Noahidism

The rainbow is the unofficial symbol of Noahidism, recalling the Genesis flood narrative in which a rainbow appears to Noah after the Flood; it represents God's promise to Noah to refrain from flooding the Earth and destroying all life again.[1]
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Noahidism (/ˈnoʊəhaɪdɪzəm/) or Noachidism (/ˈnoʊəxaɪdɪzəm/) is a monotheistic Jewish religious movement aimed at non-Jews,[9] based upon the Seven Laws of Noah[10] and their traditional interpretations within Orthodox Judaism.[11]

According to the Jewish law, non-Jews (gentiles) are not obligated to convert to Judaism, but they are required to observe the Seven Laws of Noah to be assured of a place in the World to Come (Olam Ha-Ba), the final reward of the righteous.[17] The penalty for violating any of the Noahide laws is discussed in the Talmud,[12] but in practical terms it is subject to the working legal system which is established by the society at large.[12] Those who subscribe to the observance of the Noahic Covenant are referred to as Bnei Noach (Hebrew: בני נח, "Sons of Noah") or Noahides (/ˈnoʊ.əhaɪdiːz/).[18] The modern Noahide movement was founded in the 1990s by Orthodox Jewish rabbis from Israel,[2][3][7] mainly tied to Chabad-Lubavitch and religious Zionist organizations,[2][3][7] including The Temple Institute.[2][3][7]

Historically, the Hebrew term Bnei Noach has been applied to all non-Jews as descendants of Noah.[3][12][13] However, nowadays it is primarily used to refer specifically to those "Righteous Gentiles" who observe the Seven Laws of Noah.[3][4][5] Noahide communities have spread and developed primarily in the United States, United Kingdom, Latin America, Nigeria, the Philippines, and Russia.[5] According to a Noahide source in 2018, there are over 20,000 official Noahides around the world and the country with the greatest number is the Philippines.[3][5][7]

  1. ^ Segal, Alan F. (1993). "Conversion and Universalism: Opposites that Attract". In McLean, Bradley H. (ed.). Origins and Method: Towards a New Understanding of Judaism and Christianity. Journal for the Study of the New Testament: Supplement Series. Vol. 86. Bloomsbury and Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press. pp. 177–178. ISBN 9780567495570. Furthermore, the sign of the Noahide covenant, the rainbow, is available to all humanity to symbolize God's promise of safety. And it is completely outside of the special covenant with Abraham and his descendants. The covenant with Noah is expanded to the entire primeval period, encompassing all the revealed commandments preceding Sinai.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Feldman, Rachel Z. (8 October 2017). "The Bnei Noah (Children of Noah)". World Religions and Spirituality Project. Archived from the original on 21 January 2020. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Feldman, Rachel Z. (August 2018). "The Children of Noah: Has Messianic Zionism Created a New World Religion?" (PDF). Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions. 22 (1). Berkeley: University of California Press: 115–128. doi:10.1525/nr.2018.22.1.115. eISSN 1541-8480. ISSN 1092-6690. LCCN 98656716. OCLC 36349271. S2CID 149940089. Retrieved 31 May 2020 – via Project MUSE.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Kress, Michael (2018). "The Modern Noahide Movement". My Jewish Learning. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Strauss, Ilana E. (26 January 2016). "The Gentiles Who Act Like Jews: Who are these non-Jews practicing Orthodox Judaism?". Tablet Magazine. Retrieved 31 October 2020.
  6. ^ a b c d Tabachnick, Toby (22 July 2010). "Noahides establish website for interested followers". The Jewish Chronicle of Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh. Retrieved 31 October 2020.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h Ilany, Ofri (12 September 2018). "The Messianic Zionist Religion Whose Believers Worship Judaism (But Can't Practice It)". Haaretz. Tel Aviv. Archived from the original on 9 February 2020. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
  8. ^ a b c Harris, Ben (26 June 2009). "Torah-embracing non-Jews fuel their movement online". JWeekly. San Francisco. Retrieved 31 October 2020.
  9. ^ [2][3][4][5][6][7][8]
  10. ^ [2][3][4][5][6][7][8]
  11. ^ [2][3][4][5][6][7]
  12. ^ a b c d Singer, Isidore; Greenstone, Julius H. (1906). "Noachian Laws". Jewish Encyclopedia. Kopelman Foundation. Archived from the original on 5 February 2012. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  13. ^ a b c Barnes, Bruce R. (2021). Wierciński, Andrzej (ed.). "The Noahide Laws and the Universal Fellowship with God" (PDF). Rocznik Teologii Katolickiej. Biblical Hermeneutics. XX. Białystok: International Institute for Hermeneutics on behalf of the University of Białystok: 5–32. doi:10.15290/rtk.2021.20.01. hdl:11320/12441. ISSN 1644-8855. S2CID 246335626. Archived (PDF) from the original on 19 May 2022. Retrieved 19 March 2023.
  14. ^ Reiner, Gary (2011) [1997]. "Ha-Me'iri's Theory of Religious Toleration". In Laursen, John Christian; Nederman, Cary J. (eds.). Beyond the Persecuting Society: Religious Toleration Before the Enlightenment. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. pp. 86–87. doi:10.9783/9780812205862.71. ISBN 978-0-8122-0586-2.
  15. ^ Moses Maimonides (2012). "Hilkhot M'lakhim (Laws of Kings and Wars)". Mishneh Torah. Translated by Brauner, Reuven. Sefaria. p. 8:14. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
  16. ^ Encyclopedia Talmudit (Hebrew ed., Israel, 5741/1981, entry Ben Noah, end of article); note the variant reading of Maimonides and the references in the footnote.
  17. ^ [3][4][12][13][14][15][16]
  18. ^ [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][13]