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Torah and Jewish Idea => Torah and Jewish Idea => Topic started by: Noachide on June 27, 2018, 06:48:21 AM

Title: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on June 27, 2018, 06:48:21 AM
It is proper for the repentant person to cry out before God in supplication on a regular basis when he prays, and to give proper charity to the best of his capability. He should distance himself from the temptation or the situation of the sin he commited. He should strive to change his actions to be always good, and to walk in the correct path (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 151).
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Hrvatski Noahid on June 27, 2018, 08:13:41 AM
It is proper for the repentant person to cry out before God in supplication on a regular basis when he prays, and to give proper charity to the best of his capability. He should distance himself from the temptation or the situation of the sin he commited. He should strive to change his actions to be always good, and to walk in the correct path (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 151).

May HaShem be more merciful than we deserve.
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on June 28, 2018, 03:25:02 AM
May HaShem be more merciful than we deserve.
Amen!
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on June 29, 2018, 07:51:27 AM
A righteous complete person unifies his thoughts and views, to think about God and comprehend His existence, and he will always be aware of God – as King David declared “I have placed God before me constantly.” He should strengthen the direction of his thoughts towards God until he conquers the feelings of his heart, that they should be compelled to follow the direction of his intelect. This unification of his intelect and emotions will bring him to a thirst for God and a yearning to come close to Him. Therefore – from fear of being separated from God – he will restrict his speech and actions to befit this yearning. In this mode of service, he will be focused all day on God, no matter what mundane activity he needs to be involved with out of necessity at any given time. He will also be looking out for opportunities to do actions that will draw him closer to God, such as deeds of goodness and kindness, and praises of God will be quick to come from his lips in full sincerity. At the same time, he will distance himself, as something that is truly evil in his own eyes, from doing, speaking, or thinking anything that is against God’s will or that will be detrimental to his closeness to God. This is the way of a person who is complete in his piety.

When a person becomes upright and complete in this way, and his heart’s desire is only to be close to God, his attitudes will align with this. He will acknowledge that this is the ultimate good for him, and he will not be embarrassed or affected by people who ridicule and scoff at him for choosing these pious ways. In spite of them, he will do the things that he knows are consistent with God’s truth and God’s will, without fear or doubts (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 37).
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on June 30, 2018, 04:20:12 AM
Free will is granted to all people. If one desires to turn to the path of good and be righteous, the choice is his. This is the intent of the Torah’s statement: ”Behold, man has become like the Unique One among us, knowing good and bad.”(Genesis 3:22) This teaches that humankind was made singular in the world, in that a person can, on his own initiative, objectively think about and know what is good and what is bad, and then choose to act according to his own will (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 165).
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on July 01, 2018, 07:45:36 AM
It is one of the foundations of faith to know that God gives prophecy to humans. Why is this fact so fundamental?

Prophecy from God, which He bestows upon chosen persons, is his connection to mankind. A person who excels in his service and closeness to God, after cleansing his intellect and heart from the follies and lies of the world, can become a fitting vessel to receive the assistance God wishes to give him to illuminate his path with a higher awareness.

Since God created the world with an intended plan, and it is impossible for a person on his own to know his plan, God’s revealing it to mankind is a fundamental imperative. This is the concept of prophecy – a connection of God to mankind by revealing Himself and His ways, through granting knowledge of the Divine (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 41).
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Hrvatski Noahid on July 01, 2018, 10:10:32 AM
Therefore – from fear of being separated from God – he will restrict his speech and actions to befit this yearning.

I had a discussion with Rav Schulman. He agreed that a person can have a propensity to either love or fear of G-d, even with an admixture of the other emotion. I find that fear is the strongest emotion of mankind. I cannot describe how much I fear HaShem. What about you? Do you fear G-d more than you love Him? Do you love G-d more than you fear Him? Do you love and fear Him equally?
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on July 02, 2018, 04:38:27 AM
I had a discussion with Rav Schulman. He agreed that a person can have a propensity to either love or fear of G-d, even with an admixture of the other emotion. I find that fear is the strongest emotion of mankind. I cannot describe how much I fear HaShem. What about you? Do you fear G-d more than you love Him? Do you love G-d more than you fear Him? Do you love and fear Him equally?
I agree with you that fear is strongest emotion of mankind. Fear of G-d could be similar to fear that kid has from his strict father. I would definitely like to  fear HaShem more. Perhaps for me the stronger emotion for now is love. But I think that these emotions go one with other.

Regarding fear I could say that I fear what will be with my family and me in the future. I often think about afterlife and will I earn portion in the future World to come.
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on July 02, 2018, 05:45:29 AM
It is natural for a person’s character and actions to be influenced by friends and associates, and to follow the local norms of behavior. Therefore, one should associate with righteous and wise people, and be constantly in their company, in order to learn from their behavior and good deeds. Conversely, one should keep away from bad people who follow bad ways, so as not to learn from their deeds. About this, Solomon said: “ One who walks with the wise will become wise, while one who associates with fools will suffer.”(Proverbs 13:20) Similary, it is stated, “Happy is the man who has not followed the advice of the wicked.”(Psalms 1:1) (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 108).
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on July 03, 2018, 04:30:26 AM
Every person is obligated to frequently recall and examine his actions, and make an honest accounting with his soul as to whether he has been acting in a correct and befitting manner in God’s eyes. If a person finds that he has transgressed God’s will in any of the universal Seven Commandments that he is obligated to fulfill, or that he has erred in his behavior or in any other matters which one is logically and morally bound to fulfill, he should sincerely regret this, and correct his path and behavior. He should accept upon himself that in the future, he will act only in an upright and correct manner, and not transgress any of God’s Seven Commandments that He gave to mankind.

In this spirit, a penitent person is one who makes changes in his ways, to begin or return to serving God properly. In this process, he should sincerely ask God to forgive him for his past errors. This aspect of turning, or returning, to the path of righteousness in one’s life is called repentance. In Hebrew, this is teshuva, which means return (to God) (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 146).
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on July 04, 2018, 05:54:14 AM
It is the mandated service of a person to be close to the truth – to be close to God, may He be blessed, the Creator of all, in all his actions and ways. This is the character of upright and righteous people who walk before God: at all times and in any situation, when one is in his house or out pursuing his daily activities, he knows that the Supreme King of kings, the Holy One blessed be He, stands over him and watches all his actions, and searches his heart and his thoughts – as it says: “Can a person hide in secret places so that I will not see him? says God! Do I not fill the heavens and the earth? says God.”(Jeremiah 23:24)

A person should contemplate in this fashion during all his endeavors, consciously recognizing that God’s watchful eye is stationed over him, and that with this omniscience, God is remembering and judging all his actions. With this mental effort, a person will come to the blessing of fearing God (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 33).
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on July 05, 2018, 04:09:23 AM
Prayer is service of God coming from one’s soul. Through prayer to God, a person connects his speech, his requests for his needs, and his heartfelt pleas to the Almighty, blessed be He. It is from God that each individual receives his abilities and his accomplishments, and prayer provides the means for a person to strengthen himself in the correctness of his faith and his ways in life.

The main point of prayer is the service of the heart. This refers to the intention in the thoughts and emotions that motivate the person’s prayer. In explaining the verse, “serve Him with all your heart,” (Deuteronomy 11:13) the sages said, “What is this ‘service of the heart’? This is prayer.”

The basic foundation of prayer is that a person needs to explicitly recognize that the One God is the Director of the world and is watching over him, and over everything in the entire creation. Therefore it follows that a person should ask God to grant him all his needs, and thank God for all the kindness and blessings He has bestowed upon him, and also praise Him eloquently, according to his capability (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 85).
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Hrvatski Noahid on July 06, 2018, 03:14:28 AM
Do I not fill the heavens and the earth? says God.

This shows that G-d does not have a body or any form. A body cannot be in two places at the same time.
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on July 06, 2018, 05:10:30 AM
This shows that G-d does not have a body or any form. A body cannot be in two places at the same time.
Good point! I wish I have Tanakh memorised so I could use it to prove people truths of Torah.
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on July 06, 2018, 05:11:13 AM

The classical realms of physical existence are the inanimate objects, the vegetation, and the living animals. Torah teaches that the fourth and most important realm in the physical creation is that of mankind, which is referred to as “the speaker” - those who are gifted by God with the power of human speech and human communication. More so, this human ability is a reflection of the realm of Godliness that we refer to as God’s “speech”, and it reveals the unique connection between mankind and God.

When a person actualizes his power of speech, it serves to unify him, for it is the bridge between the conceptual and the practical dimensions of his existence. This is why spoken prayer connects the deeper parts of one’s soul (the inner thoughts and desires) to one’s external self, which is involved in the physical action of speaking. It is therefore very important that a person should say his prayers audibly before God, and not suffice with just thoughts of his heart (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 89).
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Hrvatski Noahid on July 06, 2018, 07:55:13 AM
Good point! I wish I have Tanakh memorised so I could use it to prove people truths of Torah.

See Deuteronomy 4:12, "You heard the sound of the words, but saw no image, just a voice."

Deuteronomy 4:15, "For you did not see any image on the day that the L-rd spoke to you..."

Deuteronomy 4:39, "The L-rd He is G-d in heaven above, and upon the earth below; there is none else."

https://www.chabad.org/library/bible_cdo/aid/9968/jewish/Chapter-4.htm
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on July 07, 2018, 05:37:51 AM
See Deuteronomy 4:12, "You heard the sound of the words, but saw no image, just a voice."

Deuteronomy 4:15, "For you did not see any image on the day that the L-rd spoke to you..."

Deuteronomy 4:39, "The L-rd He is G-d in heaven above, and upon the earth below; there is none else."

https://www.chabad.org/library/bible_cdo/aid/9968/jewish/Chapter-4.htm
Great excerpts!
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on July 07, 2018, 05:41:49 AM
A person has the ability to change for the better and repent for the duration of his life. This is an ongoing process, even step by step, and through this, God will forgive the person’s sins. At the same time, it is important to know that there are many levels in the sincerity and truthfulness of a person’s repentance, and in the degree to which his repentance under any given circumstances is accepted before God. Just as one who does a greater good deed will receive a greater reward than one who does a lesser good deed (as judged in God’s eyes), so too, one whose repentance is greater and more completely truthful reaches a greater spiritual level in this respect than one who makes a repentance that is more limited, less complete or less truthful (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 149).
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on July 08, 2018, 05:34:16 AM
God judges all the speech and actions of a person, and thoughts can be included as well. This judgment is constant during one’s life in the physical world, and when the physical lifetime ends, there is a summary judgment of the soul itself. At an eventual time in the future Messianic Era, the souls will be returned to their bodies for resurrection, to stand for their final judgment on the Judgment Day.

After one’s passing, his soul is brought to the Heavenly Court in the spiritual realm, to be judged for each thing he did, and for the overall verdict on his entire life. All the person’s thoughts, speech and actions are considered. God considers all the person’s merits, but He only considers the sins that are unrepented. In His perfect judgment, God bestows reward for meritorious faith and good deeds, and decrees punishment for unrepented sins. This occurs both for the person during his physical life, and for his soul after he passes away. There are many levels of these rewards and punishments, both for the person in this world and for his soul in the next world (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 153).
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on July 09, 2018, 04:43:10 AM
Although it is moral to respect all people, including strangers, there are specific people whom one must respect more than usual, either due to their need for more care and friendship because of their unfortunate situation, or due to one’s greater obligation to them, such as parents, teachers, close friends, or one who has done the person a favor.

A wise or pious person who sees an unfortunate person or invalid should make certain to help and encourage the person in any way possible, whether monetarily, with good advice, or uplifting the afflicted person’s broken spirit with caring words and attention, more so than one would normally help the average person (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 120).
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on July 10, 2018, 06:16:43 AM
A person’s duty to love and fear the Creator is an intellectual obligation. For when he contemplates that the Creator made the universe for the purpose of establishing the human race, for reasons that came from His Essence, and that the entire creation is nullified before Him and has no separate existence apart from Him, he will recognize that he has been put into existence to be a servant of God. Therefore, a person’s greatest advantage and achievement is in fulfilling this mission.

However, since it is not in the nature of a person to love or fear something if he does not appreciate its character, it is therefore an obligation for every person to utilize his power of knowledge to contemplate in awe upon the greatness of the Creator, and in humility upon his own lowliness. This is the correct meditation that will bring one to a truthful recognition of God, and this awareness will necessarily arouse feelings that reflect this understanding. In this way, a person draws himself into love and fear of God. As a reward for this service, God will respond and draw the person to Him, and the person will indeed perceive that God’s love and awesomeness is being revealed to him from Above, and from within his own mind and heart (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 63-64).
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on July 11, 2018, 05:21:00 AM
There are two eras that are available in the afterlife for people’s souls. The first era occurs after one’s life in the physical world, when one’s soul ascends to its spiritual paradise in the heavenly realms. (If it merits, this may happen immediately after the person dies, or if not, it may happen after a period of suffering in Gehinom, which brings about the purification of the soul from its unrepented sins.) In the spiritual paradise, there is no body or physical form. There is only the souls of the righteous alone, without body, similar to the ministering angels. Since there is no physical form, there is neither eating, drinking, nor any of the other bodily functions of the physical world.

Do not think lightly of this good, by imagining that the heavenly reward for a person’s observing his commandments and following the paths of God’s Truth is for him to eat and drink good foods, have intercourse with beautiful forms, wear garments of linen and lace, dwell in ivory palaces, use utensils of gold and silver, or other similar ideas, as conceived by those who are foolish (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 173).
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Hrvatski Noahid on July 11, 2018, 08:21:23 PM
In the spiritual paradise, there is no body or physical form. There is only the souls of the righteous alone, without body, similar to the ministering angels.

Nevertheless, spiritual creations have a limited spiritual body and form. 
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on July 12, 2018, 04:57:53 AM
In the beginning of God’s creating the physical realm, there was a shroud of darkness. There was an absence of physical light, and there was also an inner spiritual darkness – the absence of God’s Self-revelation. Mankind’s service, starting from the time of God’s creation of Adam, the first human being, has been to help prepare the world for the Divine light that will shine in the immanent Messianic Era. In each generation, the efforts in this direction have produced fitting “vessels” (kelim) through which righteous people will be able to experience the open revelation of God’s Presence in the physical world (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 11).

Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on July 13, 2018, 04:16:03 AM
We make the world into a place that is fitting for the revelation of God’s Presence through two paths, which correspond in a general way to the verse in Psalms, “Turn away from evil and do good , seek peace and pursue it”(Psalms 34:15):

(1) Establishing societies that are based upon, and operate with, justice and righteousness. This can be achieved through correct partnerships between people, as the prophet proclaimed: “For so says God, the Creator of Heaven and Earth – He is E’lohim, the Designer of the Earth and its Maker; He established it. Not for naught was it created , but rather it was formed to be settled; I am God, and there is no other.”

(2) Transforming the world into a more spiritually suitable place by performing acts of goodness and kindness, and by encouraging others to do the same. Each good deed and each kind act serves as a “vessel” (keli) in which God’s Presence can dwell in the world.

Therefore, every person, and especially a pious person, should know that by working to perfect and spiritually elevate himself and the world around him, he will follow in the footsteps of Abraham, who called out to all people to recognize God’s Name and to fulfill His will through righteous living (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 11-12).
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on July 14, 2018, 04:15:40 AM
The ultimate mission and greatness of mankind is to gain understanding and knowledge of God, each person according to his own strengths and abilities. In order to achieve this recognition, it is necessary, but not sufficient, for a person to have faith in the principles which the righteous Jewish sages have explained in the past about God. This is based on their chain of tradition from Moses our teacher and the subsequent true prophets of the Hebrew Bible, and through their own Divinely inspired insights. Beyond that, it is the obligation of each person to try to understand such matters with his own intellect, so that he may know them. In this way, a person can come to know and recognize the true existence of God, according to his ability (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 13).
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on July 15, 2018, 04:17:42 AM
It is clear that the Holy One, blessed be He, is not confined to a body or physical form. Although He may present Himself to a person as a specific form in a prophetic vision, intellectually, that is so the person can receive God’s message within his mind and senses. This is the revelation of the Creator through the medium of a certain intellectual context, in accordance with the prophet’s level, in order that he will be able to perceive God in some limited way. God can be perceived by one prophet as sitting on a holy throne, or to another as a voice that is speaking, and yet these are not true descriptions of God’s actual existence, as can readily be understood. Rather, it is a visual or auditory description in the mind, produced by a certain effect that God brings, and this is simply the manner of God’s speaking to the prophet or appearing to him in a vision (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 16-17).
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on July 16, 2018, 04:37:45 AM
This correct concept of prophecy also serves to negate the false idea of an intermediary between God and humans. A reason why people originally made the mistake of accepting the idea of an intermediary was that they thought God is too “high” to lower Himself to relate to earthly creatures. From this, they further reasoned that there was no relationship and connection between the Creator and mankind, and no Divine Providence over them. They imagined that God does not truly care about what people do, and that He therefore consigns the governance of the world (totally or partially) to intermediary powers.

