The Seven Commandments of Noah

Would-be Netzarim always ask me where to begin. Should I start keeping shabbat? Should I start keeping kosher? What beit k'nesset can I go to when there is not a Orthodox beyt k'nesset near me? My answer to the non-Jew -- though not to the Jew -- is start at the beginning. Start with the Seven Commandments of Noah.

The Seven Commandments -- also called the Noahide commandments or the Sheva Mitzvot -- are deceptively simple: There are proscriptions against idolatry, blasphemy, murder, sexual misconduct, theft, eating the limb of a live animal and one positive commandment to set up courts of justice. The Sheva Mitzvot can be understood in two ways, both of which are supported by Jewish sages. On one hand, they represent a minimum standard of behavior for the non-Jew. Thus, the Talmud proscribes the death penalty for the non-Jew who violates even one of these commandments. This doesn't mean Jewish courts were in the habit of putting non-Jews to death for petty thievery and adultery. However, it does suggest that the sages thought that any Jew who couldn't live up to the Sheva Mitvot could hardly be called a human being and didn't deserve to live. My own rabbi explains this concept with a different image. Whereas HaShem relates to the Jew as a master to a servant, He relates to the non-Jew as a landlord to a tenant. Whereas the servant represents the Master and is constantly being trained to ever higher levels of service and competence, the tenant is expected simply to keep a few rules. Know who landlord is (or at least where to send the check), pay the rent, don't sneak in any pets, and don't put holes in the wall. Violate the rules -- and get evicted.

The Sheva Mitzvot also represent the minimum behavior standards for someone who wants to establish an active relationship to the Jewish community -- be it for business or for personal reasons. For this reason, the person who wishes to become a N'tzarim geyr toshav must commit to keep the Sheva Mitzvot. It is a sine qua non.

However, just because the Sheva Mitzvot represent a minimum standard in one sense, do not assume that they are either easy to keep or spiritually superficial. They are neither. Many of us are coming from religions and cultures that, as a way of life, violate aspects of the Sheva Mitzvot. Many of us have grown out of -- or are still growing out of -- childhood religions that are arguably idolatrous. My own California culture seems increasingly pagan, never mind Christianity. Sexual misconduct is not only accepted, people now are expecting insurance benefits for it! Cheating and theft is endemic, not just among the lower classes but among the middle classes in the forms of shoplifting, tax-cheating, copyright violations, employee theft, and hit-and-run accidents (especially the little ones in parking lots). The killing of the elderly and the sick is being redefined from murder to compassion. People refuse to serve on juries (while at the same time insisting on the right to be tried by a jury of their peers). All this in a country that is one of the more civilized in the world. (Look to Bosnia, Russia, and Rwanda to see the effects of a total moral meltdown.) The point is: living by the moral standards, even these minimum standards, is not easy.

Finally, the Sheva Mitzvot should not be dismissed as spiritually superficial. This is easy to do because many people, including knowledgable Jews, will contrast the obligation of non-Jews to keep the Sheva Mitzvot to the obligation of Jews to keep the 613 mitzvot outlined by Maimonides. However, the "seven commandments" for non-Jews are better compared and contrasted to the "ten commandments" for Jews, especially in the sense that both sets of commandments represent basic principles that imply many smaller mitzvot. When understood this way, the Sheva Mitzvot begin to take you further and further into Torah. — KENNETH GUENTERT

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