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104-521: In some rabbinical interpretations, Amalek is etymologised as am lak , 'a people who lick (blood)', but most scholars regard the origin to be unknown. Richard C. Steiner has suggested that the name is derived from the Egyptian term *ꜥꜣm rqj "hostile Asiatic", possibly referring to Shasu tribesmen from around Edom . According to the Hebrew Bible, Amalek was the son of Eliphaz (himself

208-482: A prohibition against abortion . David ben Solomon ibn Abi Zimra , a commentator on Maimonides, expressed surprise that he left out castration and sorcery which were also listed in the Talmud. The Talmudist Ulla wrote of 30 laws which the sons of Noah took upon themselves. He only lists three, namely the three that the gentiles follow: not to create a Ketubah between males, not to sell carrion or human flesh in

312-499: A "National Day of Reflection". In 1989 and 1990, Chabad-Lubavitch had another reference to the Noahide laws enshrined in a U.S. presidential proclamation: the "Proclamation 5956", signed by then-U.S. President George H. W. Bush . The United States Congress , recalling House Joint Resolution 173 and in celebration of Schneerson's 87th birthday, proclaimed 16 April 1989, and 6 April 1990, as "Education Day, U.S.A." In January 2004,

416-630: A "bastard" ( νόθος ) in a derogatory sense. Amalek is described in Genesis 36:16 as the "chief of Amalek" among the "chiefs of the sons of Esau", from which it is surmised that he ruled a clan or territory named after him. In the oracle of Balaam , Amalek was called the "first of the nations". One modern scholar believes this attests to Amalek's high antiquity, while traditional commentator Rashi states: "He came before all of them to make war with Israel". The Amalekites ( / ˈ æ m ə l ɛ k aɪ t s / ) were claimed to be Amalek's descendants through

520-455: A Jewish court, it is a matter of considerable dispute as to whether or not it constitutes sufficient grounds for conviction in Noachide courts. There is also some debate as to whether the ideal punishment for violation of these laws is the death penalty, or if it is up to the court's discretion to decide which punishment is most fitting. While a simple reading of the Talmud might suggest that

624-468: A Jewish nation. Nahmanides disagrees with Maimonides' reasoning. He limits the obligation of enforcing the seven laws to non-Jewish authorities, thus taking the matter out of Jewish hands. The Tosafot seems to agree with Nahmanides reasoning. According to some opinions, punishment is the same whether the individual transgresses with knowledge of the law or is ignorant of the law. Some authorities debate whether non-Jewish societies may decide to modify

728-790: A comparison: one might say " Caesar went into France ", though Gaul only later became known as France. John Gill believes the Amalekites of Genesis 14:7 were equivalent to the Hamite-Arabian Amalekites described by Muslim scholars. He argues the Amalekites were always allied with the Canaanites who descended from Ham, were conquered by the Shemite Chedorlaomer , existed before the Edomite Amalekites thus affirming Numbers 24:20 , and that

832-600: A full convert to Judaism . He conjectures that, according to Maimonides, only a full ger tzedek would be found during the Messianic era. Furthermore, Kellner criticizes the assumption within Orthodox Judaism that there is an "ontological divide between Jews and Gentiles", which he believes is contrary to what Maimonides thought and the Torah teaches, stating that "Gentiles as well as Jews are fully created in

936-535: A gentile living in the Land of Israel who did not want to convert to Judaism but accepted the Seven Laws of Noah as binding upon himself was granted the legal status of ger toshav ( Hebrew : גר תושב , ger : "foreigner" or "alien" + toshav : "resident", lit. " resident alien "). A ger toshav is therefore commonly deemed a "Righteous Gentile" (Hebrew: חסיד אומות העולם , Chassid Umot ha-Olam : "Pious People of

1040-521: A given divine law may change for the same people in the same land, we shall examine in the Third Book... The Encyclopedia Talmudit , edited by Rabbi Shlomo Yosef Zevin , states that after the giving of the Torah , the Jewish people were no longer included in the category of the sons of Noah. Maimonides ( Mishneh Torah , Hilkhot M'lakhim 9:1) indicates that the seven commandments are also part of

1144-520: A large segment of Israelis. We call upon the Chief Rabbi to retract his statements and apologize for any offense caused by his comments. Historically, some rabbinic opinions consider non-Jews not only not obliged to adhere to all the remaining laws of the Torah, but actually forbidden from observing them. Noahide law differs radically from Roman law for gentiles ( Jus Gentium ), if only because

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1248-581: A literal reading of these passages at length. Origen of Alexandria is sometimes cited as having viewed the cherem passages allegorically; Hofreiter argues that although Origen prioritized a spiritual interpretation of the Bible, he did not deny that the herem passages described historical events. Paul Copan argues that the cherem commands were hyperbolic since the passages contain merisms such as "man and woman" and Near Easterners valued "bravado and exaggeration" when reporting warfare. Kluger believes this

1352-511: A parallel to the Seven Laws of Noah, and thus be a commonality rather than a differential. Some modern scholars dispute the connection between Acts 15 and the seven Noahide laws. The Apostolic Decree is still observed by the Eastern Orthodox Church and includes some food restrictions . The Jewish Encyclopedia article on Paul of Tarsus states: According to Acts 13 , 14 , 17 , 18 [...], Paul began working along