The rectification of this error is accomplished when people accept the knowledge which is revealed by God through His true prophets. This brings them to unify themselves with God, and nullify themselves before Him, so they can willfully submit themselves to His purpose and plan. One clear benefit which this brings to a person is the gift of knowing that God’s Divine Providence is actively involved with His creations, including each individual person (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 41-42).
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on July 17, 2018, 04:46:35 AM
God watches over a person, sustaining his life and the direction he chooses, for His desire is that the person will come to choose to live according to His will. Therefore, if a person merits, refining himself to the point that his will follows God’s will (which is embodied in the Torah of Moses, as we shall explain), he has unified himself with the Godly purpose and life-force imbued in him – he and these higher dimensions of his existence become one. For such a person, the clarity being revealed to him in his mind and heart is the initial intimation of prophecy. Since he has become a proper vessel to reveal the Godly image within himself, therefore God will open for him true thoughts and correct knowledge.

This is the main concept of prophecy: it is God’s bonding of His knowledge with a person’s knowledge, and the person’s being influenced by this. This is in contrast to the popular conception of prophesy, that it means a prediction of a future event or the performance of a miracle (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 42).
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on July 18, 2018, 04:43:40 AM
There are many levels among the prophets. Just as there can be one person who is greater than another in wisdom, likewise one person can be greater than another in prophecy. All but the greatest of prophets only receive their prophecy in a vision in a dream at night, or during the day when a great trance falls upon them, as it says, “In a vision I will become known to him, in a dream I will speak to him.” When they receive their prophecy, their limbs shake, their body becomes weak, they lose their senses, and their mind becomes clear to understand what it sees. This is what it states concerning Abraham: “and a great, dark dread fell over him.” Similarly, the prophet Daniel described his condition when a vision appeared to him: “My appearance was horribly changed, and I retained no strength.”

They do not have prophecy whenever they want. If they desire to receive a prophecy, for themselves or someone else, they need to direct their minds to God and sit in seclusion with feelings of happiness. For prophecy does not come to rest on prophet while he is sad, or lethargic, but rather only when he is happy. Therefore, when the prophet Elisha needed to receive a prophecy, but his mind was agitated, he called for a musician to play for him to settle and uplift his mood. Then he was able to prophesy, as it says, “It happened that as the musician played, the hand of God came upon him.” (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 51).
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on July 19, 2018, 05:20:38 AM
It is clear and explicit in the Torah itself (the Five Books of Moses) that it is God’s commandment, to remain in its original form forever without change, addition, or diminishment – as it is stated, “All these matters which I command to you, you shall be careful to perform. You may not add to it or diminish from it;”(Deuteronomy 13:1) and as it is also stated, “What is revealed is for us and our children forever, to carry out all the words of this Torah.”(Ibid., 29:28) This teaches that we are commanded to fulfill all the Torah’s directives forever, to the full extent that we are able to do so.

It is also said:”It is an everlasting statute for all your generations,”(Leviticus 23:14) and, “It is not in the Heavens.”(Deuteronomy 30:12) This teaches that a prophet can no longer truthfully claim that he has been told by God to add a new permanent precept as being commanded by God. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 59)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on July 20, 2018, 06:59:05 AM
It is an obligation for a person to love and fear the glorious and awesome God with all his might.

The inspiration to feel love and fear of God is most effectively achieved by focusing one’s knowledge upon Him, while putting his own mundane matters aside. When a person takes the time to contemplate God’s wondrous and great deeds, that He is continuously creating and guiding everything that exists in the spiritual and physical realms, and he appreciates that God’s eternal wisdom is infinite and surpasses all comparison, he will become inspired to love, praise, and glorify Him. This will bring him to yearn with tremendous desire to recognize God’s existence and His attributes, as King David expressed: “My soul thirsts for the Lord, for the living God.”(Psalms 42:3) (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 63)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on July 21, 2018, 04:31:32 AM
Unlike Jews, Noahides have no set liturgy (nusach in Hebrew) which they are obligated to follow. Rather, each individual can pray in his own words, in a language that he understands. It is proper to include recitation of excerpts from the Book of Psalms by King David, of blessed memory, since the Psalms are all prayers to God that were composed with holy inspiration (ruach hakodesh) and encompass all the essential needs and righteous spiritual emotions that people may have.

The most appropriate order for prayer is that one should first sincerely praise God according to his capability, then ask for his own needs (and for any blessings that he wishes to request for others), and then conclude with giving praise and thanks for what God has given him. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 85-86)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on July 22, 2018, 04:59:55 AM
Concentration is needed as a preparation for prayer, in order to be ready to focus one’s thoughts on God, the Supreme King. Concentration is also needed as a main part of the prayer itself, together with the verbalization. This means that during prayer, one should focus one’s thoughts to the point that they are unified with the words that he is speaking to God. This service of the heart is the essence of prayer, as we quoted in the previous chapter, from the sages of the Talmud: “What is this ‘service of the heart’? This is prayer.”

The basics of prayer with concentration are twofold: one should position himself in prayer while focusing his mind and staying aware of (a) the One God before Whom he is praying, and (b) what he is praying for. To facilitate this, one should arrange his thoughts before he begins to pray, regarding the things about which he wants to supplicate and pour out his soul before God. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 89)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on July 24, 2018, 07:53:38 AM
To those who are physically sick, the bitter tastes sweet and the sweet tastes bitter. Some sick people even desire and crave things that are not fit to eat, such as earth and charcoal, and hate healthful foods, such as bread and meat – all depending on how serious the sickness is.

Similarly, those who are morally ill desire and love bad traits, and they hate the good path and are lazy to follow it. Depending on how sick they are, they may find it exceedingly burdensome.

Isaiah speaks of such people in a like manner: “Woe to those who call the bad ‘good’ and the good ‘bad’, who take (spiritual) darkness to be light and (spiritual) light to be darkness, who take (morally) bitter to be sweet and (morally) sweet to be bitter.” King Solomon described such people as “those who leave the upright paths to walk in the ways of darkness. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 96)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on July 24, 2018, 07:55:16 AM
The heart of a man naturally desires forbidden relations, and the sages therefore exhorted people to make boundaries for themselves to distance themselves from this sin. In particular, a man or a woman should not be secluded with someone for whom intimate relations are forbidden to them on account of the commandment prohibiting adultery. The same applies for any case involving a man or woman who has an active desire for a particular type of forbidden relations – someone whom such people would be attracted to for forbidden relations should not be secluded with them. It is true that seclusion without physical contact, with someone for whom physical intimacy is forbidden, is not stated as a Torah-law prohibition for Gentiles. But it is nevertheless wise for one’s spiritual health to distance oneself from those seclusions, and to be guarded from any situation that can bring one to sin. A man is praiseworthy if he is scrupulous and careful not to be secluded with any woman, other than his wife and immediate female relatives. A pious man will follow this even for a woman whom he intends to marry. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 101-102)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Hrvatski Noahid on July 24, 2018, 08:31:12 AM
The heart of a man naturally desires forbidden relations...

This is why every woman is obligated to act in a modest way. An immodest woman causes others to sin every second of her life. It is sad that most women do not understand this.
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on July 25, 2018, 04:57:57 AM
This is why every woman is obligated to act in a modest way. An immodest woman causes others to sin every second of her life. It is sad that most women do not understand this.
Yes, especially in present times. Women were much more modest in past.
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on July 25, 2018, 04:58:52 AM
The trait of modesty is an offshoot of the trait of humility, for a humble person carries himself modestly and does not show off, since that is unbefitting of him. By contrast, a haughty person shows off and is obtrusive in ways that are unbefitting. One who is modest and bashful will honor others, whereas a haughty person who glorifies himself over others and is not modest before them will scoff at them, and is not careful to honor them.

The same applies to a person’s deference to God. A modest person is prepared to feel that God constantly watches him and examines his actions and behavior, and therefore he will be bashful and humble before Him and will fear Him. Thus it is said, “The result of humility is fear of God”. (Proverbs 22:4) The trait of modesty is obligatory even when one is alone in privacy, and one should always strive to be modest at all times and in all of his ways, because he will thereby train himself to remember the watchful Presence and Providence of God that is over him at every moment. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 104)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on July 26, 2018, 05:11:41 AM
It is a moral injunction that one may not hate someone in his heart. Nor may one do or say anything that would degrade or belittle someone in order to embarrass him. It is also forbidden to curse anyone or speak evil about someone.

One who gains honor through degrading another person does not have a share in the World to Come, and the same applies for one who deliberately embarrasses someone in public (to the point that the person’s face changes color). Instead, one should guard others people’s honor as he would his own.

These rules of upright behavior are included in the universal “Golden Rule” that was stated by the great sage Hillel: “That which is hateful to you, do not do to another person.” (Tractate Shabbos 31a) Likewise, it is stated in the Torah, “…love your fellow as yourself; I am the Lord.”(Leviticus 19:18)

A pious person will only speak about someone with mention of his praise, and constantly looks upon others favorably. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 113)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on July 27, 2018, 04:44:33 AM
It is forbidden for a person to embarrass another, even if only with speech, or call another with a name that is embarrassing to him, or speak before him about a matter that is embarrassing to him. The sages said: “A person who embarrasses a colleague in public (to the point that his face changes color) does not have a share in the World to Come.” Abiding by this manner of conduct, Tamar did not wish to publicize the fact that Judah had conceived with her, even though doing so would have saved her from death sentence. She said, “Better that I should die and not embarrass him in public.” (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 116)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on July 28, 2018, 07:36:54 AM
One should be careful not to speak callously to a distressed person. For example: one may not speak to an ill person about matters of his health that are distressful to him; if a person has had a financial loss, one should not pain him by speaking about his business ventures. God made a covenant about the cries of the deprived, that He will bring retribution on those who cause them to suffer – as it says, “For if he shall cry out to Me, I will surely hear his cry.”(Exodus 22:22) If anyone harasses them with hurtful words and intends to distress and pain them, and therefore they cry out, they are answered. God hears thy cry of the poor, and hearkens to the cry of the downtrodden – as it is stated, “To the poor person who is with you… if he cries out to Me (that someone has pained or oppressed him), I shall listen, for I am compassionate.”(Exodus 22:24, 26) (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 120)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on July 29, 2018, 04:46:23 AM
A pious person who serves the Blessed and Exalted God will know that part of one’s service is withstanding tests. Each person has a different Divine service than the next, as each person’s views and character are different from the next person. Likewise, each person has different tests than the next, but certainly, every person does have his own challenges and tests.

The sages said, “There is no wise person like one who withstands a test,” meaning that one who was tested, and withstood the test, is certainly a truly wise person. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 129)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on July 31, 2018, 05:26:34 AM
Since it is such a major goal of the evil inclination to draw a person into depression, one should understand from this that he has the power to overcome it, since God does not test a person with something he does not have the power to overcome. The first step to win the battle is the belief, happiness and trust that God always gives him the ability to act correctly.

One should contemplate that God, blessed be He, never despairs of him, and that God hopes he will return to Him in repentance and become a righteous person. This will bolster his understanding and faith that he has the power to be upright and fix his situation. With this he should be happy and trust in God, and get to work forthwith on bettering his ways in actual fact. This is a powerful contemplation: Since God still has hope in me, surely I have true worth, and I am essential for the mission to do more good actions! (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 144)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on July 31, 2018, 05:27:17 AM
A person should not imagine that his past actions are absolutely sealed before God, which would lead to the false conclusion that since he had sinned, it is impossible for him to now be a pious and upright person in God’s eyes. That is not the truth, since God is merciful and gracious, and He waits for the repentance of sinners and their rectification of their sinful ways. When a sinner does repent correctly and abandons his bad ways, and accepts upon himself the yoke of God’s Kingship (and to henceforth observe what God has commanded him to do and not to do), then God mercifully accepts him with open arms. God forgives him for the sins he has repented for, and does not punish him for those past errors that he regrets.

Solemn contemplation on the above great things that can be accomplished by repentance can bring a person to wholehearted love for God and yearning for His closeness. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 146-147)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on August 01, 2018, 05:06:53 AM
How could it be demonstrated that a person has a reached complete repentance for a sin that he committed? In one aspect, this is verified if he happens to find himself in the same type of situation in which he sinned before, and he is confronted with the option to do the sin again. Nevertheless, this time he refrains and does not commit the sin, only because he has decided to repent from that behavior, and not because of fear that people will see him, or lack of ability, etc.

For example, consider a man who engaged in sexual relations with another man’s wife. After some length of time, they meet again in privacy, while their desire and physical ability still persist. But nevertheless, because the man resolved not to repeat his sin, he refrains and does not transgress. This demonstrates that his repentance was complete. Of course, this can apply to either the former adulterer or the adulteress. (Such a scenario is only relevant after it happened to take place. From the outset, a person is forbidden to deliberately put himself to a test. One should never be sure of himself as to seek out tempting situations in order to be tested before God, especially since it may be that he was never before tempted with the full strength of his evil inclination. Since this was demonstrated by the case of the righteous King David in the incident with Bat Sheva, (II Samuel,ch. 11) how much is it so for everyone else.) (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 149-150)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on August 02, 2018, 06:35:51 AM
Each and every person has merits and sins. A person whose merits exceed his unrepented sins in God’s calculation is termed “righteous” (tzadik), in the sense of being declared to be on the side of righteousness in God’s overall judgment. A person whose unrepented sins exceed his merits in God’s calculation is termed “sinful” (rasha), in the sense of being declared to be on the side of sinfulness in God’s overall judgment. If his merits and unrepented sins are judged to be equally balanced in God’s calculation, he is termed “intermediate” (beinoni).

This reckoning is not calculated only on the basis of the number of merits and sins, but also takes into account their magnitude in God’s eyes, with all things being considered for that particular person. A person is likely to have some merits which for him will each outweigh many sins, as implied by the verse:” … because there is found in him a good deed toward the Lord, God of Israel”(I Kings 14:13). In contrast, a person may have some sins which for him will each outweigh many merits – as it is stated, “One sin may obscure much good.”(Ecclesiastes 9:18) This relative weighing of sins and merits is unique for each person, and it is carried out according to the wisdom of the Omniscient God. Only God knows how to weigh the merits against the sins for each person. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 153-154)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on August 03, 2018, 06:37:09 AM
From prophets of the Hebrew Bible (Isaiah, (26:19) Ezekiel, (37:12-14) and Daniel, (12:2)) and sages of the Talmud, it is known that in the Messianic Era, the world will reach the time of the Resurrection of the Dead, when God will bring back to life the righteous people of all the past generations, and openly reveal Himself to them. He will thenceforth dwell together with them, and that will be the eternal era of the World to Come, which will be the unique and wondrous ultimate spiritual reward. The meaning of “a portion in the World to Come” is the eternal cleaving of the person’s body and soul with the Divine Presence, each person according to his own level and his own actions.

A Gentile merits to have a portion in that future World to Come if he accepts the Seven Noahide Laws and is careful to keep them, provided that he does this because God commanded them in the Torah and made it known through Moses that He had previously commanded the Children of Noah about them. When a Gentile lives in this manner, he has ascended to the spiritual of the “pious of the nations of the world” (i.e., a Pious Gentile) (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 159)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on August 04, 2018, 06:26:20 AM
A person should not entertain the idea held by many fools, and what is claimed by some doctrines, that at the time of a person’s conception or birth, the Holy One, blessed be He, decrees whether he will be righteous or a sinner. This is untrue. Each person is able to be righteous or bad. Similarly , he may be wise or foolish, merciful or cruel, miserly or generous, or he may acquire any other character traits. There is no one who compels him, sentences him, or lead him towards either of any two extremes. Rather, he tends to the character traits he chooses, based on his own initiative and decision. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 165)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on August 05, 2018, 05:45:37 AM
There are certain sins for which God’s justice determines that punishment is to be administered in this world. This might be inflicted by God upon the sinner’s body, or with trials and tribulations, or on his possessions, or on his small children. (God’s punishment of a person may be administered through a Divine decree upon his small children who do not yet possess intellectual maturity, which applies for daughters under the age of 12, and sons under the age of 13. This concept is alluded to by the verse: “ A man will die because of his own sins”(Deuteronomy 24:16) The wording of the verse means that it only applies after one has become an adult, because a Divine decree may come upon a young child as a punishment to the child’s sinful parent.)

There are other sins for which God’s justice determines that punishment is to be exacted upon a person’s soul in its spiritual afterlife, with no damage coming upon the transgressor during his physical life in this world. There are other sins for which punishment is given both during the sinner’s life in the physical world and in his afterlife.

The above applies only when the transgressor does not repent. However, if he repents, his repentance (teshuva in Hebrew) is a shield against punishment. Just as a person can sin consciously and willfully, he also has the ability to repent consciously and willfully. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 168-169)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on August 06, 2018, 07:57:12 AM
The Oral Torah teaches that God created seven things before He created the world: Torah, Repentance, Gan Eden (the spiritual Garden of Eden), Gehinom (the spiritual Purgatory), His Throne of Glory, the Holy Temple, and the name of the Messiah. This means that it arose in God’s thought that these things were necessary for the existence of the world that He would create.

God, blessed be He, created His world for the purpose He desired – as the sages said, “God desired to have a dwelling place in the lowest (i.e. physical) world.” This clearly teaches that God’s objective for His creation of the world was to make a physical place which would be perfectly fitting for His Presence to rest in. The service of all mankind beginning from the time of Adam, the first person, is to contribute to reaching this objective. God has promised through His prophets in the Hebrew Bible that His desired future time will be realized through the coming of the true Messiah, from the dynasty of King David, who will usher in the era when all people will see God’s truth and the righteousness of all His ways – as the verse says, “And the glory of God will be revealed, and all flesh will see together that the mouth of God has spoken.”(Isaiah 40:5) (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 178)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on August 07, 2018, 05:13:53 AM
God’s existence is independent. That is to say, it is not dependent on anything else, whereas the existence of every creation is dependent on God’s will to create it. In the terminology of the sages, this is called God’s Requisite Existence, which means that there is no cause for His existence. Rather, His existence is essential and due to Himself. His creations, on the other hand are called possible existences, since their existence always depends on another cause, and it is possible that they will either exist or not exist.

