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118-534: The Zohar 's imagery expounds its role in Creation, where it is the macroscopic equivalent of Zeir Anpin (Microprosopus) in the sephirotic tree of life . In 16th-century Lurianic doctrine , it becomes systemised as one of the six Primary Partzufim Divine Personae, as part of the cosmic process of Tikkun Rectification. The Lurianic scheme recasts the linear Medieval-Kabbalistic hierarchy of lifeforce in Creation into dynamic processes of interinclusion, analogous to

236-482: 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

354-499: 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,

472-455: 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

590-468: 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

708-560: A different ancient mystical book in a cave near Toledo , which may have been de Leon's inspiration. Within fifty years of its appearance in Spain it was quoted by Kabbalists, including the Italian mystical writer Menahem Recanati and Todros ben Joseph Abulafia . However, Joseph ben Waqar harshly attacked the Zohar , which he considered inauthentic, and some Jewish communities, such as

826-655: A discourse on chiromancy by ben Yochai. h. Old Man (סבא) An elaborate narrative about a speech by an old Kabbalist. 7 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

944-600: 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

1062-535: 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

1180-521: 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

1298-1157: A kind of gnostic inclination within Kabbalah, and as a predecessor of the Sitra Ahra (the other, evil side) in the Zohar . The main text of the Castile circle, the Treatise on the Left Emanation , was written by Jacob ha-Cohen around 1265. Tikunei haZohar was first printed in Mantua in 1557. The main body of the Zohar was printed in Cremona in 1558 (a one-volume edition), in Mantua in 1558-1560 (a three-volume edition), and in Salonika in 1597 (a two-volume edition). Each of these editions included somewhat different texts. When they were printed there were many partial manuscripts in circulation that were not available to

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1416-520: 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

1534-609: A medieval date. In the Ashkenazi community of Eastern Europe, religious authorities including Elijah of Vilna (d. 1797) and Shneur Zalman of Liadi (d. 1812) believed in the authenticity of the Zohar , while Ezekiel Landau (d. 1793), in his sefer Derushei HaTzlach (דרושי הצל"ח), argued that the Zohar is to be considered unreliable as it was made public many hundreds of years after Ben Yochai's death and lacks an unbroken tradition of authenticity, among other reasons. Isaac Satanow accepted Emden's arguments and referred to

1652-511: 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

1770-561: 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

1888-707: A small amount of genuinely antique novel material. Later additions to the Zohar , including Tiqqune hazZohar and Ra'ya Meheimna , were composed by a 14th century imitator. According to Gershom Scholem and other modern scholars, Zoharic Aramaic is an artificial dialect largely based on a linguistic fusion of the Babylonian Talmud and Targum Onkelos , but confused by de León's simple and imperfect grammar, his limited vocabulary, and his reliance on loanwords, including from contemporaneous medieval languages. The author further confused his text with occasional strings of Aramaic-seeming gibberish , in order to give

2006-525: A speech is quoted in which he explains the previous section. e. Assembly of the Tabernacle (אדרא דמשכנא) This part has the same structure as c. but discusses instead the mysticism of prayer . f. Palaces (היכלות) Seven palaces of light are described, which are perceived by the devout in death. This description appears again in another passage, heavily embellished. g. Secretum Secretorum (רזא דרזין) An anonymous discourse on physiognomy and

2124-570: 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

2242-620: Is "highly oracular and obscure," citing no authorities and explaining nothing. c. Greater Assembly (אדרא רבא) This part contains an explanation of the oracular hints in the previous section. Ben Yochai's friends gather together to discuss secrets of Kabbalah. After the opening of the discussion by ben Yochai, the sages rise, one after the other, and lecture on the secret of Divinity, while ben Yochai adds to and responds to their words. The sages become steadily more ecstatic until three of them die. Scholem calls this part "architecturally perfect." d. Lesser Assembly (אדרא זוטא) Ben Yochai dies and

2360-472: Is a foundational work of Kabbalistic literature . It is a group of books including commentary on the mystical aspects of the Torah and scriptural interpretations as well as material on mysticism , mythical cosmogony , and mystical psychology . The Zohar contains discussions of the nature of God , the origin and structure of the universe, the nature of souls, redemption, the relationship of ego to darkness and "true self" to "the light of God". The Zohar

2478-437: 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

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2596-566: 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

