetting G-d’s Laws. That is tantamount of idolatry.
He then goes up to the roof and sees Bat-Sheva, who is married to Uriah.
He calls her and have a sexual relation with her.
Moving from transgressing the first commandment to trangressing the second one- adultery
Aspiring to get rid of the husband, Uriah,
he orders to have Uriah placed at the front line closer to the enemy, Indeed ,Uriah dies. Hence David moved from the first to the second to the third commandment of bloodshed. He then takes Bat-Sheva as a wife, concealing his actions.
Immediately thereafter, the prophet Natan appears to David, accusing him with injustice, Comm number Five.
Since David is known to everyone, his actions desecrate the name of the Torah, an act of Blasphemy.
David confessed his sin and asked G-d for forgiveness, which was granted. But his actions are written in the bible for us to take a notice.
Thus far, we have discussed the Comm as a group.
We have seen their origin, why were they given to Mankind,
and what is the psychologic forces behind the chain.
In the following classes, we will discuss each Comm separately, and in more detail.