Therefore, God’s existence is not at all comparable to that of any created thing in the Heavens above or the earth below, including time and space and anything that exists within the context of those dimensions. Every creation has limitations to its existence and power and is comprised of multiple parts and elements, be they physical or spiritual. Therefore nothing can be compared to the Holy One, Blessed be He, Who has no limitation to Himself or His power. His power is infinite, endless and unlimited, and His existence is not made up of any combinations. Rather, His existence is a simple Oneness, which has no end and no beginning, and no reason or objective for being. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 14-15)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on August 08, 2018, 05:07:26 AM
Since it has been clarified that God does not have any type of body or corporeal form, it is also clear that none of the functions of a body are appropriate to Him – neither connection nor separation, neither place nor measure, neither ascent nor descent, neither right nor left, neither front nor back, neither standing nor sitting, etc.

God transcends time, so He does not have a beginning, an end, or any age. He does not change, for there is nothing that can cause Him to change. He creates time and space, and those limited dimensions are part of the overall limitations of the universe. But He, in His true existence, is not limited by anything, and therefore He is not under the influence of time and space. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 17)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on August 09, 2018, 04:28:34 AM
In all respects, the actions of God in His creation of all things are incomparable to those of a human. A human’s actions can only change an entity from one created form to another, as in the case of the artisan who takes a block of silver and changes its form into the shape of a vessel. When he finishes shaping the vessel, it leaves his hands, and its existence is not dependent on him, just as the original block of metal was not dependent on him, since he did not create it. God, however, creates the substance and form of the vessel, and the same applies for all His creations; their existence is contingent on His will to create them “ex nihilio,” which is the Latin term for coming into being “from complete nonexistence” at every instant. Thus there is no reason for the created entity to exist other than the power of God’s command and utterance which actualizes His will that this entity be created and exist in a particular way. In other words, every particular thing exists through a particular creative force that emanates from God, and that particular force is derived from much greater general power of His Ten Utterances that are recorded in Genesis, Chapter 1. It is in this way that the Heavenly realms , the universe, our Earth, and all their hosts are created from nothing. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 20)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on August 10, 2018, 04:13:27 AM
A true recognition of the existence of God in every detail of the world, and in every detail of a person’s life, brings a person to a recognition of God’s Divine Providence over His creations. Simply stated, every entity, with its life and existence, is being constantly created at every moment by God’s will and with His knowledge, and it has been previously explained in Chapter 1 that He and His knowledge are One. Conversely, His knowledge of every detail of a thing as it is being created by Him, and of what is happening to it, and His will for it to continue to exist and in certain condition, are not separate from the thing, but rather are part and parcel of it and cannot be separated from it, in a way that is impossible for us to understand.

These principles are the key to recognizing that God knows and is involved with what is happening in every detail of creation, at every moment, and that everything happens according to His purposeful plan. Not only a person’s actions – for example, when someone walks to a certain place at a certain time – but all other events, even the movements of inanimate objects, such as a leaf falling from a tree by the power of a wind and landing in a certain spot, are ordained by God for a specific purpose known to Him. This is the understanding of Divine Providence that was taught by Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 27-28)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on August 11, 2018, 05:26:12 AM
It is up to the person’s choice that the main concern which influences him should be his desire for closeness to God in all his ways, and not his desire for closeness to the lusts of his evil inclination. Therefore, the sages explained that the Torah’s directive to “cleave to God” means that a person should cleave to the holy Torah sages, for he will thereby create an environment for himself that is conductive to influencing his character in the righteous direction we have described. If on the other hand he decides to cleave to people who are hedonistic and immoral, that is the direction to which his character will be drawn.

Likewise, it is said about the knowledge of God, “And you shall know today and take to heart, that the Lord is God, in the heavens above and the earth below, there is no other.” The goal of this intellectual comprehension that God enjoins upon us is to fix a love for Him in one’s heart, for all of a person’s actions are drawn by the heart’s emotions. A person will always be quick to do what he loves, and he will withdraw from things that he fears. A person does not experience love for something unless he is yearning for it, and wishful thoughts of it are filling his mind. Likewise, one does not experience fear of a matter unless his thoughts compel him – either out of a fear of danger, or of exposing something he is ashamed of, or from the presence of something of greatness and high honor (i.e., the awe that motivates respect and bashfulness). (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 34-35)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on August 12, 2018, 04:56:49 AM
The greatest level of prophecy were attained in the earlier, Biblical generations, by the men and women who were giants of piety. They were able to unite their consciousness entirely to God, Who then imparted a spirit of holiness to them so they could communicate Godliness in human terms to their wider communities. This is the high level of prophecy that is most commonly depicted in the Hebrew Bible (the Tanach). It is the most prominent aspect of the Tanach, because the concept of authentic prophecy and its characteristics are essential to understanding the truth of the One God and faith in His Torah. Without this, many fundamental themes would be negated, and the unique concept of a religion that is God-given, instead of man-made, would not be correctly understood. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 42)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on August 14, 2018, 05:46:54 AM
What was the difference between the prophecy of Moses and that of the other prophets?

All other prophets experience their prophecy in a dream or a vision, whereas Moses would receive his prophecy while he was awake, lucid and standing – as it says: ”Moses came into the Tent of Meeting to speak with Him, and he heard the Voice speaking to Him.”(Numbers 7:89)

Furthermore, Divine insight (ru’ach ha’kodesh) is bestowed through the agency of an angel and is perceived as metaphoric imagery and allegories. But Moses, our teacher, would receive prophecy without the agency of an angel bringing it to him. The Torah testifies to this about him: “God would speak to Moses face to face, as a man would speak with his fellow,”(Exodus 33:11) and “Mouth to mouth do I (God) speak to him, in a clear vision and not in riddles; at the image of God does he gaze.” In other words, the prophecies to Moses were direct communications to him from God, without being couched in metaphors or allegories, and he would receive God’s statements directly and fully. His prophecy would be through direct and open revelation, and he would appreciate the matter in its fullness. Other prophets are overawed, terrified, and confounded by revelations they experience. The response of Moses, our teacher, was not in that manner, but rather, as quoted above, “as a man would speak with his fellow.” (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 51-52)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on August 14, 2018, 05:47:53 AM
The everlasting faith that the Jewish people have in Moses, as the preeminent emissary of God, is not because of the miracles that he performed. Whenever a person’s faith in a prophet is based on the occurrence of a miracle, that faith is somewhat deficient, because it is possible for someone to bring about a “miraculous” (unexplainable) occurrence through magic or sorcery, or some concealed natural process. This leaves the authenticity of the occurrence as a Divine miracle open to doubt, because there might be some other explanation.

Therefore, the miracles that God performed through Moses, as recorded in the Torah, were not intended to serve as undeniable proof of the legitimacy of his prophecy. Rather, each one was performed to accomplish a purpose that was needed at that point in time. For example, when it was necessary to save the Israelites by drowning the Egyptian army, the sea split for Moses, and after the Israelites passed through on dry land, the Egyptians followed, and God returned the sea upon them. When the Israelites needed water, Moses struck the rock, and it provided a continuously flowing spring water. When Korach, Dathan and Abiram mutinied against Moses, he called upon God for the earth to open its mouth and swallow them. The same applies to all the other miracles that God performed through Moses.

What then is the foundation of the unique faith in Moses and the Torah he transmitted? It is the public testimony that God Himself gave about Moses during the revelation at Mount Sinai. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 55)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on August 15, 2018, 05:08:54 AM
Therefore, if a person will arise, whether Jew or Gentile, and perform a sign or wonder and say that God sent him to do any of the following, he is a false prophet:

a) add a Divine commandment,

b) withdraw a Divine commandment,

c) explain a Divine commandment in a manner that differs from the tradition received from Moses, or

d) declare that the Divine commandments of the Torah are not forever, but rather were given for a limited time.

A person who calls for any of these things is denying the prophecy of Moses, because he dares to make statements in God’s Name that God never made. God, blessed be His Name, commanded Moses that His Torah and its commandments are for us and our children forever, and God is not like man that He will speak falsely. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 59)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on August 16, 2018, 06:04:45 AM
A person needs to express his love to God in his actions and speech that God has gifted to him, for that is their purpose. How should a person accomplish this? The intended Divine service of a person is divided into two categories: that which is directed inward to the person himself, and that which is directed toward God.

The ultimate inward service is the desire, out of love for God, to be close to Him through recognizing and knowing Him. This must be combined with awe and fear of Him, which brings one to the rectification of his natural character and habits, and his deeds in the world. With this combined service of love and fear, a person can reach the high stature of a wise and righteous person.

Service directed toward God is the characteristic of a person who refines himself and is scrupulous to work on revealing his “image of God” with correct actions and correct speech. Such a person is careful not to sully himself like an animal with actions and speech that do not befit an “image of God”. With this effort, he rectifies himself and his society, and causes good effects in the world around him. This is how a person contributes to the accomplishment of God’s desire for the rectification of mankind and the rectification of the world. One should not imagine that his personal accomplishments in this Divine service are small and insignificant. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 69)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on August 17, 2018, 06:38:17 AM
The primary and most important contemplation is on the very fact that God Himself gave commandments to mankind. This teaches us that God has a purpose for the creation, and He anticipates the time when the world will be brought to its proper rectification. God chose human beings to accomplish this goal through their actions.

Overall, the commandments teach us the lesson that a person is able to do good deeds and rectify himself and his environment. One should not think, in the manner of fools, that a person has no purpose other than to “live for the moment” and cannot accomplish anything of lasting value. Neither should one imagine the people have no free choice and have no effect or purpose at all, like mere puppets of God.

Certainly, a person should not view himself as being inherently evil from birth, or that it is impossible to improve one’s nature. Rather, a person should know and believe that since God commanded him and anticipates his doing specific good actions and his refraining from specific bad actions, therefore God surely has given him the power and ability to accomplishing these things in actual fact. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 72-73)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on August 18, 2018, 06:57:31 AM
One should not pray while he is in a mood of frivolity, laughter, lightheadedness, hostility, or anger, nor interspersed with scoffing or idle talk. Instead, one should settle down quietly for a little while before prayer and concentrate until he can focus his mind and heart, and only then should he pray. About this, it is related that the early pious ones would tarry for one hour before beginning their prayers,(Mishnah Berachot 5:1) in order to focus their hearts and thoughts, so they could connect all the faculties of their soul with God while praying to Him with humility.

A person should not pray while intoxicated, since one cannot concentrate properly in that condition. Likewise, if one finds that his thoughts are confused due to worries, and he is not able to concentrate, he should delay his pray until later. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 89-90)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on August 19, 2018, 05:43:24 AM
Though it seems that the main point of prayer is for a person to ask for his physical needs, the true main purpose is actually to connect a person with his Creator. One is obligated to ask God for his physical necessities, such as food, livelihood and health, but an even more essential and basic need of every person is his constant connection with God. Therefore one should ask God for this need as well – that God will be with him constantly in all his ways, and that all his ways should be fitting for this. (This is a main theme in the Book of Psalms.)

Prayer is not only a means to ask for and receive this need. One must know that the prayer itself is a connection with God.

In conversation and prayer to God, one connects with Him, for God listens to everyone’s prayers to Him. He provides for each person’s needs in general, and especially this spiritual need for those who feel it and therefore desire that connection. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 90)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on August 21, 2018, 06:21:39 AM
What is the remedy for the morally ill? They should go to the wise people, for they are the healers of souls.192 They will heal them by teaching them how to acquire proper traits, until they return to the good path. Concerning those who recognize their bad traits and do not go to the wise to heal them, Solomon said: “Fools scorned wisdom and correction.”193

How are they healed? A wrathful person should train himself to feel no reaction even if he is beaten or cursed. He should follow this course of behavior for a long time, until the anger is uprooted from his heart.

192 By “wise people … the healers of souls”, Maimonides was referring to the Jewish sages, who have wisdom to help and cure others. It is clear that in practical terms, the teaching cited here applies to any wise person who understand and practices the correct traits for upright people, and the proper ways to correct and cure those who have unhealthy character traits.

193 Proverbs 1:7

(Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 96)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on August 22, 2018, 05:28:49 AM
There is another area of life in which it is fitting to go beyond the measure of the law, and not just stay on the middle path, which is in one’s interaction with other people. Social interaction is essential, so even if one does not have bad traits in interacting with others, it is proper to behave towards other people in a manner that goes beyond what they deserve. This type of behavior promotes peace in society.

Needless to say, a wise and just person should conduct his business dealings with honesty and good faith. When his intention is “no” he says, “no”, when his intention is “yes”, he says, “yes.” But a pious person places additional personal boundaries on his business dealings, beyond the measure of the law. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 102)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on August 23, 2018, 05:20:33 AM
The trait of modesty must be expressed in all of a person’s ways. Primary among these are one’s dress, involvements and speech.

How should one be modest in dressing? One should wear clothes that are befitting his rank, and not wear regal garb which draws everyone’s attention, nor dress in a manner of poverty which shames the person, nor in a way that is haughty. A person should wear good-looking, middle-range garments.

It goes without saying that a person needs to be modest and cover his body at all times, and not act like an animal that goes unclothed in the street unashamedly.

A person has intellect which is his “image of God,” and therefore one must dress accordingly, which is to say, honorably. This applies in particular to a woman, so she should cover her body appropriately. When a woman dresses immodestly, she removes from herself the honor of the image of God, and it invites the men who see her to contemplate being involved with her in the sin of promiscuity. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 104-105)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on August 24, 2018, 05:12:59 AM
A person who lives in a place where the norms of behavior are bad, and the inhabitants do not follow the straight path, should move to a place where people are righteous and conduct themselves in a good ways. If the residents in all the places he is familiar with or hears reports about follow improper paths, or if valid reasons hinder him from moving to a place where the modes of behavior are proper, he should remain secluded from the bad people around him – as it is stated: “Let him sit alone and be silent.”226 Then if it happens that the wicked and sinful people there will not allow him to stay unless he mingles with them and follows their evil behavior, he should “go out to caves, thickets or deserts, [rather than] follow the paths of sinners – as it is stated:227 ‘Who will give me a lodging place for wayfarers, in the desert?’ “228

It is important to be associated with righteous people in all of one’s involvements, so as to be constantly influenced in a correct and good manner. This includes seeking advice from righteous people regarding one’s involvements and path in life.

226 Lamentations 3:28

227 Jeremiah 9:1

228 This is taken from Maimonides, Laws of Personal Development 6:1.

Although his advice to live in the wild as a hermit is not practical, it shows the great concern about how much other people can affect someone, and the efforts one must take to distance himself from associating with bad people.

(Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 108-109)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Hrvatski Noahid on August 24, 2018, 07:03:48 AM
Dr. Michael Schulman asked that I write a review of the book "Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge." I ordered the book.  :)   
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on August 25, 2018, 04:20:00 AM
Dr. Michael Schulman asked that I write a review of the book "Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge." I ordered the book.  :)
Nice to hear that! You will certainly enjoy reading this book and learn many useful things. Once you write a review please share it with us.  :)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on August 25, 2018, 05:38:53 AM
As a part of the prohibition against hating others, that same verse begins: “You shall not take revenge or bear a grudge...”

What is meant by “taking revenge”? Person A asks, “Lend me your hatchet [for example]. Person B responds, “I refuse to lend it to you.”

On the following day, Person B [who refused] needs to borrow a sickle. He asks Person A, “Lend me your sickle.” Person A responds, “Just as you did not lend to me, I will not lend to you.” This is considered to be taking revenge, and is an evil trait. Instead, one should help others with a full heart, without making reprisals against them for wrongs they did to him in past.

What is meant by “bearing a grudge”? Person A asked Person B, “Lend me your hatchet [for example],” and Person B was not willing to do so. On the following day, Person B asks Person A, “Lend me your sickle.” Person A tells him, “Here, it is. I am lending it to you. I am not like you, who would not lend to me, nor am I paying you back for what you did.” A person who acts in this manner is bearing a grudge. Instead, one should wipe such a matter from his heart and not bring it to mind. Therefore, when an unhelpful person comes asking for help, one should give it to him with a full heart, without thinking of being wronged in the past, because holding a grudge can lead to the possibility of seeking revenge. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 113-114)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Hrvatski Noahid on August 25, 2018, 02:55:03 PM
Nice to hear that! You will certainly enjoy reading this book and learn many useful things. Once you write a review please share it with us.  :)

I look forward to reading the whole book. I will share my review.  :)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on August 26, 2018, 06:00:51 AM
It is forbidden to spread gossip. Who is a gossiper? One who collects information and then goes from person to person, saying: “This is what so and so said;” “This is what I heard about so and so.” Even if the statements are true, this sin can bring about destruction in the world, and can cause the death of many people, God forbid.251 Consider what happened because Doeg the Edomite gossiped to King Saul about the Jewish priests in the town of Nov, which caused of all those priests to be killed.252 For causing this, Doeg was cursed by King David, and died at half his intended life span.253

251 Maimonides, Laws of Personal Development, ch. 7.

252 I Samuel*, ch. 22.*

253 Tractate Sanhedrin 106b; this is what David wrote about in Psalms 55:24

(Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 116)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on August 27, 2018, 01:03:39 PM
One should greet every person with a gracious and respectful countenance. By doing so, one implies that the other person is important and befitting to receive the greeting. One who turns away and does not greet others, or does not answer their greetings, implies that they are not befitting or important in his eyes, and this will embarrass a person greatly.