2714-541: 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

2832-545: Is not. Ovadia Yosef (d. 2013) held that Orthodox Jews should accept the Zohar 's antiquity in practice based on medieval precedent, but agreed that rejecting it is rational and religiously valid. Joseph Hertz (d. 1946) called the claim of ben Yochai's authorship "untenable", citing Gershom Scholem 's evidence. Samuel Belkin (d. 1976) argued that the Mystical Midrash section, specifically, predated de León. Joseph B. Soloveitchik (d. 1993) apparently dismissed

2950-679: Is obvious they understood its nature. The manuscripts of the Zohar are from the 14th-16th centuries. By the 15th century, the Zohar 's authority in the Iberian Jewish community was such that Joseph ibn Shem-Tov drew arguments from it in his attacks against Maimonides , and even representatives of non-mystical Jewish thought began to assert its sacredness and invoke its authority in the decision of some ritual questions. In Jacobs' and Broyde's view, they were attracted by its glorification of man, its doctrine of immortality , and its ethical principles, which they saw as more in keeping with

3068-418: 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

3186-526: Is to show how You conduct the world, but not that you have...any of these attributes at all." In Kabbalah the paradoxical perception of absolute Divine Unity within multiplicity, the consciousness of Atzilut, is considered subconsciously innate to the souls of Israel, that are rooted in Atzilut. The souls of the Nations are elevated to this perception through adherence to the 7 Laws of Noah that attach them to

3304-690: The Sefer Yetzirah and the Bahir and the medieval writings of the Hasidei Ashkenaz . Another influence that Scholem, and scholars like Yehudah Liebes and Ronit Meroz have identified was a circle of Spanish Kabbalists in Castile who dealt with the appearance of an evil side emanating from within the world of the sefirot . Scholem saw this dualism of good and evil within the Godhead as

3422-510: The Babylonian Talmud . "The Hebrew of the Midrash haNe'elam is similar in its overall form to the language of the early midrashim, but its specific vocabulary, idioms, and stylistic characteristics bear the imprint of medieval Hebrew , and its midrashic manner is clearly that of a later imitation." Authorship of the Zohar was questioned from the outset, due to the claim that it was discovered by one person and referred to historical events of

3540-529: The Dor Daim from Yemen, Andalusian (Western Sefardic or Spanish and Portuguese Jews ), and some Italian communities, never accepted it as authentic. Other early Kabbalists, such as David b. Judah the Pious (fl. c. 1300), Abraham b. Isaac of Granada , (fl. c. 1300), and David b. Amram of Aden (fl. c. 1350), so readily imitate its pseudepigraphy by ascribing contemporaries' statements to Zoharic sages that it

3658-613: 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

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3776-498: 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

3894-653: The Tetragrammaton , 5 levels of the soul , 13 Attributes of Mercy etc. are only the apparent perspective from below. In reality, Divinity reveals itself through any and all numbers, while retaining Omnipresence from the perspective of Upper Divine Unity . After the Tzimtzum appearance of Divine Withdrawal, when Creation receives its own perspective, Divinity can appear through plurality. All such forms when traced back to their ultimate source in God's infinite light before

4012-497: The Tzimtzum , return to their state of absolute Oneness. Kabbalah repeatedly stresses the need to divest its anthropomorphic metaphors from any false, corporeal connotations. According to Kabbalah and Jewish faith , God is absolutely One. There exists no duality or plurality in Him in any form at all. The relationship between God and His attributes is emphasised in the Zohar section Patach Eliyahu , "You are One, but not in number...All

4130-625: 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,

4248-522: The Zohar as a forgery, also offering new evidence. By 1813 Samuel David Luzzatto had concluded that "these books [the Zohar and the Tiqqunei Zohar] are utter forgeries," in part because they repeatedly discuss the Hebrew cantillation marks, which were not invented until the 9th century. In 1817 Luzzatto published these arguments, and in 1825 he penned a fuller treatise, giving many reasons why

4366-400: The Zohar could not be ancient. However, he did not publish this until 1852, when he felt it justified by the rise of Hasidism . Moses Landau (d. 1852), Ezekiel's grandson, published the same conclusion in 1822. Isaac Haver (d. 1852) admits the vast majority of content comes from the 13th century but argues that there was a genuine core. Solomon Judah Loeb Rapoport (d. 1867) spoke against