1456-561: A sermon that Jewish law requires that only non-Jews who follow the Noahide laws are allowed to live in Israel: "According to Jewish law, it's forbidden for a non-Jew to live in the Land of Israel – unless he has accepted the seven Noahide laws, [...] If the non-Jew is unwilling to accept these laws, then we can send him to Saudi Arabia , ... When there will be full, true redemption, we will do this." Yosef further added: "non-Jews shouldn't live in

1560-570: A strong denunciation of Yosef's sermon: The statement by Chief Rabbi Yosef is shocking and unacceptable. It is unconscionable that the Chief Rabbi, an official representative of the State of Israel, would express such intolerant and ignorant views about Israel's non-Jewish population – including the millions of non-Jewish citizens. As a spiritual leader, Rabbi Yosef should be using his influence to preach tolerance and compassion towards others, regardless of their faith, and not seek to exclude and demean

1664-462: Is Amalek, since his guardian angel is the foremost angel of evil, Satan . The final war therefore will be fought between the children of God and the children of Satan, between good and evil. This is possibly why the 188th commandment exists, to wipe out Amalek completely, male and female, young and old, sparing none, since evil has no future. There is however, one obscure prophecy that states that all nations will eventually worship God alone, which raises

1768-437: Is a difference in the degree of happiness attainable by the two laws. This difference in the laws can not concern fundamental or derivative principles. Therefore the examination of the law itself is always of the same kind. But the examination relating to the messenger may undergo change. At all events the verification must be direct, though the verification of one religion may be different from that of another. The question whether

1872-709: Is acceptable against such enemies. Groups identified with Amalek include the Romans , Nazis , Stalinists , ISIS , and bellicose Iranian leaders such as Mahmoud Ahmadinejad . More metaphorically, to some Hasidic rabbis (particularly the Baal Shem Tov ), Amalek represents atheism or the cynical rejection of God, which leads to unethical hedonism . This is sometimes known as the "Amalekite doctrine". In contemporary times, religious Jews associate Amalek with violent antisemites , nihilism and Jewish doubt in God . During

1976-570: Is an earnest attempt to absolve the Israelites, and their God, of moral responsibility. Nonetheless, she argues Copan's interpretation still "normalizes mass violence" and "hostility towards targeted groups". Ibn Khaldūn believed that God ordered Saul , the king of Israel, to depose the Amalekites, which caused Haman 's hostility to the Jews in the Book of Esther . Some commentators have discussed

2080-566: Is incumbent on all Jews, a commandment in and of itself. Nevertheless, the majority of rabbinic authorities over the centuries have rejected Maimonides' opinion, and the dominant halakhic consensus has always been that Jews are not required to spread the Noahide laws to non-Jews. Maimonides held that gentiles may have a part in the World to Come ( Olam Ha-Ba ) just by observing the Seven Laws of Noah and accepting them as divinely revealed to Moses . According to Maimonides, such non-Jews achieve

2184-541: Is no doubt that the other nations attained human happiness through the Noachian law , since it is divine; though they could not reach the same degree of happiness as that attained by Israel through the Torah . The Rabbis say: "The pious men of the other nations have a share in the world to come ". This shows that there may be two divine laws existing at the same time among different nations, and that each one leads those who live by it to attain human happiness; though there

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2288-784: Is now retired from his position as professor of Semitics at the Bernard Revel Graduate School of Yeshiva University in New York City . Steiner received his PhD from the University of Pennsylvania , where he studied Biblical, Semitic, and Jewish Studies (under Moshe Greenberg , later of the Hebrew University ) and linguistics (under Henry M. Hoenigswald and William Labov ). He collaborated with Labov on an important study of sound changes in spoken languages. Steiner's early work focused on

2392-418: Is thought that the rabbis included discussion of them in anticipation of the coming Messianic Age . According Sanhedrin 56a, for Noahides convicted of a capital crime, the only sanctioned method of execution is decapitation, considered one of the lightest capital punishments. Other sources state that the execution is to be by stoning if he has intercourse with a Jewish betrothed woman, or by strangulation if

2496-632: The 2014 Gaza war , a leading yeshiva identified Palestinians as the descendants of the ancient Amalekites and Philistines . Genealogically, Arabs are not related to Amalekites and prior to the Arab–Israeli conflict , some Jews associated Amalek with the Roman Empire and medieval Christians . During the 2023–24 Israel–Hamas war (beginning in October 2023), Benjamin Netanyahu said that

2600-491: The Hebrew University of Jerusalem , in which he announced that he had deciphered linguistically Semitic spells in Egyptian hieroglyphic texts from the mid-third millennium BC. This discovery was reported on by National Geographic , Science Daily , and others. In July 2010 he was invited to give the plenary address at the annual conference of the National Association of Professors of Hebrew. His brother