An upright person should not be ungracious, but rather should recognize the favors that another does for him. Ungraciousness is a bad trait which only causes evil to a person, for other people distance themselves from one who is ungracious, and they do not want companionship with such a person. Rather, one should always thank others appropriately, remembering and mentioning the good they did for him, and teach himself to do favors for others in their time of need. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 120-121)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on August 28, 2018, 05:53:04 AM
When a person observes a joyous event and wishes to make a celebration feast, he should also provide from it food for the local needy and unfortunate people, so that God will also be joining in the joy of the occasion. Conversely, one who locks his house and feasts with his family, without feeding poor people, is not rejoicing with a righteous happiness, but rather he is only rejoicing in the satisfaction of his innards, and this is a disgraceful trait.297

Anyone who gives food and drink to the poor and orphans at his table merits that if he will need to call out to God, then God will answer him, and he will derive pleasure from Him – as it is stated,298 “Surely you should slice a piece of your bread for the hungry, and bring the moaning poor to your home … Then you will call and God will respond; you will cry out and He will say, ‘Here I am.’ ”299

297 Maimonides, Laws of Resting on the Holy Days 6:18

289 Isaiah 58:7,9

299 Maimonides, Laws of Gifts to the Poor 10:16

(Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 126-127)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on August 29, 2018, 07:45:39 AM
It is known in all areas of authentic analysis that a theory alone is not considered absolute and reliable truth, and only a practical test can determine the authenticity of the theory. The same applies to a test of a person’s true character – of one’s good traits, faith and trust in God. A person’s idea or views cannot guarantee the truth of his traits. Rather, that which is put to a practical test will have a degree of certainty. The greater the degree of the test that the person is put through and withstands, the greater the degree of the proof of the truthfullness of the person’s traits.

Likewise, the verse states, “For the Lord your God is putting you to proof, to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.”(Deuteronomy 13:4) A challenge refines a person and his faith, and humbles the heart, and thereby brings a person closer to God. Therefore, in truth, a test is a great benefit for a person. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 129)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on August 30, 2018, 05:07:30 AM
A person’s troubles also serve as a spiritual test. They may be administered by God to challenge one’s faith in Him, in order to demonstrate whether or not person will love and respect Him and trust in Him under difficult circumstances (as exemplified by the ten tests of Abraham listed in the previous chapter). The foremost source where this great lesson is taught is the Book of Job, which should be read and meditated upon. The understanding that a challenge or trouble comes from God for a good purpose, or for a Divine purpose beyond human understanding, will enable the person to endure it, and more importantly, to use it to grow spiritually and to discover his innate strengths and abilities that previously remained hidden. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 136)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on August 31, 2018, 06:25:56 AM
The Talmud tells the story of the sage Nachum Ish Gamzu , who used to say at any seemingly negative occurrence, “This too is for the good.” This righteous man had faith and knew that however God dealt with him, it was for his good, including even the things that sometimes seemed on a superficial level to be a bad occurrence. Through his deep faith, a seemingly disastrous occurrence that befell him was miraculously revealed as good.

Even if one is not able to reach the level of accepting pain and suffering with happiness (as this is a truly lofty level that requires great refinement of the soul), he is nevertheless able to contemplate and meditate on the fact that it is in truth for the good (even though he is not yet on the level to actually see that it is). This concept in itself will help him to be strengthened despite the hardships, and will make it easier for him to endure them, despite his natural tendency to feel otherwise. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 137)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on September 01, 2018, 05:47:18 AM
In some cases, the pious person will understand that the one who is wronging him with speech is just an evil person with a bad character whose way of speaking to others is an expression of his meanness. Regarding such people, King Solomon said, “Do not answer a fool according to his foolishness, lest you be considered like him.”(Proverbs 26:4)

This is specifically the situation in which a righteous person should remain silent and not answer back to the offender. This puts him on the level of pious people who accept to be among the pursued and not among those who pursue others, and among those who accept humiliation but not among those who humiliate others. The main point, though, is that the person who is spoken against should not argue and fan the flames of the fight. Instead, he should take to heart that the occurrence came from God and try to perceive why. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 141)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on September 02, 2018, 05:09:11 AM
God creates mankind and each individual. He also knows the characteristics of people in general, and the unique character of each and every person. Like everything in God’s creation, it was His will to put the evil inclination into a person. Along with this, the ability to sin – either through temptation or carelessness – is fixed in a person’s intellect, emotions and actions. Clearly, this is in a person’s God-given nature. Therefore, God gives a person the ability and strength to correct and rectify himself through proper repentance, as recounted in numerous places throughout the Hebrew Bible about both Jews and Gentiles.

A person should not imagine that God is scheming against him. On the contrary, God loves every creation, and each being is created for His honor. If He did not desire us, He would not be continuously creating us. The good God, in His abundant love for mankind, wants each person to have what is best for him. Part of the good that God bestows upon a person is that he should be able to learn from experience, and sometimes the best way (or the only way) to learn is from one’s own mistakes. Therefore, God in His great kindness gave people the path of repentance to rectify and improve themselves, and this is a true proof of His love for mankind. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 147)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on September 03, 2018, 06:21:01 AM
On the other hand, if the adulterer does not regret his sin and repent until his old age, when he is impotent and incapable of doing the same sin that he did when he was younger, then this is not a high level of repentance. Nevertheless, God will still accept him as fully repentant. Even if a person transgressed throughout his entire life, and only repented on the day of his death and then died in repentance, the sins he repented for are forgiven by God.

In order to repent to God, a sinner should abandon his sins and strive to remove those inclinations from his thoughts, resolving in his heart never to commit them again – as it is stated, “May the wicked abandon his ways...”(Isaiah 55:7) He must also regret his past sins – as it is stated, “After I returned, I regretted.” (Jeremiah 31:18)

(Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 150)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on September 04, 2018, 07:18:59 AM
What constitutes a prayer for forgiveness? The person should verbally confess his sins to God, and continue with stating the matters that he resolves in his heart about this. For example, one can say, “God, I have sinned before you committing the sin of … [explicitly stating the sin that was done]. Please, God, in your abundant mercy, pardon me for this sin. I am regretful and embarrassed for what I have done, and I have already resolved never to repeat it.”

Anyone who verbalizes his confession without resolving in his heart to abandon the sin has not accomplished anything. In truth, by making an insincere confession, the person is making mockery of himself before his Creator. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 150)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on September 05, 2018, 05:30:44 AM
In some cases, for a person who repents for transgressions he committed publicly against other people, it is very praiseworthy to confess in public and to make his past sins known to others. He should tell them: “Although I sinned against so and so, committing the following misdeeds, … now I am repenting and expressing my regret.” Nevertheless, if one does not publicly confess a sin that he had done in public, but he does truly repent with all his heart and regrets his actions, this is also considered repentance (albeit an incomplete one), and he is forgiven by God.

For a sin done in private, however, it is not appropriate to publicize one’s transgression, since doing so would be a disgrace to God’s Name. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 150-151)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on September 07, 2018, 06:34:11 AM
Repenting only to God atones for sins between man and God; for example, idol worship, or eating meat that was severed from a living animal, or engaging in consensual forbidden sexual relations, or the like. However, sins against people – for example, injuring, cursing or robbing someone, or the like – will not be forgiven by God until one who committed the sin makes restitution to the victim and asks for his forgiveness, and the victim is appeased and forgives him.

It is forbidden for a person who was wronged to be cruel and refuse to be appeased. Rather, he should be easily pacified, and hard to anger. When the person who wronged him asks for forgiveness, he should forgive him with a complete heart and a willing spirit. After the sinner has appeased his colleague, he must then do correct repentance as outlined above, by regretting his sin, resolving not to repeat it, and confessing to God and asking Him for forgiveness. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 152)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on September 08, 2018, 05:06:21 AM
It must be emphasized that even if a person makes restitution (for example, returning money that he wrongly took), he must also ask his victim for forgiveness and appease him. If a person wronged someone who then died before restitution was made and forgiveness was asked, the wrongdoer should still repent to God and ask for His forgiveness. It is fitting that he should go to his victim’s grave in the company of three other people, and ask for forgiveness from the victim’s soul for the wrong that he did. If the wrong done was in money matters, he should return that amount to his victim’s heirs. (If there are no heirs, he should disburse the money to proper charity, or consult a proper court or an expert rabbi about what he should do.) (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 151-152)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on September 09, 2018, 07:50:04 AM
A person should always look at himself as equally balanced between his merits and sins, and the world as equally balanced between the total of its merits and the total of its sins. If he performs one sin, he may tip his balance and that of the entire world to the side of guilt and bring a verdict of punishment upon himself. On the other hand, if he observes one of his commandments or does a meritorious good deed, he may tip his balance and that of the entire world to the side of merit and bring deliverance and salvation to himself and to others. In this accounting, a person’s observance of a prohibition can be greater in God’s eyes than actively doing a good deed. As they relate to an individual, the Noahide Commandments themselves all involve prohibitions, and very often, refraining from a sin takes more effort in self-control and more submission to God’s Kingship than doing a positive action. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 155)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on September 10, 2018, 07:28:59 AM
In a similar way (although it is impossible to accurately describe or even comprehend), the reward that will be given by God in the World to Come for a Gentile who lived piously in His eyes will involve a great transformation. It will raise him to an immensely higher spiritual level that his soul previously could not attain, to perceive the Divine Presence an be filled with knowledge of God, while he continues living forever in his resurrected physical body. By contrast, the reward for a Gentile who is not living piously in God’s eyes is the type of physical or spiritual pleasures that he enjoys having in his life. Even after his death, God can give his soul spiritual pleasure until its due reward has been completely alloted. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 160)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Hrvatski Noahid on September 11, 2018, 03:17:09 AM
In a similar way (although it is impossible to accurately describe or even comprehend), the reward that will be given by God in the World to Come for a Gentile who lived piously in His eyes will involve a great transformation. It will raise him to an immensely higher spiritual level that his soul previously could not attain, to perceive the Divine Presence an be filled with knowledge of God, while he continues living forever in his resurrected physical body.

Amen! May we merit His eternal reward!
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on September 11, 2018, 03:51:53 AM
Amen! May we merit His eternal reward!
Amen, we have to put an effort to succeed!
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on September 11, 2018, 06:16:06 AM
This was implied by the prophet Jeremiah who stated: “From the command of the Most High, neither evil or good come forth [upon a person].” (Lamentations 3:38) This means that it is the sinner himself who causes his own loss. Nothing is gained if he deflects from his responsibility by looking for other excuses, as that leads a person to be content with merely complaining about his sins, instead of correcting them.

Therefore, it is proper for a person to cry and bemoan his sins and the damage he has done to his soul, and the negative consequences he brought upon it. This is implied by the following verse: ”About what should a living man complain? A man (gever) for his sins” (Lamentations 3:39) – meaning, the sins which he owns. (There are several words in Hebrew which mean “man”, and the word gever used here means a person with inner strength. This indicates that a person is endowed by God with enough strength to stop from sinning.) The prophet continues in the next verse to explain that since we have free choice, and it is our own decision that prompts us to commit a wrongdoing, therefore it is proper for us to repent and abandon our sins, for the choice to do so is present and in our hands: “Let us search and examine our ways and return to God.”(Lamentations 3:40) (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 165-166)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on September 12, 2018, 07:15:07 AM
In contrast, true sages and people with correct knowledge know that all such conceptions of the afterlife are vain and empty things which do not lead one to the path of properly serving God. These physical things are considered to be desirable or beneficial to us in this world because we possess a body and a physical form. The natural soul desires them and lusts for them for the sake of the pleasures and honor of the body, so that its desires will be fulfilled and its health maintained. A wise person knows that God presents the needs of the body to us so we can choose to use them for aiding us to serve Him in this world. In the afterlife, when there is no body, all of these matters are nullified, and the soul forgets about them.

Beyond this, the ultimate good that is stored away for the righteous is the life of the future World to Come, which will be revealed in the second stage of Messianic Era.

When that time begins, the souls will return to their bodies with the Resurrection of the Dead, as will be explained in the next chapter. This will be a perfected life that is not accompanied by death, and a higher level of good that is not accompanied by evil. The Torah alludes to this in the promise: “… so that it will be good for you, and you will prolong your days. The Oral tradition explains:

“... so that it will be good for you” - in the world that is entirely good; “ and you will prolong your days” - in the world that is endlessly long, the World to Come.

(Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 173-174)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on September 13, 2018, 06:11:16 AM
In truth, there is no way to compare the good of the soul in the World to Come with the bodily pleasures in this world. Rather, that future good is immeasurably greater, with no comparison or likeness to anything else. This is alluded to by David’s statement: “How great is the good that You have hidden for those who fear You.” (Psalms 31:20)

But if the souls of the righteous must be returned to resurrected physical bodies in order to experience their ultimate reward, how does it differ from what the body can experience now in the present physical world? When God will resurrect the bodies of the righteous, He will not restore them to the way they were before, in the world as we know it. Instead, He will recreate them in a perfectly spiritually refined and immortal condition, in which one’s very flesh will experience a unity with God. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 176-177)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on September 14, 2018, 06:08:35 AM
This rectification of the Jewish people, which is prophesied in the Torah, will bring the rectification of all mankind, since the revelation of God’s Divine Presence (the Shechinah) will return to the world and dwell most openly in the Third Holy Temple, which Moshiach will build in Jerusalem. This will be the revelation of God’s Presence as it was in the beginning of the world, in the physical Garden of Eden. But it will be in an even greater way than ever before, with a Divine light that will illuminate and spiritually uplift the entire world. Emanating from the Holy Temple and the Jewish people, this Divine light will spread throughout the world to rectify everything and motivate everyone to serve only the One God. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 181)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on September 15, 2018, 05:00:01 AM
In that era, the character of mankind will be changed to recognize the spiritual truth and to desire only God. Each person will leave his previous faulty ways – as the prophet says, “For then I will turn the peoples to a clear language [i.e., a clear conception of truth and Godliness], so that all will call upon the Name of God to serve Him as one shoulder [i.e., “shoulder-to-shoulder,” all together as one people].”

In that era, there will be neither famine nor war, envy or competition, for good will flow in abundance, and all the good delights will be freely available as dust. The occupation of the entire world will be solely to know God – as the verse states:” The world will be filled with the knowledge of God as the waters cover the ocean bed.” (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 181)

*This part talks about Messianic era

Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on September 16, 2018, 05:35:28 AM
After that era of the Days of Moshiach, there will be an incomparably more wondrous period – the eternal era of the Resurrection of the Dead – which is called the “World to Come”. It will be the time of the full Divine revelation and the ultimate spiritual reward that God is holding in store for the righteous.

What will be the distinction between the era of the Days of Moshiach and the era of the World to Come? In the Days of Moshiach, the world in general will still be in its natural condition. People will continue to eat, drink, sleep, and be occupied with all the body’s physical needs, while at the same time, a person will be able to connect his mind and emotions with expanded knowledge of God, blessed be He. Therefore, there will also be birth and death in that era, although the natural human lifespan will be greatly increased.

In the subsequent era of the World to Come, the natural order will be removed. The physical existence of every creation will be unnoticeable in comparison to its Godly essence that will be openly revealed, like a tiny flame of a match when it is held up before the face of the sun. There will be no physical bodily needs, and yet the body will continue to exist, recognizing and unifying with God according to a greatly increased and indescribable capacity. There will no more eating, drinking, sleeping, birth or death. Regarding this time, the verse states: ”Death will be swallowed up forever...” (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 181-182)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on September 17, 2018, 06:30:04 AM
How is it that mankind differs from all other created beings? It is in the unique human ability to attain conceptual knowledge and use it in the exercise of free will, as the Torah states: “and you will be like God, knowing good and bad.” We will now explain how the purpose of mankind is to use this knowledge to reveal both the “Godly image” and the “Godly likeness” within each person.

In Biblical Hebrew, which is God’s holy language, this unique power of knowledge that was given by God to mankind is called da’at. With his power of da’at, each person is able to understand and relate independently to concepts and situations that are apart from him, and removed from his own physical needs and the necessities of his life.

The nature of every other type of created being was fixed by God. Therefore, those entities cannot “freely choose” anything, nor can their deeds be categorized as “good” or “bad”. A human being, on the other hand, can decide how he wishes to act in any given situation. Depending on the deed he chooses, he can either elevate or impair and degrade himself and the world around him. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 8-9)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on September 18, 2018, 07:52:56 AM
Mankind is identified as having the “image of God”. This includes not only these God-given intellectual powers and abilities, but also mankind’s spiritual essence. As the great sage Rabbi Akiva is quoted in the Mishnah: Beloved is mankind, for they were created in the image [of God]; it is even a greater love that it was made known to them that they were created in the image [of God], as it says [Gen. 9:6]: “… for in the image of God He made mankind.” By choosing to act in ways that are like the revealed benevolent ways of the Creator, a person can rise to the point of bringing out the spiritual “likeness of God” that is within him. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 9)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on September 19, 2018, 07:15:20 AM
In order to enable a person to elevate himself by exercising the gift of free will, God “wrapped” that spiritual essence in a physical human body. Thus, a person is truly a synthesis of body and soul. For example, a person is similar to an animal in that he needs to eat, drink, sleep, relieve himself, etc. A person does not have the ability to essentially change any functions of this type, because these types of functions stem from the bodily nature.

