Seven Colors of the Rainbow

Table of Contents

Chapter I: The Bible has a place for non-Jews; six commandments in the garden; a law is broken; consequences; meat is forbidden; Noah, the just man among lawbreakers; a cleansing food; a sacrifice and a covenant; meat is permitted, with a condition; the rainbow and its seven colors.

Chapter II: The Tower of Babel; a sin of idolatry; the creation of different languages; Shem and Eber teach the Seven Laws; the patriarchs and the Seven Laws; Moses and the giving of the Law; a Greek attack on the Seven Laws; Chanukah and “Godfearers” in the Greek and Roman worlds; Emperor Julian and the Seven Laws.

Chapter III: Destruction of the Temple; rise of Christianity; the Seven Laws submerged; pockets of “Judaizers”; Reformation and interest in the Seven Laws; dialogue in Holland; the Seven Laws at the foundation of America.

Chapter IV: The quest of Aimé Pallière, a nineteenth-century Noahide.

Chapter V: Freedom and “commandments”; United States Congress resolves that the Seven Laws are “the bedrock of civilization”; simple laws anyone can understand.

Chapter VI: The Seven Laws listed; no obligation to convert to Judaism; the Kabbalah and the Ten Sefirot; the seven emotional attributes and the Seven Emotional Sefirot.

Chapter VII: The commandments against sexual misconduct; relationship of this commandment to chessed or “kindness”; prohibition against incest; prohibition against adultery; value of marriage; rules for marriage; prohibition of homosexuality; rules for divorce; rules for polygamy; AIDS; different natures for men and women; the importance of boundaries.

Chapter VIII: Sexual immorality as “joking”; sexual misconduct and depression; the repugnant sin of incest; the ridiculous sin of bestiality; the accepted sin of homosexual behavior; the common sin of adultery; real intimacy; relation of this commandment to the color blue.

Chapter IX: The commandment against murder; relationship of this commandment to gevurah or “strength”; the obligation of capital punishment; permitted forms of capital punishment; prohibition against amputation and scarring as punishment; prohibition against abortion except to save mother’s life; military defense; prohibition against euthanasia; prohibition against suicide; relationship of this commandment to the color red.

Chapter X: The commandment against theft; the first sin in the garden; relationship of this commandment to tiferet or “beauty”; ownership as power to act in Godly way; definition of theft; property transactions; usury and the great misunderstanding; slavery; concealed theft; effect of theft on the personality; unfair gain and rules for business transactions; relationship of this commandment to the color yellow.

Chapter XI: The commandments against idolatry and blasphemy; relationship of these commandments to netzach (“eternity”); and hod (“glory”); God’s rulership and love; how the world slipped into idol worship; non-Jewish world religions as a step up from idolatry.

Chapter XII: The Trouble with intermediaries: Nazism and the generation of the flood; Communism and the generation of the Tower of Babel; why God allows misdeeds; superstitious beliefs; astrology, palmistry; direct contact with the divinity; Jewish festivals.

Chapter XIII: The world to come; the study of Torah by non-Jews; the longing for divine standards; blasphemy as a curse against God; the power of speech; Job, a non-Jew, refused to curse God; sinning with the lips; lying, deceptive talk, and gossip; using speech for prayer; the right to protest; relationship of the fourth commandment to the color purple and the relationship of the commandment against blasphemy to the color orange.

Chapter XIV: The commandment against eating meat from a living animal; Jewish law of kosher; the last commandment given; eating live meat is the root of cruelty and selfishness; the connection to rapacious sex; the origin of steak tartare; modern slaughter customs; vegetarianism; the dispute between Joseph and his brothers; prohibition does not apply to fish; the question of eating blood; how animals benefit; relationship of this commandment to the color green.

Chapter XV: The commandment to organize courts of justice; relationship of this commandment to malchut or “sovereignty”; this commandment is the purpose of government; judges are the key; courts come from kings; rules for non-Jewish courts; rules of evidence; “unintentional violations”; breaking the law to save one’s own life; rules for judges; overthrowing rulers who break the law; execution of King Charles I: the Seven Laws return to England — and go to America; when justice can’t be done; the Jewish New Year; repentance; relationship of this commandment to the color brown.

Chapter XVI: Special principles and supplementary commandments beyond the Seven Laws; acknowledging the Creator; human rulership over animal life; rules protecting animals; honoring parents; the redemption of Oscar Wilde; delaying justice; perverting justices, and teaching Torah incorrectly; the role of non-Jews in the redemption of the world, the Judgment of heaven; Rosh Hashanah.

SOURCES

From Seven Colors of the Rainbow: Torah Ethics for Non-Jews by Yirmeyahu Bindman © 1995 Resource Publications, Inc. Published on this website by special arrangement with Resource Publications, Inc. Material may be downloaded for individual use but not otherwise published or distributed without the written permission of Resource Publications, Inc., 160 E. Virginia St. #290, San Jose, CA 95112.

Paperbound book information.