2704-613: The Land of Israel . For example, they could offer sacrifices, actively participate in Israelite politics, keep their distinct ethnic identity for many generations, inherit tribal allotments, etc. During the Golden Age of Jewish culture in the Iberian Peninsula , the medieval Jewish philosopher and rabbi Maimonides (1135–1204) wrote in the halakhic legal code Mishneh Torah that gentiles must perform exclusively

2808-842: The Messianic Age , where Amalek and other antichristian states are exterminated by the Lamb . Likewise, Charles Ellicott notes that the Amalekites were collectively called 'the sinners' in 1 Samuel 15:18 , which was only used elsewhere for the Sodomites in Genesis 13:13 . Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch state that the Amalekites were extinct by the second half of Hezekiah's reign. Professor Philip Jenkins notes that Christian extremists have historically labelled enemies such as Native Americans, Protestants, Catholics and Tutsis as Amalekites to justify their genocides. Jews and victims of

2912-498: The Mishneh Torah differ by one letter and read "Nor one of their wise men"; the latter reading is narrower. In either reading, Maimonides appears to exclude philosophical Noahides from being "Righteous Gentiles". According to him, a truly "Righteous Gentile" follows the seven laws because they are divinely revealed, and thus are followed out of obedience to God. The 15th-century Sephardic Orthodox rabbi Yosef Caro , one of

3016-569: The Purim festival , the Book of Esther is read in commemoration of the salvation of Jewish people from Haman , who plotted to kill all Jews in Persian Empire . It is customary for the audience to make noise and shout whenever "Haman" is mentioned, in order to desecrate his name, based on Exodus 17:14 . It is also customary to recite Deuteronomy 25:17–18 on the Shabbat before Purim . This

3120-544: The Sages to help humanity evolve in their understanding of the Torah. Theologian Charles Ellicott explains that the Amalekites were subject to cherem in the Book of Samuel for the purposes of incapacitation , due to their 'accursed' nature and the threat they posed to the commonwealth of surrounding nations. Matthew Henry considers the cherem to be defensive warfare since the Amalekites were invaders. John Gill describes

3224-638: The Tell el-Qudeirat fortress and Horvat Haluqim in the Negev, dated to the late 11th to early 10th century BC, could corroborate with the Biblical Israelite-Amalekite confrontations, during the reigns of Saul and David . Bruins discovered that their inhabitants were semi-nomadic agro-pastoralists . They lived in tents, rode camels, participated in the copper trade and worshipped gods at masseboth shrines . Oval fortresses were built during

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3328-506: The University of Toronto , presents a range of theories regarding the sources from which the Seven Laws of Noah originated, including the Hebrew Bible itself, Hittite laws , the Maccabean period , and the Roman period . Regarding the modern Noahide movement , he denounced it by stating that "If Jews are telling Gentiles what to do, it's a form of imperialism ". According to the Talmud,

3432-637: The assassination of Meir Kahane that same year, The Temple Institute, which advocates rebuilding the Third Jewish Temple on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, started to promote the Noahide laws as well. In the 1980s, rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson urged his followers to actively engage in activities to inform non-Jews about the Noahide laws, which had not been done in previous generations. The Chabad-Lubavitch movement has been one of

3536-406: The phonology of Semitic languages , especially Hebrew . In one book he argued that the letter known as Hebrew sin was pronounced as a fricative-lateral and in another he argued that the pronunciation of the letter tsade as an affricate , /ts/, is very old and widespread, against others who had doubted this. These books have convinced most specialists. In 2007 Steiner gave a lecture at

3640-919: The rebuilding of the Third Temple on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem to re-institute the Jewish priesthood along with the practice of ritual sacrifices , and the establishment of a Jewish theocracy in Israel, supported by communities of Noahides. In 1990, Meir Kahane was the keynote speaker at the First International Conference of the Descendants of Noah, the first Noahide gathering, in Fort Worth, Texas . After

3744-546: The "first one of the nations" that developed post-Flood . According to Samuel Cox , the Amalekites were the "first" in their hostility toward the Israelites. Amalek is the archetypal enemy of the Jews and the symbol of evil in Jewish religion and folklore . Nur Masalha , Elliot Horowitz, and Josef Stern suggest that the Amalekites represent an "eternally irreconciliable enemy" that wants to murder Jews. In post-biblical times, Jews associated contemporary enemies with Amalek or Haman and, occasionally, believed pre-emptive violence

3848-516: The 16th-century work Asarah Maamarot by Rabbi Menahem Azariah da Fano and a second from the 10th century Samuel ben Hofni which was recently published from his Judeo-Arabic writings after having been found in the Cairo Geniza . Rabbi Zvi Hirsch Chajes suggests Menahem Azariah of Fano enumerated commandments are not related to the first seven, nor based on Scripture, but instead were passed down by oral tradition. During biblical times ,

3952-580: The Crusades were also called Amalekites. Because of this, modern Christian scholars have re-examined the Biblical narratives that inspired these atrocities using philology, literary analysis, archaeology and historical evidence. Islamic commentators believe the Amalekites were an ancient Arabian tribe. The monotheistic Ishmaelites evangelized to them in Mecca and later, supplanted their population. However,