On the other hand, the gift of free will gives a person the choice and ability to appoint his God-given spiritual soul as the primary motivating force within himself. One who chooses to do this is wise and upright. He trains himself to place his body and its physical desires as secondary considerations that have importance to him only insofar as they are needed to serve the God-given Divine mission of his soul. This is one of the definitions of a chassid (a pious person, in Hebrew). Within this distinction there are many levels, but even a chassid at the most basic level merits to receive reward from God for this piety. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 9-10)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on September 20, 2018, 05:44:10 AM
This dominion, which God grants to humans, is not only our physical influence over other creatures (through the means that human intelligence devises), but also our ability to uplift other creatures toward their destined spiritual perfection, by including them as a part of the world that mankind can make into a dwelling place for God’s Divine Presence (Shechinah). The lesson for us is that if a person does not choose to make this effort, to bring out his personal “image of God” to rule over the animalistic nature within him, he can descend to its level, acting similarly to an animal. Even worse, he can “become inferior before them” - i.e., both the animalistic nature of the world and his own animalistic tendencies will rule over him. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 11)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on September 21, 2018, 06:37:32 AM
Nevertheless, it is also an obligation to believe with simple, child-like faith in the Creator and Master of everything, for, as will be explained, it is impossible for a person to understand and recognize the Creator completely. Only a small aspect of God’s existence can be understood, because it is essentially entirely beyond the grasp of any creation, including even the greatest prophets and the highest angels.

From this it follows that there should be two dimensions to a person’s relationship with God. On the one hand, it is incumbent on each person to know and recognize God and His Unity, to the extent of one’s ability, with the goal to fill his mind and the emotions of his heart with his understanding of the Creator, and to act according to “the ways of God” (which will be explained further on). At the same time, he should believe that God, may He be blessed, is completely beyond any human being’s grasp. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 13-14)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on September 22, 2018, 05:05:17 AM
Through achieving a synthesis of these three soul powers – recognition, understanding and belief – and actually expressing them through his thoughts, traits and emotions, a person will more completely cleave to and be attached to the One True God. This will also provide the key for him to tap into levels within his belief and faith that are beyond his knowledge and intelligence. This is the spiritual accomplishment of becoming a chassid (a pious person), which is the title of one who is actively attaching himself to the True God, may He be blessed. It is this service which God seeks from a person, and it is this service which draws God to a person. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 14)

Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on September 23, 2018, 06:04:58 AM
Just as God’s absolute existence is not comparable to the dependent existence of the creations (because the Holy One, blessed be He, has no need whatsoever for them), so too, His absolute Truth is not like their partial truth. This is what the prophet expressed by saying, “The Lord God is true.”(Jeremiah 10:10) Likewise, it is written in the Torah, “There is none beside Him”(Deuteronomy 4:35) This includes the meaning that there is no other existence that is comparable to Him. Although all the authentic prophets and sages yearned to intellectually know the truth of His existence, it cannot be grasped in its entirety – as it says, “Can you find the comprehension of God? Can you find the ultimate bounds of the Almighty?”(Job 11:7) (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 15)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on September 25, 2018, 06:07:12 AM
Therefore, the Holy One, blessed be He, effects two infinitely powerful actions at once. Everything He creates is brought into existence ex nihilio with its individual characteristics, and at the exact same time, He conceals His creative power so that it will not be revealed in physical realm. Both of these Divine attributes are beyond the comprehension of any created being. For it is impossible for any being to understand the Godly power that gives it existence and life – as God, blessed be He, spoke to Moses, the greatest of prophets, “You cannot see My face, for man shall not see Me and live.” And just as it is impossible for any being to understand how it is brought into existence and given life by God’s creative power, so too, it is impossible for any being to understand the power of His hiding, with which He conceals the creative force in every creation. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 20-21)

Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on September 26, 2018, 05:36:44 AM
The various Divine attributes which God revealed about Himself are associated with His corresponding Holy Names that are found in the Hebrew scriptures. Any Name ascribed to God is not a description of Him, as it is impossible to describe his blessed Essence, and He has no name which can describe Him at all. Rather, He is ascribed holy Names as indications of various effects that are caused by His actions.

The first Godly power explained above, which constantly creates everything in existence, each in all its details, is called by His holy Tetragrammaton Name of Y-HVH (On account of its great holiness, this Name is not permitted to be pronounced, as explained in The Divine Code, Part III, topic 2:7. To refer to this Name orally, and preferably in writing as well, one should transpose the letters into a substitute form, and call it Hava’yeh.) The meanings of this Name in Hebrew are that (a) God constantly creates everything that exists, and (b) He transcends time, so that past, present and future are all unified with Him.

The second Godly power mentioned above, the power to hide His unlimited Godly light and creative force – so that we are only able to perceive the effects of His actions in the physical realm, without seeing the true spiritual source which causes and creates these effects – is called by His Name E’lohim. This is the source of what we call “nature” within the creation, which is perceivable in our eyes and can be grasped in our understanding, and which hides God’s unlimited power and His Presence from us. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 21)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on September 27, 2018, 05:43:41 AM
This is the meaning of the verse in Psalms, “For a sun and a shield is Hava’yeh E’lohim.” This means that just as God made a shield around the Earth that protects us from being obliterated by the heat and radiation from the sun, which are too powerful for us to endure in their full strength, so too, God has a spiritual shield to protect us from the unlimited power of His Divine light and creative force, and this shield is called by the Name E’lohim.

Although this spiritual shielding is not physically perceivable, for nature and the world’s physicality hide it from our eyes, an intellectual person who contemplates the fact that everything is created by God alone, and that there is no other power to cause any such effect in the world, will understand what is written: ”See now, for I, I am He, and there is no [other] God (E’lohim) than Me...”(Deuteronomy 32:39) Here, God informs us that “I am the Creator, and I am E’lohim Who hides My creative power;” He is one and the same God, Who is the only God, with no separation or division. Likewise, it says, “And you shall know this day and take to your heart that Hava’yeh, He is E’lohim – in the heavens above and upon the earth below – there is nothing else,”(Deuteronomy 4:39) so that one should not mistakenly think that there is another power or deity which causes God to be hidden. This is not the case; rather, God Who creates everything ex nihilio is also E’lohim, Who hides Himself from the perception of mortal beings, through the garb of what we perceive as nature in the physical creation. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 22)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on September 28, 2018, 06:25:59 AM
This brings us closer to understand the Torah’s words, “There is none beside Him,”(Deuteronomy 4:35) since His knowledge of the created thing and His Divine speech which creates it are all united as one, within his complete Unity. These two Names, Hava’yeh and E’lohim, are not separate in any way. Rather, the One God works simultaneously with these two of His powers. Although this concept cannot be fully grasped by human intellect, it is vital for a person to contemplate the principle that God is totally One, such that He and all His seemingly different powers are one perfect entity. The nature of this perfection is something completely unrelated to the creation, because we recognize created entities, and even abstract human concepts, as being composed of different parts that are brought together. This distinguishes God’s perfect unity as something completely unique from anything else.

Therefore, a wise intellectual person should unify his whole heart and soul to Hava’yeh E’lohim, Who creates the heavens and the Earth and all their hosts, and serve Him with all his heart, and dedicate all that he has to serve Him in all aspects of his life. For everything is from Him, and He gives strength, vitality and abilities to each person.
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on September 29, 2018, 07:48:35 AM
Through thinking about and looking for Divine Providence in the steps of one’s life, a person will recognize that God is actively involved along with him in all his ways, and in all his actions. The majority of time, a person who does this will understand  on his own how to act in the correct and fitting manner for the situation he is in. For when one contemplates that God is watching over him and putting him in a specific set of circumstances at a specific time, and is surely intending for the person to perceive and take action so as to bring out the best outcome from this, it will bring him to try to discern the purpose for which God put him in that situation. For example, it may be to help or inspire another person, or to sanctify God’s Name in that place, or to gain the merit of passing a test or overcoming an obstacle which God is placing in his path. When a person sets his mind to this, God in His abundant kindness can give him a spirit of understanding and a feeling for why this situation was intended, and for what he is obligated to do so as a servant of God. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 28)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on September 30, 2018, 07:08:04 AM
Sometimes an understanding of a situation will remain hidden from the person, but if he is righteous and prays to God to enlighten him about its purpose, it is likely that God will show him an answer. In regard to some things, it may take days, months, or years before God reveals His Divine Providence in something that occurred. Or it may be that God’s active involvement in a matter will remain hidden forever, and known only to Him, as King David declared in the Book of Psalms, “[Give thanks] to Him Who alone performs great wonders;” i.e., the most wondrous aspect of God’s involvement, which may be a chain of actions that span all the previous generations leading up to a present set of circumstances, remains known only to Him alone. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 28-29)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on October 01, 2018, 07:43:08 AM
In this way, once the Patriarch Abraham discovered the truth of the One God and connected to it, he was not affected by anything else in the world – as it says, “Abraham was [but] one ...”(Ezekiel 33:24) This means that even though he was distinct from the rest of humanity in his monotheistic faith, and many people, great and small, argued against him and mocked him, he steadfastly continued with the mission he set for himself, since he knew that this path was the truth. This is the ultimate level of one who is completely sincere in his heart and actions, whose sincerity compels him to follow God’s will in all matters. Therefore, it is said about Abraham:”And he trusted in God, and He reckoned it to him as righteousness,”(Genesis 15:6) and “You found his heart faithful before You.”(Nehemiah 9:8) (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 37)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on October 06, 2018, 06:41:09 AM
Once an upright person succeeds in becoming complete in all his actions, and he is continuously yearning for God, he will be truly ready to have self-sacrifice for God. For he understands that anyone’s personal pursuits are not the main thing, and that the whole purpose of existence and importance of mankind is in understanding God to the maximum of one’s capability. Therefore, he will devote his whole self to God with all his faculties. He will strongly and constantly desire to rise to God, to the level of Godliness which he cannot comprehend in his intellect and emotions , and before which he stands in a mode of selfless surrender to God. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 38)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on October 08, 2018, 07:50:34 AM
The ultimate example of this was Abraham the Patriarch, who invested his soul in his mission to publicize the truth that God is One. When he discovered this truth, he started to call all the populace to leave their idols and vanities and to break their statues. He proved to them with clear and conclusive proofs that their idols were naught and had no power. When Nimrod, the wicked king of Babylon, heard about this, he wanted to silence Abraham, so he seized him and threatened to throw him into a fiery furnace if he would not acknowledge idolatry and bow down to it. Abraham immediately chose the furnace, but a miracle occurred and he was saved. Abraham, however, did not expect this, and he did not have regard for his life if it would mean agreeing to lie and deny the truth for which mankind was created. Abraham reasoned to himself, “What is the point of lying and saving my life, in order to live a life of falsehood? While accepting the falsehood of idolatry, I would be like a broken machine and a soulless walking corpse. If so, my life would be no less than death. It is better for me to die as a means to publicly sanctify God’s Name in the world – which has been my lifelong mission – rather than to abandon the truth just to save the physical life of my body.” (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 38)

Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on October 08, 2018, 07:51:08 AM
Indeed, Maimonides writes:

“Prophecy is only bestowed upon a very wise sage who is strong in his good character traits, whose natural inclinations never overcome him in any worldly matter. Rather, he always overcomes his natural inclinations with his intellect, and he possesses very broad and correct perspective. If a person is completely filled with these good traits and is physically sound, then when he contemplates intently [on Torah’s teachings of the greatness of the Creator] and is drawn into these great and sublime concepts, if he has the correct perception to understand and grasp these matters, he will then become sanctified. [That is to say,] he will advance and separate himself from the ways of all the people who go about in the darkness of the times. He must continue to advance and train himself not to have any thoughts at all about empty matters and intrigues of the times. Instead, he keeps his mind constantly directed to a higher level of Godliness in order to comprehend the wisdom of the Holy One, blessed be He … and appreciate His greatness from this. Then, a spirit of Godly- inspired perception [ru’ach ha’kodesh in Hebrew] will immediately rest upon him. When this perception rests on him … he will be changed into a different person and will understand with a knowledge that is different from what his knowledge was previously. He will rise above the level of wise people in general, as it was told to King Saul: ‘ You will prophesy with them, and you will be changed into a different person.’” (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 42-43)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on October 09, 2018, 06:34:20 AM
The level of Moses prophecy made a great unification possible. Through him, God brought His Torah into the physical world. “Torah” is the all-inclusive wisdom of God which includes all the created spiritual and physical realms; it is His Word to all people, forever. It is not directed to a specific person for a specific detail of his activities. It is not even a general concept that affects a person’s whole life, being directed to a whole nation or even a whole generation. Rather, it is a prophecy that stands forever as God’s will for His creations. It reveals to us that God lovingly created the universe and all aspects of Creation, with this world and mankind at the center of His attention, and with bestowal of obligations, prohibitions, rewards, punishments and purpose. This is the concept of the prophecy that is in the Torah of Moses our teacher, by which God communicated with him openly on Mount Sinai before the eyes and ears of the whole Jewish people, as will be explained in the following chapters. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 44)

Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on October 10, 2018, 07:55:15 AM
It was in regard to greater prophecies, such as those for the needs of a large community, that Maimonides wrote his statement above, that prophecy only dwells on “a very wise sage,” etc., who is fitting to receive a prophecy that will guide his generation.

Nevertheless, even a person who does not reach such a level must still know this essential pillar of religion, that God gives prophecy to humans by influencing their thoughts and helping them to choose well and make good resolutions, and He directs them to the greater good if they are improving themselves and humbly striving in that direction. This is the meaning of the verse,90 “For He stands at the right hand of the needy person to save [him] from those who judge his soul.”

90 Psalms 109:31. “Those who judge his soul” are a person’s good inclination and evil inclination, which pull him toward opposite directions, and God stands by to assist him in following his good inclination, if he so desires. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 47)

Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on October 11, 2018, 07:02:19 AM
A main point of prophecy is to show that every person intrinsically possesses the ability to serve his Creator in the way that his Creator desires from him, and that by living up to this, he will reach a level of closeness to God, each person according to the capacity that his Creator has endowed to him. One should not think that God has decreed that some people will be wicked or boorish and incapable of properly serving Him. Rather, every person is created as a unique individual to reach his own specific spiritual goals in the face of his own challenges, known to God, and each one is given the ability and the opportunity to complete this service during his lifetime. At the same time, God does not dictate what a person’s actions will be. Instead, a person chooses with his own power of choice whether to do good or bad. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 47-48)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on October 12, 2018, 07:08:16 AM
From this first essential theme, the power of free choice, one can arrive at a second essential theme: reward and punishment.

God bestows a good reward to those who do good, and He punishes those who do bad; each person is judged by the choices he makes. If everything was decreed by God, and mankind had no free choice at all, there would be no point in reward, since it would not be the person’s own choice that brought him to do good. Likewise, there would be no point in punishment, since the bad that was done would not be the fault of the wrongdoer. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 48)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on October 13, 2018, 07:44:49 AM
God brings close to Himself a good person who acts correctly, and will assist him to do even more good and reach higher levels, and to be successful in his Divine service and to complete the image of God within him. In the opposite case, God hides His face from a bad person and pushes him away, and will make it harder for the person to serve Him, as a punishment for his transgressions. For example, if a pious and righteous person prays to God to show him the correct path in a situation that arises before him, God will answer his prayers and put before him the correct answer, or put in his mind an understanding and feeling for what he should do, or show him in some other manner with Divine Providence.
In contrast, for a bad person who sins many times and defiles himself with evil schemes, if he prays to God when he is in trouble, it is possible that God will answer him out of bountiful mercy, or it is possible that the person’s bad ways will cause God to push him away and to put mistakes, doubts and fears in his mind. This is the spiritual punishment for his actions: God will not answer him, or will give him areas in which to make mistakes. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 48-49)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on October 14, 2018, 06:27:55 AM
Regarding this concept, God said to Cain: “Surely, if you improve yourself, you will be forgiven, but if you do not improve yourself, sin rests at the door; its desire is toward you, yet you can conquer it.”(Genesis 4:7) This means that if your path is correct, which is up to your choice, you can receive forgiveness for your sin and correct your failings; but if you do not take a good path, sin crouches at your door, and it is ready and waiting for you to err. So do not say, “This matter is decreed upon me; it is not my fault that I sinned, and I couldn’t stop myself from committing the bad action that presented itself to me.” Rather, know that your evil inclination only causes you to desire to sin, and you can control it and thereby gain merit. The choice of how to act is in your hands, not in the hands of your evil inclination. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 49)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on October 15, 2018, 08:33:24 AM
Likewise, the sages said: “Raish Lakish explained the verse, ‘If [one is drawn] to the scoffers, he will scoff, but [if one is drawn] to the humble, he will find favor’ - if one comes to defile himself, Heaven will open the way for him, and if one comes to purify himself, Heaven will assist him.” This means that if a person looks for a path to defile himself with sin, or to be a scoffer, God will give him opportunity and open a path for him to sin as he desires, yet this still remains within the person’s free choice. But for those who are humble and looking for the right path, God will give them favor and assistance. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 49)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on October 16, 2018, 07:33:48 AM
Therefore, one should not err like those who think that God left the creation to be directed by the natural order alone, with no Divine Providence guiding it, and that God does not care about people’s actions. God’s involvement in a person’s activities – and even in his thoughts and feelings – provides a spark of prophecy. It can rest on anyone, even those who are considered to be of a lowly level. When a person behaves correctly, God’s Presence that dwells in his actions can be perceived, and one who frequently seeks to do good should trust that God will help him and ready a path before him to be successful in his endeavors. However, not everyone merits to be aware of this help from God. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 50)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on October 17, 2018, 05:02:54 AM
When a righteous person prays to God to help him with some matter, God hears his prayer and will help him with his desires for the good. If he merits, he will perceive and understand God’s answer and His Divine Providence over him. He should intend to unify with God’s Presence through his prayer, as he stands before God and pours out his heart in supplication before Him. He should remove all distracting thoughts, until his thoughts and intentions are pure, and his heart and thoughts are focused in his prayer alone. It was in this manner that the pious ones of the early generations would seclude themselves and concentrate on their prayers to God until they would become removed from physical concerns and achieve a strengthening of their intellectual spirit, until they reached a level of connection to God approaching to the level of prophecy. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 50)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on October 18, 2018, 05:29:51 AM
Just as a person will not be awestruck from hearing his friend’s words, Moses’ mental power was so broadly sufficient that he was able to receive and comprehend God’s words to him while he was standing in a composed state of mind.