4484-519: The Zohar could not be attributed to Simeon ben Yochai, by a number of arguments. He claims that if it were his work, the Zohar would have been mentioned by the Talmud , as has been the case with other works of the Talmudic period; he claims that had ben Yochai known by divine revelation the hidden meaning of the precepts, his decisions on Jewish law from the Talmudic period would have been adopted by

4602-481: The Zohar include Yehuda Liebes (who wrote his doctorate thesis for Scholem on the subject, Dictionary of the Vocabulary of the Zohar in 1976), and Daniel C. Matt , a student of Scholem's who has published a critical edition of the Zohar . Academic studies of the Zohar show that many of its ideas are based in the Talmud, various works of midrash , and earlier Jewish mystical works. Scholem writes: At

4720-457: The Zohar includes a translation of a poem by Solomon ibn Gabirol (d. 1058) and that it includes a mystical explanation of a mezuzah style only introduced in the 13th century. Adolf Neubauer and Samuel Rolles Driver were convinced by these arguments, but Edward Bouverie Pusey held to a Tannaitic date. By 1913, the critical view had apparently lost some support: Israel Abrahams recalls that "Zunz, like Graetz, had little patience with

4838-471: The Zohar only when it does not conflict with any other source and records that "You asked me about scribes modifying torah scrolls to accord with the Zohar ... and I was shocked, for how can they consider the Zohar better than the Talmud Bavli, which has come down to us? ... So I went myself to the house of the scribe and I found three scrolls which he had edited, and I fixed them, and I restored

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4956-524: The Zohar to de Leon's Hebrew works, were accepted by every other major scholar in the field, including Heinrich Graetz ( History of the Jews , vol. 7), Moritz Steinschneider , Bernhard Beer , Leopold Zunz , and Christian David Ginsburg . Ginsburg summarized Jellinek's, Graetz's, and other scholars' proofs for the English-reading world in 1865, also introducing several novel proofs, including that

5074-687: The Zohar was accepted by such 16th century Jewish luminaries as Joseph Karo (d. 1575), and Solomon Luria (d. 1574), who wrote nonetheless that Jewish law does not follow the Zohar when it is contradicted by the Babylonian Talmud. Luria writes that the Zohar cannot even override a minhag . Moses Isserles (d. 1572) writes that he "heard" that the author of the Zohar is ben Yochai. Elijah Levita (d. 1559) did not believe in its antiquity, nor did Joseph Scaliger (d. 1609) or Louis Cappel (d. 1658) or Johannes Drusius (d. 1616). David ibn abi Zimra (d. 1573) held that one can follow

5192-672: The Zohar 's antiquity. Eliakim ha-Milzahgi (d. 1854) accepted Emden's arguments. The influence of the Zohar in Yemen contributed to the formation of the Dor Deah movement, led by Yiḥyah Qafiḥ in the later part of the 19th century. Among its objects was the opposition of the influence of the Zohar , as presented in Qafiḥ's Milhamoth Hashem (Wars of the Lord) and Da'at Elohim . Shlomo Zalman Geiger (d. 1878), in his book Divrei Kehilot on

5310-440: The Zohar 's antiquity. Moses Gaster (d. 1939) wrote that the claim of ben Yochai's authorship was "untenable" but that Moses de León had compiled earlier material. Meir Mazuz (alive) accepts Emden's arguments. Yeshayahu Leibowitz wrote (1990) that "Moses de León composed the Zohar in the 1270s as certainly as Theodor Herzl composed Der Judenstaat in the 1890s ... the Zohar was influential because in every generation

5428-637: 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

5546-919: 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

5664-516: 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 ,

5782-524: The Book of the Zohar was found, which Simeon ben Yochai and his son Elazar had made in the cave . . . and some say that [de Leon] forged it among his forgeries, but [Isaac] said that the Palestinian Aramaic sections were genuinly written by Simeon b. Yochai . . . And [Isaac] wrote: Isaac goes on to say that he obtained mixed evidence of Zohar's authenticity from other Spanish Kabbalists, but

5900-594: The Divine Intellect and Emotions. In parallel lesser process, Zeir Anpin (Microprosopus) acts as the revelation of Divine Delight and Will, through Da'at (the sephirah of "Knowledge", the Lower counterpart of Keter) into emotional expression. This becomes the soul within the ultimate realisation of creation into action, through Nukvah ("Feminine" the Partzuf of Malchut ). As Keter and Daat are two dimensions of

6018-588: 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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6136-502: 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.