4056-515: The Edomites never rescued these Amalekites from Saul's campaigns due to inter-tribal feuds. By the 19th century, many Western theologians believed that the nation of Amalek could have flourished before the time of Abraham. Matthew George Easton theorized that the Amalekites were not the descendants of Amalek by taking a literal approach to Genesis 14:7 . However, the modern biblical scholar Gerald L. Mattingly uses textual analysis to glean that

4160-660: The Hebrew Bible as a recurrent enemy of the Israelites: In the Mishneh Torah , Rambam derives three commandments, two positive and one negative, related to references to Amalek in the Torah : Many rabbinic authorities such as Maimonides ruled that the commandment only applies to a Jewish king or an organized community, and cannot be performed by an individual. According to Rashi , the Amalekites were sorcerers who could transform themselves to resemble animals, in order to avoid capture. Thus, in 1 Samuel 15:3 , it

4264-588: The Hereafter due to the "Noachide Law". He sees there being two "Torahs": one for Jews, the other for the gentile "Children of Noah". Whilst theoretically the Noachide Law should be universal, its prohibitions against blasphemy and idolatry mean that in practice it only really applied to non-idolatrous theists. Therefore, Jews normally considered Christians and/or Muslims when discussing this concept. David Novak , professor of Jewish theology and ethics at

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4368-582: The Holocaust, the phrase as it appears in Deuteronomy 25:17 is used as a call to witness. Yad Vashem , Israel's memorial to the Holocaust, features the phrase on a banner, and in letters between European Jews during the Holocaust, they plead with each other to "bear witness". In the Israel–Palestine conflict , some Israeli politicians and extremists have compared Palestinians to Amalek, stated that

4472-621: The Israeli government was "committed to completely eliminating this evil from the world", and he also stated: "You must remember what Amalek has done to you, says our Holy Bible. And we do remember". At an argument to the International Court of Justice about allegations of genocide in the 2023 Israeli attack on Gaza , South Africa presented the comments as inciting genocide against the Palestinian people. Netanyahu denied that

4576-502: The Jewish community, and there is an obligation to render him aid when in need. The restrictions on having a gentile do work for a Jew on the Shabbat are also greater when the gentile is a ger toshav . According to the Jewish philosopher and professor Menachem Kellner 's study on Maimonidean texts (1991), a ger toshav could be a transitional stage on the way to becoming a "righteous alien" (Hebrew: גר צדק , ger tzedek ), i.e.

4680-569: The Jewish woman has completed the marriage ceremonies, but had not yet consummated the marriage. In Jewish law, the only form of blasphemy which is punishable by death is blaspheming the Ineffable Name ( Leviticus 24:16 ). Some Talmudic rabbis held that only those offences for which a Jew would be executed, are forbidden to gentiles. The Talmudic rabbis discuss which offences and sub-offences are capital offences and which are merely forbidden. Maimonides states that anyone who does not accept

4784-459: The Levant in the relevant time period(s). Therefore, Hugo Winckler concluded that there were no Amalekites and that the Biblical stories concerning them were entirely ahistorical and mythological. Although archaeological research has improved knowledge about nomadic Arabs, no specific artifact or site has been linked to Amalek with certainty. It is possible that some of the fortified settlements in

4888-404: The Negev highlands and Tel Masos , which is near Beer-sheba and possibly equivalent to Hormah , have Amalekite connections. If this hypothesis is correct, it is likely that Saul's anti-Amalekite campaigns were motivated by a strategic desire to wrest control of copper production at Tel Masos. Copper was valuable to the early Israelites and their theology and ritual. Archaeological evidence from

4992-568: The Noachian and the Mosaic laws, though differing in matters of detail, as we shall see, agree in the general matters which come from the giver. They both existed at the same time. While the Mosaic law existed in Israel, all the other nations had the Noachian law , and the difference was due to geographical diversity, Palestine (i.e. " Eretz Israel " being different from the other lands, and to national diversity, due to difference in ancestry. And there

5096-432: The Noachide laws of evidence (for example, by requiring more witnesses before punishment, or by permitting circumstantial evidence) if they consider that to be more just. Whilst Jewish law requires two witnesses, Noachide law, as recorded by Rambam, Hilkhot Melakhim 9:14, can accept the testimony of a single eyewitness as sufficient for use of the death penalty. Whilst a confession of guilt is not admissible as evidence before

5200-445: The Noahide laws apply to all of humanity. In Judaism, the term B'nei Noach ( Hebrew : בני נח , "Sons of Noah") refers to all mankind. The Talmud also states: "Righteous people of all nations have a share in the world to come". Any non-Jew who lives according to these laws is regarded as one of the righteous among the gentiles. According to the Talmud, the seven laws were given first to Adam and subsequently to Noah . Six of

5304-486: The Noahide laws. These religious Zionist and Orthodox rabbis that guide the modern Noahide movement, who are often affiliated with the Third Temple movement, are accused of expounding a racist and supremacist ideology which consists in the belief that the Jewish people are God's chosen nation and racially superior to non-Jews, and mentor Noahides because they believe that the Messianic era will begin with