Unlike other prophets, whenever Moses desired, the spirit of ru’ach ha’kodesh would envelop him, and prophecy would rest upon him. He did not have to concentrate his attention to prepare himself for prophecy, because his mind was always concentrated, prepared , and ready to appreciate spiritual truth, just as the angels are. Therefore, he could receive a prophecy and relate it to others at all times, as he said to those who needed to hear from him an answer from God:”Stand and I will hear what God will command you.” (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 52)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on October 19, 2018, 05:14:09 AM
Moses was called upon by God to be continuously prepared and ready to communicate with Him, as it is stated: “and God said to me, … ‘Go say to them, Return to your tents. But as for you, stand here with Me, and I shall speak to you ...’” (Deuteronomy 5:25-28) This means that after the Divine revelation of God’s speaking the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai departed from all the rest of the people there (who had been experiencing a state of prophecy while hearing God’s voice), they “returned to their tents” like all other prophets – i.e., to their personal bodily needs and mundane activities. Therefore, they did not continue to separate themselves from marital relations with their spouses. Moses, our teacher, however, never returned to his original “tent.” He remained in a ready state of holiness to receive God’s speech at any moment, so he necessarily had to separate himself permanently from his wife. He bound his mind continuously to God, and the ru’ach ha’kodesh was never fully departed from him. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 52-53)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on October 20, 2018, 02:09:31 AM
There is the possibility that a prophet will experience prophecy for his own sake alone – e.g., to expand his mental capacities and to increase his knowledge – allowing him to know more about lofty spiritual concepts than he knew before.

It is also possible that a prophet may be sent by God to one of the nations of the world, or to the inhabitants of a particular city or province, to prepare them and to inform them of what they should do, or to warn them against continuing the grave sins which they have been doing. When he is sent on such a mission, God provides a sign or a wonder for him to perform publicly, so that the people will know that God has truly sent him and the message he relates was given by God. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 53)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on October 22, 2018, 06:40:34 AM
However, not everyone who performs a miracle should be accepted as a prophet, for that is not the criteria that Torah Law sets out. A person who arises and claims to prophecy in the Name of God should be accepted only if it is known beforehand that he is fit to receive true prophecy, i.e., that his wisdom and good deeds are exceptional and consistent with the ways of Torah. If he follows the paths of prophecy in holiness, separating himself from worldly matters, and afterwards he states that he was sent with a message from God, and performs a sign or a wonder, it is a Torah- based obligation to accept that message. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 53)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on October 22, 2018, 06:41:37 AM
It is also possible that a person who is wise, and who seems to have righteous stature and fitness for prophecy in God’s eyes, will perform a sign or wonder even though he is not a prophet sent by God, and the miracle will have another motivation behind it (for example, in answer to his prayers). According to the same obligation from the Torah, we must heed what a person like this is telling us, and accept his statements as true. This can be explained with a parallel concept: Jewish courts are commanded to render a legal judgment based on the testimony of two witnesses. Even though they might be testifying falsely, since we know them to be acceptable as witnesses and they are undisputed in this matter, the Torah Law instruct us to presume that they are telling the truth.

About matters of this nature, it is stated: “The hidden matters are for the Lord, our God, but what is revealed is for us and our children,”(Deuteronomy 29:28) and it is stated: “Man sees what is revealed to the eyes, but God sees into the heart.”(I Samuel 16:7) (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 54)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Israel Chai on October 22, 2018, 12:09:24 PM
You have anything on the fake prophesy thing evangelicals make members do, they think it's Hashem but it's them; what you're really doing? Most Rabbis I know never heard of it, I figure a Noachide Rabbi might deal with it alot.
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Hrvatski Noahid on October 22, 2018, 03:30:55 PM
You have anything on the fake prophesy thing evangelicals make members do, they think it's Hashem but it's them; what you're really doing? Most Rabbis I know never heard of it, I figure a Noachide Rabbi might deal with it alot.

We know the Torah Law regarding Gentile proselytizers and false prophets. But I do not understand your question. What exactly do evangelicals do? Do they convince individuals or a community to serve idols? Or to nullify one of the Seven Noahide Commandments? Or to add a commandment? Do they prophesy in the name of idols? Do they prophesy in the name of G-d, but lie in their prophecy?   
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on October 23, 2018, 07:51:12 AM
You have anything on the fake prophesy thing evangelicals make members do, they think it's Hashem but it's them; what you're really doing? Most Rabbis I know never heard of it, I figure a Noachide Rabbi might deal with it alot.
Everything that I quote here is written by reliable rabbis and great Torah scholars. They are all Jewish who deal with Noachide Laws. I don't think it is nice to call them "Noachide Rabbis".
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on October 23, 2018, 07:51:54 AM
Based on all this, the public revelation at Mount Sinai is the only indisputable criterion for believing in and accepting Moses’ prophecy and his transmission of God’s teachings – as God said to him, “I will come to you in a thick cloud, so that the people will hear when I speak with you and will also believe in you forever.” Thus, the faith in God’s appointment of Moses is undeniable for as long as the Jewish people and their Torah exist, which is forever, and this faith is not based on any miracle that Moses performed. Such a unique testimony to a group of millions of people is impossible to refute, because each overlapping generation serves as the witness to the next generation. Before his death, Moses wrote these events in the first Torah scroll, which God dictated to him, and he made identical copies of that scroll for each of the twelve Jewish Tribes who had personally witnessed and verified the very events which are written there. (Deuteronomy 31:9) Thus it is written, “The Torah that Moses commanded us is the heritage of the Congregation of Jacob.” (Deuteronomy 33:4) (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 57)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on October 24, 2018, 05:46:03 AM
Therefore, if a supposed prophet arises and attempts to dispute or nullify anything in the prophecy of the Torah of Moses (even if he performs great miracles in support of his claim), he should not be believed or heeded. We would know with certainty that his message is false, and that he performed his alleged “miracles” through either magic or sorcery or deception. This conclusion is definite, because the prophecy of Moses was established as true for all time, based on the open revelation of God and His appointment of Moses which occurred publicly at Mount Sinai. In accordance with this, the Torah states about a false prophet: “[Even] if the sign or the wonder comes about, of which he spoke to you, saying, ‘Let us follow gods of others that you did not know, and we shall worship them!’ - do not hearken to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of a dream, for the Lord your God is testing you ...” (Deuteronomy, 13:3-4) The false prophet is coming with signs and wonders to deny what the entire Jewish people know to be true, for their entire population saw it with their own eyes and heard with their own ears, and also verified that it was correctly recorded in the Torah and passed down through all the generations. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 57-58)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on October 25, 2018, 06:49:04 AM
Once the person passes this test,125 and he fulfills the characteristics of a prophet, we are not to continue testing him every time he gives a new instruction, or when he gives instructions to another group of people in another place. Rather, everyone is obligated to follow the instructions which he gives from then on, as long as he continues to display the characteristics of a prophet, although it isn’t known whether the additional wonders he performs (if any) are in fact Divine miracles.

125 The nonoccurence of a negative event that was prophesied to happen does not disqualify the person who said it in God’s Name from being a true prophet. For a negative prophecy may subsequently be annulled through God’s mercy, or in response to repentance of the people who have been warned by God of the consequences of their bad ways. This is what happened for the repentant people of city of Nineveh, as told in the Book of Jonah. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 58)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on October 26, 2018, 07:30:04 AM
If so, what is meant by the Torah’s statement: “I will establish a prophet for them from among their brethren, like you [Moses], and I will place My words in his mouth; he shall speak to them everything I command him”? (Deuteronomy 18:18) A true prophet is not being sent by God to establish a new or different faith, but rather to instruct the people to fulfill their existing commandments in the Torah of Moses, and to warn against transgressing them. Thus, it was declared in the last book of the Prophets: ”Remember the Torah of Moses, My servant.” (Malachi 3:22)

It may be that a prophet will be sent by God to instruct certain people to do something which in that situation is neither commanded nor forbidden by Torah Law, for example: “Go to such and such a place” or “Do not go there; “Go out to war” or “Do not go out to war;” “Build up a wall” or “Remove this wall.” If he has been established as a prophet, it is obligatory to follow his instructions. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 60)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on October 27, 2018, 05:26:42 AM
If, however, anyone claims to prophesy that a Torah commandment has been nullified forever, he is a false prophet, for the Torah has told us: “[it is] for us and our children forever, to carry out all the words of this Torah.” (Deuteronomy 29:28) The same applies if someone prophesies that a Torah law which was transmitted as an Oral Tradition from Moses at Mount Sinai is now permanently nullified. In both cases, he is a false prophet and is liable for a capital sin. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 61)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Israel Chai on October 28, 2018, 04:54:04 PM
If, however, anyone claims to prophesy that a Torah commandment has been nullified forever, he is a false prophet, for the Torah has told us: “[it is] for us and our children forever, to carry out all the words of this Torah.” (Deuteronomy 29:28) The same applies if someone prophesies that a Torah law which was transmitted as an Oral Tradition from Moses at Mount Sinai is now permanently nullified. In both cases, he is a false prophet and is liable for a capital sin. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 61)

I hate that it calls them false prophet because it associates them with prophets. There were false prophets back in the day who did get real prophesy and would just say fake ones to look cool also. There needs to be a derogatory word to refer to them while making it clear they have no relation to prophets.
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on October 29, 2018, 07:05:55 AM
I hate that it calls them false prophet because it associates them with prophets. There were false prophets back in the day who did get real prophesy and would just say fake ones to look cool also. There needs to be a derogatory word to refer to them while making it clear they have no relation to prophets.
Ok, you can have your own opinion. I can imagine that you bombard your Rabbi with questions all the time.  :)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on October 29, 2018, 07:53:01 AM
This service to God is not an effortless task. The difficulty to overcome in contemplating the existence of God is that any knowledge that a person attains only comes to him in the context of what he can experience physically, through the senses of sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch. In other words, a person pictures in his mind, and hears in the thoughts of his understanding, his concept of the matters he learns. Therefore, his knowledge is framed in the context of his own physical existence, surroundings and experiences. As a person contemplates and brings his knowledge of a matter into a more pure and abstract conceptualization and wisdom, his grasp of it will extend, broaden and deepen. But it will never depart totally from being connected to a physical context, because a living person always remains a limited physical being, whereas God cannot be grasped in the context of any human senses. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 64-65)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Hrvatski Noahid on October 29, 2018, 09:13:23 AM
God cannot be grasped in the context of any human senses. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 64-65)

Yes and no. We cannot grasp G-d with human senses now. But the entire Jewish people heard the Divine voice with their own ears.
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on October 30, 2018, 04:54:10 AM
I apologize to Israel Chai, I overreacted with "you bombard your Rabbi with questions".
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on October 30, 2018, 04:55:44 AM
Yes and no. We cannot grasp G-d with human senses now. But the entire Jewish people heard the Divine voice with their own ears.
Indeed. good point.
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on October 30, 2018, 07:46:01 AM
One of the ways to approach this, which is simple and easily accessible to human perception, is to contemplate God’s existence through the analogy of the body and soul of a person. This is the intent of the verse, “From my flesh I perceive God,” (Job 19:26) which means, “Through contemplating my body and its being kept alive by my soul, which together constitute an ‘image of God,’ I can gain understanding and perception of the living God Himself.”

A body on its own has no life, for without the soul which give it life at every moment, it would die. This is not just in reference to the life of the body in general. It also applies to the power bestowed by the individual faculties of the soul, which emanate from its essence and work through the individual bodily functions. The ability of the eye to see, the ability of ear to hear, and all the other faculties of the body (when those organs are in physically correct condition), cannot function unless the power from the corresponding faculties of the soul is resting in and effecting those parts of the body. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 65-66)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Israel Chai on October 30, 2018, 09:36:52 AM
I apologize to Israel Chai, I overreacted with "you bombard your Rabbi with questions".

I totally bombard 5 with questions. I'm desperate to learn.
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on October 31, 2018, 08:44:46 AM
The Torah teaches that the creation is like a macrocosm of the body, and without the life-force from God that shines into it, it could not exist for a moment. At its essence, the spirit of life in the universe – which is revealed to us through the functioning of the different powers that are always present in nature – is the creative power of God that gives existence and life to the creation, including everything in the natural world. These powers, such as the constant power in the soil to bring forth vegetation, show that there is a general life-force for the whole world, which maintains the world in existence. The natural powers that we find revealed in the world are extensions of the essential life-force it receives from God, just as the extension of the soul’s various powers from its essence serves to give life to the body and animate its numerous individual faculties. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 66)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on November 01, 2018, 08:05:06 AM
In addition, one can contemplate upon himself and recognize that his body, which is a temporary thing, is secondary and nullified to his soul, since a person’s entire life-force, emotions and intellect comes from the soul alone. Therefore, by its nature the body submits itself to follow the directives of the soul (one’s will and desires) without opposition, as it is clear that body has no life of its own without the soul. This contemplation is obvious to a person’s perception of the matter, and therefore easy to perform, since a conscious person feels the fact that he is alive, and his life flows constantly from his soul. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 66)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on November 02, 2018, 06:13:55 AM
One should also contemplate that his body and soul are only details of the general macrocosm which includes the whole world, and that the body’s life is a microcosm of the greater life-force for the whole world, which has many levels – inanimate creations, plant life, animal life and human beings, with countless details in each one. This general life-force emanates from God’s existence through His creative speech and gives life to every living being and keeps everything in the creation in existence every moment. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 66-67)

Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on November 03, 2018, 06:13:33 AM
Another detail in this contemplation is understood from the analogy that small details in a painting become nullified to the bigger picture in which they are found. A person can recognize that he is but a small detail of the all-inclusive life-force of the whole creation, which in turn is nullified to the existence of the omniscient God. This nullification is infinitely more so than a word of speech from a person, which is nothing in comparison to the entire breadth and depth of his intellect, which is nothing in comparison to the powers of his soul itself. Yet in spite of this, God Himself chooses and cherishes each individual person, and stands over him and watches and analyses each detail of the person’s thoughts, words, actions and attitudes, and creates the world for his sake. Therefore, the goal for every person should be to live his life in a way that is correct and good in God’s eyes, with the conduct of his body befitting the Godly nature of the general life-force of creation, and God’s desire for it. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 67)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on November 04, 2018, 08:18:18 AM
Why is this? A person is healthy when all parts of his body and their functions are correctly connected and coordinated. Likewise, the spiritual health of the creation is dependent on the coordination of the individual natural powers within it (including the powers of one’s own soul), working together as parts of the general life-force that emanates from God’s will and desire. A person should conduct his life as being one of God’s functions, intended to improve and uplift the people and the society around him, and the creation as whole. Then, he will not imagine that he is a separate power from God, or removed from the Divine source of life. If that were so, God forbid, the world would be in a condition like an ailing person; this is the meaning of “From my flesh I perceive God.” (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 67-68)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on November 05, 2018, 08:18:15 AM
One should not think that giving life to the whole creation is the limit of God’s greatness. Rather, He does this only because He desires to reveal Himself to human perception as directing the world with Divine Providence. In truth, His greatness and gloriousness infinitely excel, beyond comparison, His bestowal of life-force and Providence – which itself is far beyond what is revealed and understandable to human beings. Furthermore, the world itself is considered completely naught before Him, as explained in Chapter 1 of the First Gate, in regard to God’s “Requisite Existence”) (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 68)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on November 06, 2018, 05:24:44 AM
From the leopard, which uses its boldness for its survival, a person should learn to be bold in the service of God (which is necessary for his spiritual survival), whenever he needs boldness “to do the will of your Father in Heaven.” Therefore, one should not be ashamed or bashful when faced with people who scoff at him for serving God and doing the righteous thing. Even though humility is a good trait in general, and brashness in general is a vile trait, nevertheless, for the purpose of doing the right thing in the face of challenges, it is incumbent upon a person to learn from the nature that God put in the leopard. With this he can motivate himself to be bold whenever his natural tendency is to feel embarrassment about other people’s denigrating thoughts or comments when they see he is rejecting sin and holding on to moral ways. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 70)

Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on November 07, 2018, 06:00:54 AM
From the eagle, which uses its lightness to fly high with ease and swiftness to find and obtain its needs, a person should learn to move easily from place to place, and from one situation to the next, to do virtuous deeds and to be removed from wrong places and situations. One should not be heavy and lazy, and think that once he has already settled or fallen into a certain situation or level, it is acceptable to stay there. Rather, he should learn from the eagle to move on and fly higher in his own ways and in his service to God. A central theme in this is that a person should guard and focus his eyes to only look at good things. Physically, his eyes should dart away and reject sights of immodest and sinful behaviors, both in the outside world and in the world he brings inside through the Internet, movies and television, etc. And in his mind’s eye, he should not look for evil in those around him, but rather look for their good qualities from the outset and give people the benefit of the doubt. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 70-71)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on November 08, 2018, 06:46:35 AM
From the deer, which is renowned for its swiftness, a person should learn to always be swift and zealous to do good deeds and stay far away from sins. As soon as an opportunity to do a good deed presents itself, a person should swiftly accomplish it and not procrastinate – as the sage Ben Azzai said, “Run to [do even] an easy mitzvah (a commandment or good deed), and flee from transgression, for one mitzvah brings about another, and one transgression brings about another;”154 and as the sage Hillel said, “Do not say, ‘When I have free time, I will study [Torah],’ for you may never have free time.”155 The long-term goal of this contemplation is to habituate oneself to run after good deeds, even pushing oneself to do so, until it becomes second nature. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 71)



154 Ethics of the Fathers 4:2

155 Ethics of the Fathers 2:4
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on November 09, 2018, 07:18:35 AM
From the lion, which has great strength and is not afraid of any creature, a person should learn to have strength of heart and not be afraid of any opposition in the world – not those who oppose God’s Laws and the ways of justice and goodness, nor one’s own evil inclination which does the same – when he truly knows what God desires from him in any situation. So too, Rabbi Eliezer taught his young son, Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov, of blessed memory, “My dearest son, … never fear anyone or anything except the Holy One, blessed be He!” (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 71)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on November 10, 2018, 05:57:31 AM
It is a principle in Torah that “from the positive, one can infer the negative.” Just as one can learn good traits from some animals to use in serving God, He put other traits into animals that should be viewed as negative and far below the dignity of any human being. A person can apply those standards as well, in both his private and social ways. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 71)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on November 11, 2018, 04:12:51 AM
Almost all of the Seven Noahide Laws are negative commandments (things not to do), with the exception of one that is a positive commandment (something to do): Establishing Courts of Justice (Dinim in Hebrew). This is in contrast to the Torah Law for Jews, which includes many positive commandments. Even the one positive Noahide Law to establish courts of justice is not a specific physical action, since it is mainly focused on the overall formation of a just society, establishment of just laws, and the prevention of wrong-doing. It is mainly a societal norm, rather than spelling out the actions that are required to fulfill the obligation (although there are offshoots of the commandment of Dinim that include actions, such as giving children a good education, etc.) In general, the Noahide Laws do not include the same type of positive commandments as those in which Jews are obligated (for which the obligation itself has specific criteria, such as wearing tzitzit fringes, putting on tefillin, blowing a shofar, etc.) (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 82)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Hrvatski Noahid on November 11, 2018, 08:32:21 AM
Almost all of the Seven Noahide Laws are negative commandments (things not to do), with the exception of one that is a positive commandment (something to do).

They are given as prohibitions, but each Noahide Commandment has a positive aspect. The positive aspects include some of the most important Noahide commands: the command to recognize and know G-d, the command to fear G-d and so on.     
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on November 12, 2018, 04:13:08 AM
Yes and no. They are given as prohibitions, but each Noahide Commandment has a positive aspect. The positive aspects include some of the most important Noahide commands: the command to recognize and know G-d, the command to fear G-d and so on.   
This is true. In fact I have seen on some sites where Seven Commandments are presented through list of positive aspects, like: respect the sanctity of marriage, respect for the sanctity of human life, be kind to animals, respect other people property etc.
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on November 12, 2018, 06:02:19 AM
For Jews, since they are commanded by God to pray to Him on a daily basis, it is possible that the action of praying is the most important part of the requirement (and even a lack of intention while praying does not constitute a complete deficiency). But for Gentiles, it is clear that the action of praying to God is not the main part of the requirement, since there is no specific commandment that a Gentile must perform it. Rather, the main component in God’s eyes is the Gentile’s intention in his prayer. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 82)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on November 13, 2018, 05:27:25 AM
For a Gentile, there is no actual holiness in one’s action, in and of itself. Rather, the value of the action in God’s eyes is based on the intention of the person who does it for a specific purpose, such as for the honor of the Creator, for the benefit of others, for the benefit of his own wellbeing, or for some moral purpose. Nevertheless, every person should accustom himself to habitually do good deeds and act in good ways. Even if good actions are done by rote, or out of habit, they are still considered good actions! This is because the person maintains an overall general intention to do good in his life, even if he doesn’t bring a thought about this to the forefront of his mind at the time that he is doing the good deed. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 83-84)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on November 14, 2018, 07:33:15 AM
The way to avoid slipping into performing actions without proper feelings or intentions is to apply the following practices on a constant basis, or as much as possible: make an effort to be alert to opportunities for doing good deeds; become accustomed to good behavior, and constantly be mindful of your actions and examine them thoroughly, while making sure the intentions behind them are good. By doing so, the person becomes complete in his actions, his emotions, and his ways of thinking. All his faculties thereby become unified in the kind, beneficial actions that he desires to be involved with, as much as possible. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 84)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on November 15, 2018, 07:37:33 AM
This positive personal completion and unification brings one to a higher level, which is experiencing and maintaining happiness in the service of God.

It is a general principle that when a person experiences happiness, at that time he is personally unified with his situation. (For example: even if he is in the midst of doing something he does not enjoy or care about, and then he suddenly receives very good news, he will temporarily separate from the activity that he doesn’t enjoy, and unify his attention with thinking about the good news. Then for as long as he maintains that unity, he will be in a state of happiness.) The opposite is also true. If a person is unhappy, it is clear that his heart and thoughts are not unified with the thing that is occupying his attention. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 84)

Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on November 16, 2018, 04:44:24 AM
Thus, even if a person is piously doing good deeds in the service of God, he may be fully dedicated to this but not experiencing happiness. When he realizes and contemplates that what he is involved with is truly for his own good, he will become more personally unified with his service, and the proof of this will be seen in his greater happiness.

The same result can be achieved with an alternative approach. When a person accustoms himself to performing good actions and good behaviors with happiness, his happiness has the effect of bringing him to be inwardly unified with his feelings and intentions for serving God. This is higher nature of a person: the ability to accustom oneself to doing good actions as a matter of habit, until he is complete and unified with them to the point that they become his second nature. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 84)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on November 17, 2018, 06:58:24 AM
One should be attentive to the cleanliness of his body before he begins to pray, which most importantly means that one should not pray while having the urge to relieve himself. Rather, one should first take note and relieve oneself if he needs to do so, then wash his hands, and only then pray afterwards. In fact, every time a person prays, he should first clean his hands by washing them with water (or at least by wiping them with a cloth, if no water is available), whether or not he has relieved himself just beforehand.

One should not pray in an unrespectable place – not in an area of filth, or in a bathhouse, or near a garbage dump, or in an area with a foul smell – and should not be facing such an area when he prays. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 86)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on November 19, 2018, 07:31:40 AM
It is fitting for a person to establish a set place for praying (even in his own home, to make private place for prayer), and this area should be respectable. It is even more fitting to pray in an area that has been set aside for the public to pray, if it is nondenominational or consistent with the Torah’s principles. (But if a person happens to be in a house of idol worship, it is forbidden to pray there, and one should be careful not to use prayers that were composed by idol worshipers for their liturgies.) (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 86)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on November 19, 2018, 07:32:40 AM
A person should not pray in messy clothes or while he is lacking clothing. If the people in that area would not appear before an eminent person without wearing shoes, he should not pray barefoot. For both men and women, it is not proper to pray with bare arms or legs, as that is immodest; instead, one should be clothed respectably, and surely should not pray while naked or nearly so. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 86-87)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on November 20, 2018, 06:58:28 AM
It is befitting that every Noahide set time aside for prayer, but there does not have to be any specific time for the prayers. Rather, it is dependent on the current feelings and capability of the person. There are those who feel the need to pray several times a day, during the daytime and at night, and therefore they should. There are others who can suffice with praying once a day. For some, even that is more than they need, and they are not able to have enough concentration if they pray that often, so they find it sufficient to pray once a week.

It is a pious practice (if a person can conform to this) to have a set time dedicated for prayer, once every day. If one is not able to set a time for prayer on a daily basis, then he should set a time for prayer on the less frequent schedule which he can observe, such as once or twice a week. The time which is most fitting for this regular prayer is in the morning, at the beginning of one’s day. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 87)

Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on November 21, 2018, 07:14:58 AM
It is better to pray with a group of people who are coming together for worship to the One God, if that is available (unless one finds that it makes it more difficult for him to concentrate), because their collective merit assists each person’s prayers to be more readily acceptable to God. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 88)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on November 22, 2018, 05:48:28 AM
Therefore, a person should be very careful with speech, and should cultivate restraint in speaking, except with regard to matters of knowledge or things that are necessary for his physical welfare.

On this point, the sage Rabbi Shimon ben Gamliel said, “I did not find anything better for one’s person than silence; … and whoever engages in excessive talk brings on sin.”

Similarly, when speaking about matters of knowledge, one’s words should be brief, but rich in content and focused. In contrast, if one’s words are many and the content scant, that is foolishness, about which it is stated, “The dream comes with a multitude of subjects, and the voice of the fool with a multitude of words.” Likewise, Rabbi Akiva said, “Silence is a safeguard for wisdom.”

Therefore, one should not hasten to answer, nor speak at length. If he is a teacher, he should teach his students in calm and tranquility, without shouting or wordiness. This is what Solomon stated: “The words of the wise are heard in tranquility.” (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 98)

Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on November 23, 2018, 05:51:01 AM
A person is forbidden to act in a smooth-tongued and luring manner. He should not speak one thing outwardly and think otherwise in his heart. Rather, his inner self should be like the way he presents himself to the world. What he feels in his heart should be the same as the words on his lips. Therefore, it is forbidden to deceive people. For example, one should not press his colleague to share meal with him when he knows that his colleague will not accept the invitation, nor should he push presents upon him when he knows that his colleague will not accept them. He should not open honorable drinks supposedly for his colleague, which he is opening anyway for his own purposes, in order to deceive his colleague into thinking that they have been opened in his honor. The same applies with all matters of this sort. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 98-99)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on November 24, 2018, 05:31:53 AM
One should neither be constantly laughing and a jester, nor sad and depressed. Instead, one should be happy with his lot in life. Our sages declared, “Jesting and frivolity accustom on to lewdness.” They also directed that a man should not laugh without control, nor be sad and mournful, but receive everyone in a friendly manner. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 99)

Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on November 25, 2018, 12:05:43 PM
A person might say, “Since envy, lust, the pursuit of honor, and the like, are wrong path and drive a person from the world, I shall separate from them to a very great degree and move away from them to the opposite extreme.” For example, he will not eat meat, nor drink wine, nor live in a pleasant home, nor wear fine clothing, but, rather, wear sackcloth and coarse wool and the like – just as the pagan priests do. This, too, is a bad path, and it is forbidden to go in that way. Whoever follows this path is called a sinner. Therefore, our sages directed that a person should abstain only from those things which the Torah denies him, and should not forbid himself from partaking of permitted things by making vows and oaths of abstinence. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 99)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Israel Chai on November 25, 2018, 09:43:16 PM
A person might say, “Since envy, lust, the pursuit of honor, and the like, are wrong path and drive a person from the world, I shall separate from them to a very great degree and move away from them to the opposite extreme.” For example, he will not eat meat, nor drink wine, nor live in a pleasant home, nor wear fine clothing, but, rather, wear sackcloth and coarse wool and the like – just as the pagan priests do. This, too, is a bad path, and it is forbidden to go in that way. Whoever follows this path is called a sinner. Therefore, our sages directed that a person should abstain only from those things which the Torah denies him, and should not forbid himself from partaking of permitted things by making vows and oaths of abstinence. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 99)

The Alter Rebbe saw a Chassid back when doing this kinda self torture thing they though was lovely back then, and he asked him "why are you robbing Hashem of his food". Hashem [doesn't not] enjoy when you enjoy.
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on November 26, 2018, 03:35:29 AM
The Alter Rebbe saw a Chassid back when doing this kinda self torture thing they though was lovely back then, and he asked him "why are you robbing Hashem of his food". Hashem [doesn't not] enjoy when you enjoy.
This is good example. I think that self torture could be seen more in xtianity, it is not a Jewish thing. Altough I have heard that even religious Jews sometimes do this.
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on November 26, 2018, 06:44:16 AM
Just as there are specific boundaries that were instituted by the sages to distance the general public from certain sins, they also taught that one should observe personal boundaries for himself individually. For example, most people naturally desire to attain monetary wealth, to the point of actively contemplating whether to steal something which belongs to another person. One who feels drawn to this trait should set personal boundaries for himself, so as not to be involved in theft.

Similarly, if one feels a desire to eat flesh from a living animal, he should not even eat the blood of a living animal, or he should eat less meat, in order to lessen the desire. He should continue in this way to train himself to become distant from this lust. This is comparable to someone who is genetically susceptible to alcoholism, and who enjoys alcoholic drinks, who should limit himself so as not to get drunk. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 102)

Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on November 27, 2018, 09:02:52 AM
The Torah’s standard of modest dressing for women is that the torso would be completely covered with a high neckline, with the arms covered past the elbows, and the legs covered past the knees. These are requirements for Jewish women, but only guidelines (i.e. not strictly required) for Gentile women. Where it is an accepted local custom, a Gentile woman is permitted to wear pants if they at least cover the knees (even when she is sitting down), and they are not immodest. For example, they should not be tight-fitting or otherwise enticing. It is especially pious for a Gentile woman to wear a dress or skirt outfit that is modest above and below. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 105)

Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on November 28, 2018, 05:28:10 AM
As part of being modest in one’s involvements, one must acquire the trait of being satisfied with his lot, and should only desire for himself that which is necessary for the needs of his body and soul. One should not covet the possessions of those who are more wealthy, which are not necessary for him. A person who does so will have a happy and good life, whereas one who desires excesses will not have peace or happiness, because he is always desiring more than he has. The sages have said, “One who has a hundred wants two hundred, and one who has two hundred wants four hundred.” The result will be that such a person will never have any satisfaction, because he is constantly chasing after more wealth and possessions than what he has already attained.

Included in this is that one should not chase after honor. The sages warned against this, and declared that “envy,lust and honor-seeking drive a person from the world.” (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 105-106)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on November 29, 2018, 05:43:37 AM
How should one be modest in his speech? One should not shout or shriek like an animal while speaking, nor even raise his voice overly much. Instead, he should speak gently to all people. In addition, he should take care not to stand at a distance when he speaks to someone, lest he appear to be like those who are haughty.

He should greet people before they greet him, so they will be pleased with him. He should judge everyone in a good light and speak favorably of others, never mentioning anything about another person that would cause that person to feel shame. He should follow the directive of the sages to “be of the disciples of Aaron [the High Priest], loving peace and pursuing peace.” He should not distort facts, or exaggerate a situation or minimize it, except in the interests of maintaining peace or sparing someone’s feelings, or the like. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 106)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on November 30, 2018, 07:05:51 AM
If he sees that his words will be effective and will be given attention, he should speak; if they will not, he should keep silent. What is implied? He should not try to placate someone who is in the midst of experiencing anger, if it is clear that doing so will cause the person to become even angrier. He should not question someone who is in the midst of making a vow; rather, he should wait until the person’s mind is tranquil and calm. He should not comfort someone whose deceased loved one has not been buried yet, because a mourner is emotionally unsettled until after he has buried his dead. He should not look at a person who is being humiliated, but instead should turn his attention away. The same applies in other similar cases. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 106-107)

Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on December 01, 2018, 05:10:07 AM
In all a person’s ways, he should be very modest – as it says, “Walk discreetly before your God.” Even literally, regarding a person’s manner of walking, he should take care to walk with modesty, and not in a way of haughtiness or attracting attention. One should not walk conceitedly with his nose raised up, nor hunched over. Neither should he run in public like a madman. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 106-107)

Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on December 03, 2018, 05:45:33 AM
From the way a person comports himself, it can be recognized whether he is wise and thoughtful, or mindless and foolish. Thus, Solomon said in his wisdom: “On the road, too, when the fool walks, his mind is empty and he proclaims to all that he is a fool” - i.e., through the emptiness of his personal actions and mannerisms, he informs everyone that he is a fool. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 107)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on December 03, 2018, 05:47:10 AM
Just as a person is influenced by his surroundings, so too, every person has influence on others. It is therefore imperative and an obligation for a person to endeavor to have a good effect on the people around him and his society in general, whenever that is possible. One should respect others and guard their honor, and not be cold or indifferent to them, especially when they are in need of positive influence that he can provide. (The converse of this, claiming to be unqualified or unworthy to help when one is really able to do so, is called “false meekness and humility”). (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 109)

Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on December 04, 2018, 06:24:21 AM
It is an obligation for every person not to hate others, and it is surely forbidden to hate without reason (e.g., on account of a person’s race). Even if one sees actual wrong in someone’s actions or beliefs, he should not hate that person, but instead should endeavor to return the person to the path that is correct according to Torah. If one tries and is rebuffed, he should nevertheless not have any personal hatred toward the person whom he could not return to the right path. Although it is required to distance oneself from a sinner, so as not to be attracted to his bad ways, one should not harbor any hatred toward him, because hatred is also an evil trait that comes from the evil inclination; it leads to disputes, fighting, bigotry, and many other bad things. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 109)

Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on December 05, 2018, 05:46:35 AM
One is, however, obligated to differentiate between people who sin between themselves and God, and do little or no harm to others, versus extremely evil people who cause harm to society and cannot be corrected through any conventional means, such as bringing them to justice or a justified rebuke from the community and its leaders. Those types of evildoers should be hated by as many people as possible, in order that everyone will learn to stay distant from them and from their evil actions. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 109-110)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Hrvatski Noahid on December 05, 2018, 02:29:08 PM
Those types of evildoers should be hated by as many people as possible, in order that everyone will learn to stay distant from them and from their evil actions.