6254-569: 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

6372-568: 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

6490-432: 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

6608-445: 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

6726-486: 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

6844-466: 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;

6962-400: 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

7080-448: 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

7198-565: 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

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7316-409: The Talmud, that it would not contain the names of rabbis who lived at a later period than that of ben Yochai; he claims that if the Kabbalah were a revealed doctrine, there would have been no divergence of opinion among the Kabbalists concerning the mystic interpretation of the precepts. Believers in the authenticity of the Zohar countered that the lack of references to the work in Jewish literature

7434-489: 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

7552-408: 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

7670-402: The Torah to its proper glory." Debate continued over the generations; del Medigo's arguments were echoed by Leon of Modena (d. 1648) in his Ari Nohem , by Jean Morin (d. 1659), and by Jacob Emden (d. 1776). Emden—who may have been familiar with Modena through Morin's arguments —devoted a book to the criticism of the Zohar , called Mitpachas Sefarim (מטפחת ספרים), in an effort against

7788-425: 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

7906-518: The World of Atziluth -Emanation, highest of the Four Worlds , is still completely nullified within its Divine source, perceiving no self existence. Only in the lower three Worlds does Creation feel progressive degrees of independence from God. Where lower Creation perceives plurality in Divinity, Atzilut perceives only complete Divine Unity. Consequently, any revelation of Divinity in plural categories: 10 Sephirot , 12 Partzufim , 2 forms of Divine Light , 2 Partzufim and 3 Heads in Keter , 4 letters of

8024-496: 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

8142-418: The Zohar . . . at this date we are much more inclined to treat the Kabbalah with respect." Gershom Scholem , who was to found modern academic study of Kabbalah , began his career at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 1925 with a lecture in which he promised to refute Graetz and Jellinek. However, after years of research, he came to conclusions similar to theirs by 1938, when he argued again that de León

8260-412: 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

8378-467: The absolute Divine Unity in the Torah and away from any false plural perspective of idolatry. The Aramaic term Arich Anpin derives from the Hebrew phrase Erech Apaim ("slow to anger" - literally "long nose"), one of the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy enumerated in Exodus 34:6-7. Arich ("long") implies the infinite extension of Divine Will in Creation, while "long nose" also implies "long breath" (the opposite of impatient "short breath"). Arich Anpin denotes

8496-416: The authenticity of the Zohar , as did Menachem Mendel Kasher (d. 1983), Aryeh Kaplan (d. 1983), David Luria (d. 1855), and Chaim Kanievsky (d. 2022). Aryeh Carmell (d. 2006) did not, and Eliyahu Dessler (d. 1953) accepted the possibility that it was composed in the 13th century. Gedaliah Nadel (d. 2004) was unsure if the Zohar were genuine but was sure that it is acceptable to believe that it

8614-573: The book of the Zohar had been printed (in Mantua and in Cremona, in the Jewish years 5318–5320 or 1558–1560? CE), many more manuscripts were found that included paragraphs pertaining to the Zohar which had not been included in printed editions. The manuscripts pertained also to all parts of the Zohar ; some were similar to Zohar on the Torah, some were similar to the inner parts of the Zohar ( Midrash haNe'elam, Sitrei Otiyot and more), and some pertained to Tikunei haZohar . Some thirty years after

8732-502: 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

8850-537: 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

8968-687: 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

9086-490: The enclothement of a soul into a lower body. In this way, the Partzuf Arich Anpin is said to descend immanently through all levels of Creation as their concealed substratum Divine intention, though in progressively more concealed mode. Its inner dimension is identified as the related, but transcendent Partzuf Atik Yomin ("Ancient of Days"), synonymous with inner Divine Delight, the "Will of Wills/Primary Will",

9204-506: The entire Zohar and Tikunim. Citations referring to the Zohar conventionally follow the volume and page numbers of the Mantua edition, while citations referring to Tikkunei haZohar follow the edition of Ortakoy (Constantinople) 1719 whose text and pagination became the basis for most subsequent editions. Volumes II and III begin their numbering anew, so citation can be made by parashah and page number (e.g. Zohar: Nasso 127a), or by volume and page number (e.g. Zohar III:127a). After

9322-512: The extension of infinite patience and mercy. The thirteen principles of Divine mercy are symbolized in Kabbalah by the thirteen parts of the Dikna ("Beard") of Arich Anpin, each a channel of rectification (Tikunai Dikna) The "hairs" of the beard symbolise Tzimtzum (Constriction), individual powers to contract the infinite light of Arich Anpin so that it can be received by lower Creation, bestowing upon them infinite mercy. The seventh (mid-part) in