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5408-466: The Noahides (1998); M. Dallen, The Rainbow Covenant (2003) – the Noahide laws offer humankind a set of absolute values and a framework for righteousness and justice, while the detailed laws that are currently on the books of the world's states and nations are presumptively valid. In recent years, the term "Noahide" has come to refer to non-Jews who strive to live in accord with the seven Noahide Laws;

5512-658: The Palestinians are the Amalekites or accuse Arabs of exhibiting "behavior" that is "typical" of Amalekites. Yasser Arafat was called "the Amalek and Hitler of our generation" by 200 rabbis. Many in the Gush Emunim movement see Arabs as the "Amalek of today". One reason includes the belief that Amalek is any nation that prevents Jews from settling in the Land of Israel , which includes the Palestinians . During

5616-547: The Patriarchs for their attitudes, God caused Timna to give birth to Amalek, whose descendants would cause Israel much distress. Amalek was also the product of an incestuous union since Eliphaz was Timna's stepfather, according to 1 Chronicles 1:36, after he committed adultery with the wife of Seir the Horite, who was Timna's biological father. First-century Roman-Jewish scholar and historian Flavius Josephus refers to Amalek as

5720-400: The Seven Laws of Noah and refrain from studying the Torah or performing any Jewish commandment , including resting on the Shabbat . He also states that if gentiles want to perform any Jewish commandment besides the Seven Laws of Noah according to the correct halakhic procedure, they are not prevented from doing so. According to Maimonides, teaching non-Jews to follow the Seven Laws of Noah

5824-580: 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. The non-Jews that choose to follow the Seven Laws of Noah are regarded as "Righteous Gentiles" ( Hebrew : חסידי אומות העולם , Chassiddei Umot ha-Olam : "Pious People of the World"). The seven Noahide laws as traditionally enumerated in the Babylonian Talmud Sanhedrin 56a-b and Tosefta Avodah Zarah 9:4, are

5928-565: The Seven Laws of Noah. Moses Mendelssohn , one of the leading exponents of the Jewish enlightenment ( Haskalah ), strongly disagreed with Maimonides' opinion, and instead contended that gentiles which observe the Noahide laws out of ethical, moral, or philosophical reasoning , without believing in the Jewish monotheistic conception of God, retained the status of "Righteous Gentiles" and would still achieve salvation . According to Steven Schwarzschild , Maimonides' position has its source in his adoption of Aristotle 's skeptical attitude towards

6032-489: The Talmud, were given by God as a covenant with Noah and with the " sons of Noah "—that is, all of humanity . The Seven Laws of Noah include prohibitions against worshipping idols , cursing God , murder , adultery and sexual immorality , theft , eating flesh torn from a living animal , as well as the obligation to establish courts of justice . According to Jewish law , non-Jews ( gentiles ) are not obligated to convert to Judaism , but they are required to observe

6136-408: The Torah but were exegetically extrapolated from the Book of Genesis by 2nd-century rabbis, which wrote them down in the Tosefta. According to Adam J. Silverstein, professor of Middle Eastern studies and Islamic studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem , Jewish theologians started to rethink the relevance and applicability of the Seven Laws of Noah during the Middle Ages , primarily due to

6240-425: The Torah, and the Babylonian Talmud ( Sanhedrin 59a, see also Tosafot ad. loc.) states that Jews are obligated in all things that gentiles are obligated in, albeit with some differences in the details. According to the Encyclopedia Talmudit , most medieval Jewish authorities considered that all the seven commandments were given to Adam, although Maimonides ( Mishneh Torah , Hilkhot M'lakhim 9:1) considered

6344-496: The World"), and is assured of a place in the World to Come ( Olam Ha-Ba ) . The rabbinic regulations regarding Jewish-gentile relations are modified in the case of a ger toshav . The accepted halakhic opinion is that the ger toshav must accept the seven Noahide laws in the presence of three haberim (men of authority), or, according to the rabbinic tradition , before a beth din (Jewish rabbinical court). He will receive certain legal protection and privileges from

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6448-412: The ability of reason to arrive at moral truths, and "many of the most outstanding spokesmen of Judaism themselves dissented sharply from" this position, which is "individual and certainly somewhat eccentric" in comparison to other Jewish thinkers. A novel understanding of Maimonides' position in the 20th century, advanced by the Ashkenazi Orthodox rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook , is that a non-Jew who follows

6552-402: The ancient Near East. Their purpose was to show that the deity was on the aggressor's side and that the enemy deserved said deity's wrath for their "sins". It also allowed kings to pursue militarist policies without taking moral responsibility. C. L. Crouch considers the cherem commands to be an exceptional component to Israelite and Judahite warfare since they were erratically applied, even in

6656-408: The calls to spare no Amalekite or "blot out their memory" were metaphorical and did not require the actual killing of Amalekites. Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch said that the command was to destroy "the remembrance of Amalek" rather than actual Amalekites. The Sfat Emet interpreted the command as fully hating Amalek, without performing any physical action. The Chofetz Chaim said that God would perform

6760-416: The cherem as the law of retaliation being carried out. According to Christian Hofreiter, almost all Christian authorities and theologians have historically interpreted the cherem passages literally. He states that "there is practically no historical evidence that anyone in the Great Church" viewed them as being purely an allegory. In particular, Augustine , Thomas Aquinas and John Calvin have defended

