The
Noahide Movement
Newton's Third Law In Action
Those chosen by HaShem to be His messengers and leaders have had the
attribute of humility; the opposite attribute of arrogance is not a
positive one. We need to be sure that our teachers have the
attribute of humility also.
First, let's
clarify what humility is not. Humility does not mean a
meek reluctance to speak up or be assertive. Humility is not
slouching your shoulders and having low self-esteem. The Torah (Numbers
12:3) refers to Moses as "the most humble person who ever
lived" -- and yet he aggressively confronts Pharoah, fights a
war against Amalek, and stands up to castigate the Jewish People.
The higher
a person becomes spiritually, the more humble he becomes. As we get
closer to God, we become more realistic about our own limitations,
vulnerability and mortality. We internalize the reality that every
human's position is tenable and only God is eternal. Moses was called
"the most humble" because when he stood before God he knew his place.
Anything else precludes room for God to fit in. That's why the Talmud
likens arrogance to idol worship; both push away the presence
of God.
The Scriptures make it clear that there
will be a messianic king, and the arrival of Eliyahu the Prophet will
be the herald of the Messiah. So far there has been no sign
of either of them. But there are some who would try to hasten the
arrival of the Messiah, by mistakenly believing that they can force the
hand of God. Unfortunately they are only succeeding in causing
division and dissension, and worse - strengthening the hand of the
enemies of Israel in the process. What is their real
problem? They think that they know better than HaShem when
the Messiah should arrive, and how to bring it about, and in some cases
even deciding for themselves who should be their messiah.
Historically messianic movements have been disastrous for the Jews.
http://www.jewishmag.co.il/77mag/barkokhba/barkokhba.htm
"No less than the great sage Rabbi
Akiva called bar Kokhba the messiah, as related in the Talmud Jerusalmi, tractate Tannit, "When Rabbi Akiva saw bar Kokhba, he said, 'this is the king Messiah'. Rabbi Yochanan was not so impressed and replied to Rabbi Akiva "grass will grow from your cheeks and yet the son of David (the king messiah) will not have come."
The Rambam explains that the sages of that generation were convinced
that bar Kokhba was the Messiah. However since due to his sins he was
killed, the sages realized he was not the Messiah. (Rambam, Malachim,
11:3) Because of this, he is not referred to in the Talmud as bar
Kokhba, but as bar Koseba, the son of deceit, since he was not the
Messiah. Instead of redemption, he
brought upon them greater destruction."
What can biblical history teach us about the importance of humility?
King David was chosen by HaShem because He saw what was in David's
heart, I Sam. 16:7, and anointed by Samuel to be King of the Children
of Israel, I Sam. 16:11-13 because of his humility, he wrote in Psalm
37:11 But the humble will inherit the
earth. David did not set out to overthrow King
Saul. He waited patiently for many years, and endured much
from Saul, before being given the kingdom.
The Philistines ultimately conquered Saul 1 Sam. 1-13. David
executed the man who put Saul to death. Saul's youngest son
reigned for two years. David was anointed by the men of Judah to
be King of Judah II Sam. 2:4. but he still didn't assume the throne of
Israel.
Amos
5:18 Woe to those who desire the day
of HaShem. Why do you [seek] this day of HaShem? It is
darkness and not light - 19 as when a man flees from before the lion
and a bear encounters him; and he comes ome and leans his hand on the
wall and a snake bites him. 20 Behold, the day of HaShem is
darkness and not light, blackness without a glimmer!
Those who indulge in 'magical thinking' seem to be under the misapprehension that the Messiah will arrive and then almost immediately everything will be set
straight. They don't consider that HaShem uses natural means to bring
about changes in the natural world, and that means that there will be a
passage of time between the revelation of the Messianic King, and the
final acceptance by the nations including Israel that it is happening.
It will probably be preceded according to the prophecies - by natural disasters and war, it will not happen overnight. HaShem promised to send Elijah
the Prophet beforehand.
Just as Moses was 40 years old when he encountered HaShem at the Burning Bush, and he was 80 years old when he spoke to Pharoah and told him; "Let My People Go", then he died when he was 120 years old, just before the children of Israel entered the land, after wandering in the wilderness for 40 years.
Similarly, David had to wait for many
years after he was anointed as King, before he ascended the throne of
Israel. Each of these events where God intervened in the world of man,
didn't happen magically, there were slow deliberate steps
beforehand, because HaShem controls events in this world but he uses
the natural laws to do so, storms, earthquakes, droughts etc., But
before any final calamities we have the promise of Elijah the Prophet,
who will warn those who will listen of things to come, perhaps like the
people of Nineveh everyone will repent and the disasters need not
happen.
"Generations of
children have heard the lullaby that begins:
“Eliyahu HaNavi, Eliyahu HaTishbi, Eliyahu
HaGiladi...”
“Elijah the Prophet, Elijah the Tishbite, Elijah
the Giladite...”
“Bi’mehera Yavo Elaynu, im Mashiach ben David.”
“May he soon come to us, accompanying the Messiah,
Son of David.”