9440-418: The first 18 (a.–s.) are the work of the original author (probably de Leon) and the final 3 (t.–v.) are the work of a later imitator. a. Untitled Torah commentary A "bulky part" which is "wholly composed of discursive commentaries on various passages from the Torah". b. Book of Concealment (ספרא דצניעותא) A short part of only six pages, containing a commentary to the first six chapters of Genesis . It

9558-616: The first edition of the Zohar was printed, the manuscripts were gathered and arranged according to the parashiyot of the Torah and the megillot (apparently the arrangement was done by the Kabbalist, Avraham haLevi of Tsfat ), and were printed first in Salonika in Jewish year 5357 (1587? CE), and then in Kraków (5363), and afterwards in various editions. According to Scholem, the Zohar can be divided into 21 types of content, of which

9676-436: The first printers. These were later printed as Zohar Chadash (lit. "New Radiance"), but Zohar Chadash actually contains parts that pertain to the Zohar , as well as Tikunim (plural of Tikun , "Repair", see also Tikkun olam ) that are akin to Tikunei haZohar , as described below. The term Zohar , in usage, may refer to just the first Zohar collection, with or without the applicable sections of Zohar Chadash , or to

9794-517: 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

9912-400: The fragment ends abruptly, mid-sentence, without any conclusion. Though Isaac is willing to quote it in his Otzar haChayyim and his Meirat Einayim , he does so rarely. Isaac's testimony was censored from the second edition (1580) and remained absent from all editions thereafter until its restoration nearly 300 years later in the 1857 edition. In 1243 a different Jew had reportedly found

10030-582: The functional role of the sephirot and partzufim in enacting Creation is explored. The 7 lower emotional sefirot of Zeir Anpin enclothe within Arich Anpin, as God's essential delight motivates the Will to Create. The 3 upper intellectual sefirot of Atik Yomin, transcending Arich Anpin, are the Divine source of Emunah (Faith) through essential unity with the essence of the soul. Together, three levels, arising from

10148-407: 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

10266-432: 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

10384-699: The idolatrous influence outpowers the true faith". Early attempts included M. H. Landauer 's Vorläufiger Bericht über meine Entdeckung in Ansehung des Sohar (1845), which fingered Abraham Abulafia as the author, and Samuel David Luzzatto 's ויכוח על חכמת הקבלה (1852), but the first systematic and critical academic proof for the authorship of Moses de León was given by Adolf Jellinek in his 1851 monograph "Moses ben Shem-tob de León und sein Verhältnis zum Sohar". Jellinek's proofs, which combined previous analyses with Isaac of Acre 's testimony and comparison of

10502-545: 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

10620-575: The impression of obscure knowledge. The original text of the Zohar , as cited by various early Kabbalists beginning around the 14th century (e.g. Isaac b. Samuel of Acre , David b. Judah the Pious, Israel Alnaqua , Alfonso de Zamora ) was partly in Hebrew and partly in Aramaic. By the time of the first edition (1558) the text was entirely in Aramaic, with the exception of the Midrash haNe'elam , where Hebrew words and phrases are often employed as in

10738-602: 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

10856-573: 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

10974-553: The liturgical practice of Frankfurt am Main , records that "We do not say brikh shmei in Frankfurt, because its source is in the Zohar , and the sages of Frankfurt refused to accept Qabbalah." In 1892, Adolf Neubauer called on the Orthodox rabbinate to reject the Zohar as a forgery and to remove Zoharic prayers from the liturgy. However, Yechiel Michel Epstein (d. 1908) and Yisrael Meir Kagan (d. 1933) both believed in

11092-411: 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

11210-493: 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

11328-611: The most pristine cause for Creation. The sefirah of Keter (above-conscious Divine "Crown") develops into two Partzufim (Configurations): Arich Anpin, its outer extending Ratzon (Will), and Atik Yomin ("Ancient of Days"), its inner motivating Divine Taanug (Delight). As man is seen as "made in the Divine image", Divinity is perceived through psychological awareness of the Divine Kochos HaNefesh (Human Soul Powers) articulated in Hasidic thought . In Kabbalah