6864-450: The commandments due to philosophical conviction rather than revelation (what Maimonides calls "one of their wise men") also merits the World to Come; this would be in line with Maimonides' general approach that following philosophical wisdom advances a person more than following revelatory commands. Menachem Mendel Schneerson encouraged his followers on many occasions to preach the Seven Laws of Noah, devoting some of his addresses to

6968-410: The dietary law to have been given to Noah. Menachem Mendel Schneerson , the Lubavitcher Rebbe , published and spoke about the Seven Laws of Noah many times. According to Schneerson's view, based on a detailed reading of Maimonides' Hilkhot M'lakhim , the Talmud, and the Hebrew Bible , the seven laws originally given to Noah were given yet again, through Moses at Sinai , and it's exclusively through

7072-625: The early Acharonim and author of the Shulchan Aruch , rejected Maimonides' denial of the access to the World to Come to the gentiles who obey the Noahide laws guided only by their reason as anti-rationalistic and unfounded, asserting that there is not any justification to uphold such a view in the Talmud. The 17th-century Sephardic philosopher Baruch Spinoza read Maimonides as using "nor" , and accused him of being narrow and particularistic. Other Jewish philosophers influenced by Spinoza, such as Moses Mendelssohn and Hermann Cohen , also have formulated more inclusive and universal interpretations of

7176-403: The early stages of national and ethnic identity formation. They were an extreme means to eradicate the threat of chaos. Similar attitudes were held by Assyrian rulers such as Esarhaddon and Assurbanipal . No reference to Amalek or the Amalekites has been found in surviving Egyptian and Assyrian monumental inscriptions and records, even though both groups recorded various tribes and peoples of

7280-470: The elimination of Amalek and that Jews only need to remember what Amalek did to them. Isaac S.D. Sassoon believes that the cherem commands existed to prevent the Jewish community from being endangered but believes people should think twice before literally following them. Nathan Lopes Cardazo argues that the Torah's ethically questionable laws were intentional since they were a result of God working with an underdeveloped world. He believes that God appointed

7384-404: The ethics of the commandment to exterminate all the Amalekites, including children, and the presumption of collective punishment . It has also been described as genocidal, according to genocide scholars like Norman Naimark . Kluger believes that the extermination verses can be explained by the Israelites seeing the Amalekites as their "unwelcome brother" and the " rejected son ", possessing all

7488-467: The following: According to the Talmud, the seven laws were given first to Adam and subsequently to Noah. The Tannaitic and Amoraitic rabbinic sages (1st–6th centuries CE) disagreed on the exact number of Noahide laws that were originally given to Adam. Six of the seven laws were exegetically derived from passages in the Book of Genesis , with the seventh being the establishment of courts of justice. The earliest complete rabbinic version of

7592-482: The genealogy of Esau. According to the Hebrew Bible, the Amalekites inhabited the Negev and Sinai . They appear to have lived a nomadic or seminomadic lifestyle along the fringes of southern Canaan 's agricultural zone. This is probably based on the association of this tribal group with the steppe region of ancient Israel and the area of Kadesh ( Genesis 14:7). As a people, the Amalekites are identified throughout

7696-407: The giving of the Torah that the seven laws derive their current force. What has changed with the giving of the Torah is that now, it is the duty of the Jewish people to bring the rest of the world to fulfill the Seven Laws of Noah. According to Michael S. Kogan , professor of philosophy and religious studies at Montclair State University , the Seven Laws of Noah are not explicitly mentioned in

7800-432: The ideal punishment is the death penalty, a number of prominent commentators, including Rav Yosef Eliyahu Henkin, have argued that it is up to the courts to decide. Various rabbinic sources have different positions on the way the seven laws are to be subdivided in categories. Maimonides', in his Mishneh Torah , included the grafting of trees. Like the Talmud, he interpreted the prohibition against homicide as including

7904-605: The image of God". According to Christine Hayes , an American scholar of ancient Judaism and early Christianity serving as the Sterling Professor of Religious Studies in Classical Judaica at Yale University , the gerim were not necessarily Gentile converts in the Hebrew Bible , whether in the modern or rabbinic sense. Nonetheless, they were granted many rights and privileges when they lived in

8008-602: The land of Israel. ... If our hand were firm, if we had the power to rule, then non-Jews must not live in Israel. But, our hand is not firm. [...] Who, otherwise be the servants? Who will be our helpers? This is why we leave them in Israel." Yosef's sermon sparked outrage in Israel and was fiercely criticized by several human rights associations, NGOs and members of the Knesset ; Jonathan Greenblatt , Anti-Defamation League 's CEO and national director, and Carole Nuriel, Anti-Defamation League's Israel Office acting director, issued

8112-573: The latter was enforceable judicial policy. Rabbinic Judaism has never adjudicated any cases under the Noahide laws, and Jewish scholars disagree about whether the Noahide laws are a functional part of the Halakha (Jewish law). Some modern views hold that penalties are a detail of the Noahide Laws and that Noahides themselves must determine the details of their own laws for themselves. According to this school of thought – see N. Rakover, Law and