Eliyahu is the harbinger of the Mashiach ,
and he is the one “who will restore the hearts of the fathers unto the
children and the hearts of the children unto the fathers,” uniting the
generations of the Jewish People across all of the ages. http://www.ou.org/about/judaism/rabbis/eliyahu.htm
Mal. 3:1 Behold, I
am sending My messenger, and he will clear a path before Me; suddenly
the Lord Whom you seek will come to His Sanctuary, and the messenger of
the covenant for whom you yearn, behold, he comes, says Hashem, Master
of Legions.
3:23 Behold,
I send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and
awesome day of HaShem. 24. And he will turn back [to God]
the hearts of fathers and [their] sons and the hearts of sons with
their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with utter
destruction" The Stone Edition
Tenach
I Sam. 28:11 The woman asked, "Whom shall I raise up for you?" And he said, "Raise up Samuel for me"* 12 The woman then saw Samuel, and she screamed in a loud voice. The woman said to Saul, "Why did you deceive me?" You are Saul!" The Stone Edition
Tenach
Commentary
Stone Edition Tenach.
3:1 The prophet Elijah, G_d's
messenger of the covenant (Radak), will eliminate the wicked from the
land in preparation for the Messianic era (Rashi). v. 2-5 describes the
Judgment of HaShem which will take place.
Commentary
Stone Edition Tenach.
I Sam. 28:11
Just as God gave great powers to the forces of holiness, as is plain
from the exploits of the patriarchs and prophets, so He gave powers to
the forces of profanity. This was in order to create tests of faith, so that people could choose between good and evil. Now, in his desperation for counsel, Saul resorted to this forbidden device* to call upon the spirit of Samuel. 28:17. See 13:14; 15:23-29. *(seeking
the witch of Endor)
II
Sam 2:1 David would reign only with explicit Divine sanction.
2:10. Ish-bosheth reigned only two years during David's term in
Hebron. Thus, Israel was without a king for about five-and-a-half
years (Radak).
We await messiah and hope for his arrival at any moment. In the
meantime, find a teacher or scholar you know
you can trust, who will be prepared to teach you, one who does
not have delusions of grandeur or weird ideas. Learn what you can
from him or her; join the Noahide discussion groups. If you have
questions ask them do not simply swallow everything that you are being taught. Do not just blindly follow, or you could be back in a worse position than you were before you left the false beliefs from which you came. You should subscribe to:
Noahides-subscribe@yahoogroups.com and you should read books about the Noahide laws.
I highly recommend this book - The
Rainbow Covenant; Torah
and the Seven Universal Laws by
Michael Ellias Dallen
You can order the book from a local Jewish bookstore, or
from Rabbi Michael Katz of Florida; who wrote the foreword to this book, and who has actually been teaching bnai Noah and involved in the Noahide movement for many years.
Click here:
1stcovenant.com books.
From Michael Dallen's book The Rainbow
Covenant
pages 80 & 85
"The Jewish
people stay safer when they stay quiet about their Torah before the general public. But the same Torah is clear that the God of Abraham and Israel doesn't want Israel to keep silent, and hasn't restricted Israel to passive
witnessing alone.6
While the rabbis may have a great deal of wisdom in such things, God has not given them official authority,7
as He has regarding their Torah judgments for Israel.
Generally, concerning B'nai Noah, the rabbis have only so much authority as their B'nai Noah students grant them. Then too, largely through such Hebrew influences as the Bible, the nations have already taken upon themselves portions of the Law. 8 They can - they shall - build on that foundation. And we must finally assert that the nations have both the continuing obligation and the right to determine their own laws -
including the details of the Universal laws - for themselves.
NOTES
6.
J.D. Bleich, id., note 82. Also see Avot d'Rabbi Nathan 23a (Midrash);
Kuzari, (the whole work) supra; Sefer HaMitzvot 1:3.
7. Except in the
land of Israel, See Yad, Hilchot Melachim 8:9.
8. Not to ignore the influence of Christian Europe and,
particularly in modern times, the revolutionary United States.
31. J.D. Bleich, et al, supra. The single exception involves the crime of murder. However, Prof. Stone suggests that even murder needn't be punished capitally, but only appropriately, as determined by society. See Stone, supra, Ibid.
That is just a small sample of what is in the book, so you can try to
figure out what it is about this book that has certain people banning it! The Rainbow
Covenant contains an index and footnotes at the end of each
chapter, it
references many other Orthodox sources, books on
the Noahide Laws, and it also recommends other important
resources.
It is written by an Orthodox Jewish attorney, a scholar and writer. It
focuses specifically upon the application of the Noahide Laws in all its aspects is designed to be used as an in-depth textbook, to which you can and
will refer frequently. Click here for more information from the 1st Covenant Foundation - Books
Some people have tried to suppress this book, for personal or political reasons that have nothing to do any flaw in the book. I sincerely hope they fail.
As God gives us His moral law (Torah) there is a natural law by which He governs the world.