11446-711: 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

11564-474: The overlapping of the two Partzufim of Keter, form the three Reishin (Heads) of Keter. The Lurianic Tikun rectification process of the world of Atzilut begins with its Keter -"Crown". The crown of a world is its essential "head" of which the Zohar says analogously, "When the head/leader of the people is rectified, the entire people is rectified". The three heads of Keter in Atzilut : The consciousness of

11682-547: The post- Talmudic period while purporting to be from an earlier date. Abraham Zacuto 's 1504 work Sefer Yuhasin (first printed 1566) quotes from the Kabbalist Isaac ben Samuel of Acre 's 13th century memoir Divre hayYamim (lost), which claims that the widow and daughter of de León revealed that he had written it himself and only ascribed the authorship to Simeon ben Yochai for personal profit: And [Isaac] went to Spain, to investigate how it happened in his time that

11800-719: 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

11918-473: The remaining adherents of the Sabbatean movement (in which Sabbatai Zevi , a Jewish apostate , cited Messianic prophecies from the Zohar as proof of his legitimacy). Emden argued that the book on which Zevi based his doctrines was a forgery, arguing that the Zohar : Saul Berlin (d. 1794) argued that the presence of an introduction in the Zohar , unknown to the Talmudic literary genre, itself indicates

12036-453: 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

12154-497: The same principle, they are alternately listed among countings of the 10 Sephirot , becoming Da'at Elyon and Da'at Tachton (Higher, concealed Knowledge and Lower, revealed Knowledge). Mystical Concepts in Chassidism , Jacob Immanuel Schochet , Kehot pub. Also printed as Appendix of Likutei Amarim-Tanya, Kehot. Chapter 8 etc. Zohar The Zohar ( Hebrew : זֹהַר ‎ , Zōhar , lit. "Splendor" or "Radiance" )

12272-700: The same time, Scholem says, the author "invent[ed] a number of fictitious works that the Zohar supposedly quotes, e.g. , the Sifra de-Adam, the Sifra de-Hanokh, the Sifra di-Shelomo Malka, the Sifra de-Rav Hamnuna Sava, the Sifra de-Rav Yeiva Sava, the Sifra de-Aggadeta, the Raza de-Razin and many others." The Zohar also draws from the Bible commentaries written by medieval rabbis, including Rashi , Abraham ibn Ezra , David Kimhi and even authorities as late as Nachmanides and Maimonides , and earlier mystical texts such as

12390-617: 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

12508-412: 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

12626-621: 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

12744-535: The spirit of Talmudic Judaism than are those taught by the philosophers , and which was held in contrast to the view of Maimonides and his followers, who regarded man as a fragment of the universe whose immortality is dependent upon the degree of development of his active intellect. The Zohar instead declared Man to be the lord of creation , whose immortality is solely dependent upon his morality. Conversely, Elia del Medigo ( c.  1458  – c.  1493 ), in his Beḥinat ha-Dat , endeavored to show that

12862-626: 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

12980-639: 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

13098-410: 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

13216-569: 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

13334-417: The thirteen attributes of mercy ( v'emet - "truth" in the listing of Kabbalah), are the "cheeks/face" of Arich Anpin not covered by "hair"; the light of Arich Anpin shining without constriction. "Truth" in both Jewish law and Kabbalah denotes continuation without being affected by change. As the operative Divine Will through Creation, Arich Anpin (Macroprosopus) acts as the soul descending within and guiding

13452-470: 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

13570-463: Was because ben Yochai did not commit his teachings to writing but transmitted them orally to his disciples over generations until finally the doctrines were embodied in the Zohar . They found it unsurprising that ben Yochai should have foretold future happenings or made references to historical events of the post-Talmudic period. By the late 16th century, the Zohar was present in one-tenth of all private Jewish libraries in Mantua. The authenticity of

13688-442: Was first publicized by Moses de León (c. 1240 – 1305 CE), who claimed it was a Tannaitic work recording the teachings of Simeon ben Yochai ( c.  100 CE ). This claim is universally rejected by modern scholars, most of whom believe de León, also an infamous forger of Geonic material, wrote the book himself between 1280 and 1286. Some scholars argue that the Zohar is the work of multiple medieval authors and/or contains

13806-508: 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

13924-408: Was the most likely author. Scholem noted the Zohar's frequent errors in Aramaic grammar, its suspicious traces of Arabic and Spanish words and sentence patterns, and its lack of knowledge of the Land of Israel , among other proofs. Scholem's views are widely held as accurate among historians of Kabbalah, but they are not uncritically accepted. Scholars who continue to research the background of

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