8216-411: The market and to respect the Torah. The rest of the laws are not listed. Though the authorities seem to take it for granted that Ulla's thirty commandments included the original seven, an additional thirty laws are also possible from the reading. Two different lists of the 30 laws exist. Both lists include an additional twenty-three mitzvot which are subdivisions or extensions of the seven laws. One from

8320-493: The most active in Noahide outreach, believing that there is spiritual and societal value for non-Jews in at least simply acknowledging the Noahide laws. In 1982, Chabad-Lubavitch had a reference to the Noahide laws enshrined in a U.S. Presidential proclamation : the "Proclamation 4921", signed by the then-U.S. President Ronald Reagan . The United States Congress , recalling House Joint Resolution 447 and in celebration of Schneerson's 80th birthday, proclaimed 4 April 1982, as

8424-656: The name Noahide Laws refers to the laws that apply to all of humanity. After the Flood, God sealed a covenant with Noah with the following admonitions as written in Genesis 9:4–6: The Book of Jubilees , generally dated to the 1st century BCE, may include a substantially different list of six commandments at verses 7:20–25: (1) to observe righteousness; (2) to cover the shame of their flesh; (3) to bless their creator; (4) to honor their parents; (5) to love their neighbor; and (6) to guard against fornication, uncleanness, and all iniquity. For this reason you will find that

8528-515: The negative qualities that the Israelites inherently saw within themselves, which Kluger sees as a form of self-hatred . However, she notes that the Hebrew Bible is surprisingly neutral when describing the Amalekites and that the texts do not provide an adequate explanation on why they were singled out for complete annihilation, compared to the Egyptians and Canaanites for example. Ada Taggar-Cohen observes that cherem commands were not uncommon in

8632-716: The paganism of the Amalekites and other Arabian tribes negatively influenced the Ishmaelites, including their approach to the Kaaba . Adam J. Silverstein observes that most of the medieval Muslim world ignored the Book of Esther or modified its details, despite their familiarity with the Persian Jewish community. This was caused by their attempt to reconcile the Biblical Esther with the Quranic Haman , who

8736-631: The powers of the devil at the cross . Origen sees the battle as an allegory of the Law mysteriously invoking Christ , who recruits strong people (i.e. Christians ) to defeat the demonic Strong Man, as described in Ephesians 6:12 . John Gill believes that Amalek is a type of antichrist that 'raises his hand against the throne of God, his tabernacle and his saints'. He believes the phrase "from generation to generation" in Exodus 17:16 specifically refers to

8840-717: The precarious living conditions of the Jewish people under the Medieval Christian kingdoms and the Islamic world (see Jewish–Christian relations and Jewish–Islamic relations ), since both Christians and Muslims recognize the patriarch Abraham as the unifying figure of the Abrahamic tradition , alongside the monotheistic conception of God . Silverstein states that Jewish theology came to include concepts and frameworks that would permit certain types of non-Jews to be recognized as righteous and deserving of life in

8944-495: The question of how can there possibly be a third temple when Amalek is wiped out. The Midrash states there is no quandry, given the last Amalekite is a convert to Judaism. Maimonides elaborates that when the Jewish people wage war against Amalek, they must request the Amalekites to accept the Seven Laws of Noah and pay a tax to the Jewish kingdom. If they refuse, they are to be executed. Other Talmudic commentators argued that

9048-407: The relevant timeframe. However, other scholars argue that these settlements were inhabited by Edomites or Simeonites . In Genesis 14:7 , the "field of the Amalekites" is mentioned, but the person who is named Amalek was not born yet. Some commentators claim that this passage is a reference to the territory which was later inhabited by the Amalekites. C. Knight elaborates this concept by making

9152-453: The sages, such as Ulla , going so far as to make a list of 30 laws. The Talmud expands the scope of the seven laws to cover about 100 of the 613 mitzvot . In practice, Jewish law makes it very difficult to apply the death penalty. No record exists of a gentile having been put to death for violating the seven Noahide laws. Some of the categories of capital punishment recorded in the Talmud are recorded as having never been carried out. It

9256-563: The seven Noahide laws can be found in the Tosefta: Seven commandments were commanded of the sons of Noah: According to the Genesis flood narrative , a deluge covered the whole world on account of violent corruption on the earth, killing every surface-dwelling creature except Noah, his wife, his sons, their wives, and the animals taken aboard the Ark . According to the biblical narrative, all modern humans are descendants of Noah, thus

9360-412: The seven laws is to be executed, as God compelled the world to follow these laws. For the other prohibitions such as the grafting of trees and bestiality he holds that the sons of Noah are not to be executed. Maimonides adds a universalism lacking from earlier Jewish sources. The Talmud differs from Maimonides in that it considers the seven laws enforceable by Jewish authorities on non-Jews living within

9464-621: The seven laws were exegetically derived from passages in the Book of Genesis, with the seventh being the establishment of courts of justice. The Talmudic sages expanded the concept of universal morality within the Noahide laws and added several other laws beyond the seven listed in the Talmud and Tosefta which are attributed to different rabbis, such as prohibitions against committing incest , cruelty to animals , pairing animals of different species , grafting trees of different kinds, castration , emasculation , homosexuality , pederasty , and sorcery among others, with some of