If
anyone tries to force their opinions,
their ways of doing things or in some way abuses people, then the
natural law (physics) demonstrates that there will be a reaction
against that force, with equal
force. http://www.thesanhedrin.org/en/legal/psak5766nissan8.html
What
is a psak din? A "ruling of
law" - the authoritative ruling of a recognized,
legitimate judge or court.
For another example of totally improper use of a psak din see this
article. http://www.moshiachlisten.com/20.4kraut.html
Until we see the fulfullment of the end time prophecies, we Noahides
should be carefully keeping the Seven Noahide Laws and learning as much as we can about what HaShem wants of us, rather than allowing anyone to impose any
of the various agendas of those who would try to impose a forced unity upon us - a unity that they have not even been able to achieve themselves.
These prophecies say it all:
Deut.
4:5 See, I have taught you decrees and ordinances, as HaShem, my God,
has commanded me, to do so in the midst of the Land to which you come,
to possess it.
6 You shall safeguard and perform them, for it is your wisdom and
discernment in the eyes of the peoples, who shall hear all these
decrees and who shall say. "Surely
a wise and discerning people is this
great nation!" The Stone Edition
Tenach
Zechariah 8:23 Thus
said HaShem, Master of legions: In those days it will happen that ten
men, of all the [different] languages of the nations, will take hold,
they will take hold of the corner of the garment of a Jewish man,
saying, 'Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with
you!' Ibid.
For
those nations which refuse to comply with the Seven Laws and to refuse
to go up to Jerusalem to keep Succot (Feast of Tabernacles), they will
be punished - not by some 'psak din', or even by Israel.
HaShem
himself will take responsibility for their punishment. These prophecies paint a picture of our
collective future.
Zech.
14:16 It shall be that all who are left over from all the nations who
had invaded Jerusalem will come up every year to worship the King
HaShem, Master of Legions, and to celebrate the festival of Succos.*
And it shall be that whichever of the families of the land does not go
up to Jerusalem to bow down before the King, HaShem, Master of Legions,
there will be no rain upon them.* 18 But if it is the family of
Egypt that does not go up and does not come [to Jerusalem], there will
be no [water] for them; the same plague will come to pass with which
HaShem will strike the nations that do not go up to celebrate the
festival of Succos. 10 This will be the punishment of the Egyptians and
the punishment of the nations that will not go up to celebrate the
festival of Succos.
Ibid.
Isa. 2:1 The prophecy that Isaiah son of Amoz saw, concerning Judah and
Jerusalem: 2 It will happen in the end of days: The
mountain of the Temple of HaShem will be firmly established as the head
of the mountains, and it will be exalted about the hills, and all the
nations will stream to it. 3 Many peoples will go and say, 'Come,
let us go up to the Mountain of HaShem, to the Temple of the God of
Jacob, and He will teach us of His ways and we will walk in His paths.'
For from Zion will the Torah come forth, and the word of HaShem
from Jerusalem. 4 He will judge
among the nations, and will
settle the arguments of many peoples. They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; nation will not lift sword against nation and they will no longer study warfare. Ibid.
Now what about nature's law - physics?
Newton's
Third Law
"For
every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction."
The statement means that in every
interaction, there is a pair of forces acting on the two interacting objects. The size of the forces on the first object equals the size of the force on the second object.
The direction of the force on the first object is opposite
to the direction of the force on the second object. Forces always come in pairs - equal and opposite
action-reaction force pairs."
http://www.glenbrook.k12.il.us/GBSSCI/PHYS/Class/newtlaws/u2l4a.html
We can see Newton's third law in action not only in the physical and spiritual realms, but also in historical events, including events taking place in Israel - with the struggle between Israel and the Palestinians, and even in the manner that the
"nascent Sanhedrin" recently appointed a
"Beith Din for B'nai NoaH" which issued a
psak din informing Noahides and Jews that we must conform to their wishes - or face being banned. But the most pressing question which has not been answered - who gave this Beith Din the power to issue a psak din against us, and more importantly, what has been the result? Mostly, as I see it: Anger, frustration and even more division.
Jewish law states:
"Only wise and understanding men are to be appointed to the Sanhedrin. They must be experts in Torah law, with a wide breadth of knowledge. They must also know secular subjects like medicine, mathematics, astrology and astronomy." (Maimonides, Laws of Sanhedrin, chapter 2)
As Noahides we may not force any other
gentiles to keep the Seven Noahide Laws, but we can educate them about
it. The same is true for Israel and Judaism.
The Torah says that the action of the
gentiles (nations) will be to seek out the Jews to learn from
them. Then according to Newton's Third Law - Israel's
reaction will be to reciprocate,
and teach the gentiles.
That is the correct order. It is the way of shalom or peace, while the reverse can only bring disputations and even war. For people speaking in the name of rabbis, to try to use force - as by issuing a 'psak din' against Noahides - is not only counterproductive, it may bring Judaism itself into disrepute with the gentiles. It is the reverse of what the relationship between the Jews and Noahides should be. Because the reason that the gentiles will seek out the Jews to learn from them is because of their deserved reputation of being wise and discerning.
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