9568-471: The son of Esau , ancestor of the Edomites and the brother of Israel ) and Eliphaz's concubine Timna. Timna was a Horite and sister of Lotan . According to a midrash , Timna was a princess who tried to convert to Judaism. However, she was rejected by Abraham , Isaac and Jacob . She replied she would rather be a handmaiden to the dregs of Israel than be a mistress of another gentile nation. To punish

9672-626: The spiritual leader of the Druze community in Israel , Sheikh Mowafak Tarif , met with a representative of Chabad-Lubavitch to sign a declaration calling on all non-Jews in Israel to observe the Noahide laws; the mayor of the Arab city of Shefa-'Amr (Shfaram) – where Muslim, Christian, and Druze communities live side-by-side – also signed the document. In March 2016, the Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Israel , Yitzhak Yosef , declared during

9776-694: The status of Chassid Umot Ha-Olam ("Pious People of the World"), and are different from those which solely keep the Noahide laws out of moral/ethical reasoning alone. He wrote in Hilkhot M'lakhim :" Anyone who accepts upon himself and carefully observes the Seven Commandments is of the Righteous of the Nations of the World and has a portion in the World to Come. This is as long as he accepts and performs them because (he truly believes that) it

9880-410: The subtleties of this code. Since the 1990s, Orthodox Jewish rabbis from Israel, most notably those affiliated to Chabad-Lubavitch and religious Zionist organizations, including The Temple Institute , have set up a modern Noahide movement. These Noahide organizations, led by religious Zionist and Orthodox rabbis, are aimed at non-Jews to proselytize among them and commit them to follow

9984-569: The terms "observant Noahide" or "Torah-centered Noahides" would be more precise but these are infrequently used. Support for the use of "Noahide" in this sense can be found with the Ritva , who uses the term Son of Noah to refer to a gentile who keeps the seven laws, but is not a ger toshav . In the history of Christianity , the Apostolic Decree recorded in Acts 15 is commonly seen as

10088-470: The traditional Jewish line of proselytizing in the various synagogues where the proselytes of the gate [e.g., Exodus 20:9 ] and the Jews met; and only because he failed to win the Jews to his views, encountering strong opposition and persecution from them, did he turn to the gentile world after he had agreed at a council with the apostles at Jerusalem to admit the gentiles into the Church only as proselytes of

10192-434: The use of Amalekite in Genesis 14:7 is actually an anachronism , and in the early 19th century, Richard Watson enumerated several speculative reasons for the existence of a "more ancient Amalek" than Abraham. In his exegesis of Numbers 24:20 , concerning Balaam's utterance: "Amalek was the first one of the nations, but his end afterward will be even his perishing", Richard Watson attempts to associate this passage to

10296-583: Was Mark Steiner , Professor of Philosophy at Hebrew University, who died from the coronavirus in 2020. Seven Laws of Noah In Judaism , the Seven Laws of Noah ( Hebrew : שבע מצוות בני נח , Sheva Mitzvot B'nei Noach ), otherwise referred to as the Noahide Laws or the Noachian Laws (from the Hebrew pronunciation of "Noah"), are a set of universal moral laws which, according to

10400-460: Was because Haman was considered to be an Amalekite although this label is more likely to be symbolic rather than literal. Some Iranophilic Jews interpreted Haman's Amalekite background as being anathema to both Jews and 'pure-blooded Iranians'. Early Church fathers such as Justin Martyr , Irenaeus and Cyprian consider the defeat of Amalek in Exodus 17:8–13 to be reminiscent of Jesus defeating

10504-508: Was considered necessary to destroy the livestock when destroying Amalek. According to Haggahot Maimuniyyot , the commandment only applies to the future messianic era and not in present times; this limitation is widely supported by medieval authorities. According to the Midrash, every nation on Earth has a guardian angel overseeing its destiny, except for two: Israel rejected archangel Michael as its guardian, in favor of God himself. The other

10608-590: Was his intention, stating the South African accusation reflected a "deep historical ignorance" since he was referring to Hamas , not Palestinians as a whole. Richard C. Steiner Richard C. Steiner (born 1945) is a Semitist and a scholar of Northwest Semitic languages , Jewish Studies , and Near Eastern texts. His work has focused on texts from as early as the Egyptian Pyramid texts to as late as medieval biblical interpretation. He

10712-508: Was the Holy One, Blessed Be He, Who commanded them in the Torah, and that it was through Moses our Teacher we were informed that the Sons of Noah had already been commanded to observe them. But if he observes them because he convinced himself, then he is not considered a Resident Convert and is not of the Righteous of the Nations of the World, but merely one of their wise. Some later editions of

10816-467: Was the antagonist of the Exodus narrative , and Persian mythological historical traditions. Notable exceptions include Ibn Khaldūn , who affirmed the Amalekite origins of Haman and his antisemitic vendetta. Rabbis generally agree that Amalekites no longer exist, based on the argument that Sennacherib deported and mixed the nations, so it is no longer possible to determine who is an Amalekite. Since

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