Amen. I am sick and tired of hearing that G-d is love and He does not punish or hate.   
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on December 06, 2018, 03:31:36 AM
Amen. I am sick and tired of hearing that G-d is love and He does not punish or hate.   
Yes, we can sometimes feel His wrath. It is wrong to teach otherwise. I yearn for times when all people will know G-d and feel only His love.
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on December 06, 2018, 05:29:52 AM
When one person wrongs another, the latter should not remain silent. Rather, he should bring it to the attention of the offender and ask him: “Why did you do this to me? Why did you wrong me regarding that matter?” If, afterwards, the person who was at fault asks to be forgiven, he should be forgiven. A person should not harbor ill will and not forgive, as is implied by the verse, “And Abraham prayed to God...”(Genesis 20:17) (to heal Abimelech who had unwittingly wronged him). (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 110)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on December 07, 2018, 06:37:04 AM
As explained in The Divine Code, it is an obligation to rebuke a person for sinning in matters that are forbidden by the Noahide Code, if that could convince him to stop. This follows from the Noahide commandment for Gentiles to establish a just and correct society. Whoever has the opportunity to successfully rebuke a sinner but refrains from doing so, is considered responsible for a sin which he could have prevented, if he would have given the rebuke. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 110)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on December 08, 2018, 06:36:06 AM
Therefore, it is righteous behavior for a person who sees that his fellow has sinned, or is following an improper path, to attempt to correct his behavior and to inform him that he is causing himself a loss by his bad deeds – as it is stated: “You shall surely admonish your fellow ...”(Leviticus 19:17) This applies whether the sinner is of the same, greater, or lesser stature than the person who gives rebuke. However, one is only obligated to admonish a person with whom he is acquainted. If the wrongdoer is a stranger who will hate him for giving the admonishment, and who may take revenge on him, then one need not admonish this person unless it will surely be accepted. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 110)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on December 09, 2018, 06:25:54 AM
A person who rebukes a colleague – whether because of a wrong committed against him, or against another person, or because of a matter between his colleague and God – should rebuke him privately. He should speak to him patiently and gently, informing him that he is only making these statements for his colleague’s own welfare, to help him merit the life of the World to Come. If he accepts the rebuke, it is good; if not, he should rebuke him a second and third time. Indeed, one is obligated to rebuke a colleague who does wrong until the latter strikes him and tells him, “I will not listen,” or a similar statement that implies that he will no longer tolerate being rebuked. When one sees that the sinner is not accepting the rebuke at all, there is no obligation to continue or try harder. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 110-111)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on December 10, 2018, 05:33:28 AM
A person who admonishes a colleague should not speak to him harshly until he becomes embarrassed, as the above-cited verse states (in full), “You shall surely admonish your fellow, and [do] not bear a sin because of him;” i.e., do not admonish him in a way that will embarrass him, for you will bear a sin if you cause him that embarrassment. This applies in private, and how much more so is it forbidden to embarrass him in public. By causing embarrassment, not only is one not having any positive effect on the sinner, but it is instead causing the person to sin even more, since he will not accept the rebuke due to the embarrassment he received, and it also causes more conflict. Thus the verse also implies that the one who embarrasses will bear the responsibility for the additional sins that he causes. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 111)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Hrvatski Noahid on December 11, 2018, 12:33:56 AM
This applies in private, and how much more so is it forbidden to embarrass him in public.

Unless the one rebuking is a true scholar of human nature, who understands that in this particular situation, it is the correct way to influence him to be better, since each situation and person is different.
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on December 11, 2018, 04:22:55 AM
Unless the one rebuking is a true scholar of human nature, who understands that in this particular situation, it is the correct way to influence him to be better, since each situation and person is different.
I would really love to have such a person in my city. But sadly there are no Torah scholars in the place I live. As for rebuking in front of the whole class I think that rabbis rarely use this. Most of them know how sensitive person could be.
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Hrvatski Noahid on December 11, 2018, 05:12:35 AM
I would really love to have such a person in my city. But sadly there are no Torah scholars in the place I live. As for rebuking in front of the whole class I think that rabbis rarely use this. Most of them know how sensitive person could be.

There is a Chabad Rabbi in my city. I met him. 

Again, it depends on the situation and the person. You don't use the same language with good men and Jew-hating scum. 
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on December 11, 2018, 05:56:27 AM
There is a Chabad Rabbi in my city. I met him. 

Again, it depends on the situation and the person. You don't use the same language with good men and Jew-hating scum.
It is true, you cannot use the same the language with everyone.
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on December 11, 2018, 06:11:09 AM
However, in the event that one is wronged by someone who is very boorish or mentally disturbed, it is pious behavior not to admonish the offender or mention the matter at all, and it is better to forgive him totally without bearing any ill feelings. The main concern is that such people will not take correction, and are instead likely to maintain feelings of hate for those who rebuke them. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 111)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on December 12, 2018, 06:48:39 AM
From the outset, a person’s wrongdoings should not be publicized. The prohibition of evil gossip and talebearing applies when it is the intention of the gossiper to harm another person’s body or possessions, or to embarrass him with his words, or even when he simply wants to publicize a matter and has pleasure from doing this to denigrate the person whom it is about. It is, however, permissible to relate a prohibited or negative action committed by a person, privately to someone whom it is proper to tell, who will then be able to influence the wayward person to act in a proper way. This sharing of information is only permitted on the condition that it is done in a way which shows that the intention for doing so is only for the good of the wrongdoer. Nevertheless, when an evil person is a danger to others, it is permissible to publicize his evil character and his evil deeds, if the intention is so that other people will be warned about him and will take care not be harmed by him. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 111-112)

Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on December 13, 2018, 06:35:51 AM
What was Aaron’s method of pursuing peace? When he saw two people arguing, he would approach each one without the other’s knowledge, and would tell him, “See how your colleague is remorseful and feels bad for sinning against you? He asked me to approach you to ask you to forgive him.” Through Aaron’s method, both colleagues would approach and embrace each other. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 114-115)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on December 14, 2018, 05:07:17 AM
How did he love the creatures and draw them close to Torah? When he knew of a person who committed a sin, he would approach him with a pleasant demeanor, greet him and get friendly with him. The sinner would become embarrassed and think to himself, “If this righteous person would know my sinful actions, he would surely distance himself from me, and wouldn’t even look at me or speak to me. But since he must be thinking that I’m an honorable person, I will change my ways in order to be fitting to truly grow close to this righteous person.” In this manner, the sinner would repent and change his ways for the good. Regarding this practice, God says, “In peace and uprightness he [Aaron] went with Me, and he brought back many away from iniquity. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 115)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on December 15, 2018, 05:45:06 AM
The gossiper is not the only one who sins when he spreads his words. The one who listens to the gossip commits a greater sin, since he enables and encourages the gossip to be said to him. Therefore it is forbidden to listen to the gossip, unless he perceives that it is crucial to take heed of the information being relayed, and that is why he listens. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 116)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on December 17, 2018, 06:44:32 AM
There is a much more serious sin than simple gossip, and that is lashon horah (in Hebrew, translated literally as “evil speech”), i.e., relating negative things about another person. This applies even if the things said about the other person are true, and whether or not the person who is being spoken about is present at the time. If saying something about a person would bring any kind of harm to him or his property, or even if it would only embarrass, annoy, or frighten him if he knew it was said, it is considered to be lashon horah. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 117)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on December 17, 2018, 06:45:03 AM
It is forbidden to sit among a gathering of people who regularly relate lashon horah and gossip. If one has the misfortune to be found amongst such a gathering and cannot leave (or cannot be successful in protesting to them to stop the sin they are committing), one should at least not be involved in their talk at all, and not show any approval or satisfaction with this talk, and be steadfast in not accepting that there is truth to any of the gossip being related about other people. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 117)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on December 18, 2018, 05:44:13 AM
A pious person will avoid gossip and lashon horah to the utmost, and will also be careful in all matters of speech. One should not even be involved with the “dust of lashon horah”. This is the expression the sages used to describe negative implications that are spoken about someone, without relating anything specifically, such as: “Who will tell so-and-so that he should always act the way he is acting now?” or “Don’t talk about so-and-so; I don’t want to say what happened!” or the like. The reason is because these insinuating comments will bring others to speak about that person in a negative way, and eventually it will result in evil speech - lashon horah. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 117)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on December 19, 2018, 07:08:05 AM
Similarly, it is also considered to be “dust of lashon horah” when someone speaks favorably about a person in the presence of his enemies, for this will surely prompt them to rebut the praise and speak disparagingly about the person. One should also not thank or praise someone loudly in public, for those who overhear may be drawn to find ways to take advantage of the person. In this regard, King Solomon said: “ He who blesses his friend in a loud voice early in the morning [with loud thanks for favors he did the night before], it shall be considered a curse for him. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 118)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on December 20, 2018, 07:01:25 AM
One should avoid gatherings of frivolous people who sit and speak words of folly, and this certainly applies if they habitually use profanity. Being involved with such things removes a person from the world. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 118)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on December 21, 2018, 06:08:18 AM
Flattering other people should be avoided, for flattery is false and deceiving, and it is improper behavior for an upright person. One who is fearful of a sinner and therefore flatters him does not have proper fear of God, and deserves punishment for doing this. However, if someone is in serious danger from a sinner, and he can escape from the danger by using flattery, it is permitted to do so. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 118)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on December 22, 2018, 04:50:51 AM
Beyond everything that is presented in this chapter, a pious person also endeavors to use his words and influence to promote matters which help establish a moral society. The foremost way to accomplish this is by establishing or supporting institutions and a society overall in which the Torah’s universal lessons of wisdom and good behavior are taught, to students who will go in that path. (And if one is able, he himself should be involved in teaching this, for the sages encouraged pious people to “raise up many disciples.”) For if someone brings many people to be meritorious, then in this merit, no sin will come about through him. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 118-119)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on December 24, 2018, 06:57:42 AM
But if someone brings many people to sin, then he will not be given the opportunity to repent for his sins. In support of this teaching, the sages brought these prime examples:

Moses was meritorious and caused many people to be meritorious, and therefore the merit of the many is attributed to him, as it is stated, “He [Moses] performed the righteousness of God and His ordinances with Israel.” Jeroboam the son of Nevat sinned and caused many people to sin, and therefore the sin of the many is attributed to him; as is stated, “For the sins of Jeroboam, which he sinned and caused Israel to sin.” (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 119)

Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on December 24, 2018, 06:59:18 AM
Honoring parents is commanded in the Torah – as it is stated, “Honor your father and mother,” and, “A man should fear his mother and father.” What is meant by fear of one’s parents? One should not stand or sit in his parents established places, nor argue with them, nor contradict their words in their presence in (regard to mundane matters). A person should not call either of his parents by their first names, but should rather call them by respectful terms for “Father” and “Mother” in accordance with the community’s custom. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 121)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on December 25, 2018, 05:31:22 AM
What is considered honoring one’s parents? When it becomes difficult for one’s parents to shop for themselves, he should bring them proper food, drink, and clothing (paid for from the parents’ resources, if those are adequate). One should assist his parents as needed, and stand respectfully before them. One should also honor his parents with his words, and it should be recognized from his way of talking to them that he respects them highly. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 121-122)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on December 26, 2018, 06:39:41 AM
One who curses, degrades or embarrasses a parent is a sinner and will be punished by Heaven for this sin, as Ham and his son Canaan were punished for disgracing Ham’s father, Noah. Therefore, even if one’s parents vex him, he should remain silent and not embarrass them. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 122)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on December 27, 2018, 06:08:24 AM
One is obligated to honor his wife, and concern himself for her welfare. The sages said, “A man’s house is blessed solely due to his wife.” When there is peace, love and trust between a couple, blessing and success shine in the house. By the same token, a wife is obligated to honor her husband. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 122)

Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on December 28, 2018, 06:36:06 AM
As part of the due respect between the couple, they should consult between themselves in conducting the affairs of the home, including the raising and education of their children, with true partnership.275 As a general statement, the sages said, “Who is honorable? One who honors the creations”276 (i.e., he even honors people whose only apparent praise is that they are creations of God). Surely, then, spouses must honor each other, both in private and in public.277

275 This assumes that both parents are believers in the One God. If one of the parents is an idol worshiper or an atheist, the God-fearing parent should make every effort in a respectful way to be the decider of the religious and moral education of the children, in accordance with Torah principles for righteous Gentiles.

276 Ethics of the Fathers 4:1

277 If one spouse dishonors the other in public, that is like a person who degrades his own self in public. Especially, a man who dishonors his wife should be considered dishonorable in the eyes of other people. A spouse who cannot honor the other partner should seek the advice of upright friends, or a professional marriage counselor. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 122)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Hrvatski Noahid on December 28, 2018, 05:37:54 PM
If one of the parents is an idol worshiper or an atheist, the God-fearing parent should make every effort in a respectful way to be the decider of the religious and moral education of the children, in accordance with Torah principles for righteous Gentiles.

And the other partner is obligated to divorce and separate.
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Hrvatski Noahid on December 28, 2018, 05:57:02 PM
One should assist his parents as needed, and stand respectfully before them.

If one has evil parents, he must stay away from them.   
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on December 29, 2018, 04:55:25 AM
And the other partner is obligated to divorce and separate.
Yes, we can find this difference between Divine Code and Seven Gates. Sometimes it is not easy to leave your children and parents tend to stay together. But I agree that it is the right way to divorce.
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Hrvatski Noahid on December 29, 2018, 05:19:01 AM
Yes, we can find this difference between Divine Code and Seven Gates. Sometimes it is not easy to leave your children and parents tend to stay together. But I agree that it is the right way to divorce.

I like that Torah allows divorce. If you made a mistake, you should not suffer for the rest of your life.
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on December 29, 2018, 09:24:11 AM
I like that Torah allows divorce. If you made a mistake, you should not suffer for the rest of your life.
I like this too. I like that Torah allows Gentile marriage without proper contract by having intimate relations for the purpose of marriage.
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on December 29, 2018, 09:25:30 AM
One should not be ungracious to God, and should instead give thanks to Him and praise Him for all the good He has bestowed upon him, especially for the greatest gift God gives a person – his children.

Both parents are obligated to be scrupulous regarding the raising of their children so that they should grow up in a proper manner: going in the ways of God, with good character traits and proper views that are consistent with Torah values about the world and their own lives. Parents should be vigilant that their children do not befriend anyone who would have bad influence on them. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 123)

Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on December 31, 2018, 06:40:39 AM
It is obligatory for a person to ensure that his sons and daughters are each taught a useful trade, commensurate with their individual abilities, so they will be able to live honorably and not have to depend on public assistance. The sages said, “One who does not teach his son a trade, is as if he taught him to be a thief.” (Tractate Kiddushin 29a) (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 123)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on December 31, 2018, 06:41:17 AM
It is proper for one to give money to his sons and daughters, even if they are past the age of maturity, in a way that directs them in an upright path and helps them to become self-supportive. The sages said, “One who gives money to his sons and daughters to learn a trade, and similarly one who provides food to his father and his mother, is included among those who give charity.” (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 123)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on January 01, 2019, 06:22:55 AM
God praised Abraham for guiding his children and his followers in this way, as God said about him: “For I have known him, because he commands his children and his household after him, that they shall keep the path of God, to perform charity and justice, so that God will bring upon Abraham that which He spoke about him.”(Genesis 18:19) This refers to the promises and blessings which God gave to Abraham. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 123)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on January 02, 2019, 05:34:17 AM
It is explained in The Divine Code that Gentiles are obligated to give charity and do acts of kindness, to be concerned for the welfare of the poor and unfortunate, and give to them aid. One who gives proper charity is acting piously; he is acting in accordance with the image of God in which he is created, for this is also the conduct of the Creator, Blessed be He. The sages said, “Just as the Holy One, blessed be He, is called Merciful, so should you be merciful; just as He is called Gracious, so should you be gracious ...” (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 124)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Israel Chai on January 02, 2019, 08:54:58 AM
It is explained in The Divine Code that Gentiles are obligated to give charity and do acts of kindness, to be concerned for the welfare of the poor and unfortunate, and give to them aid. One who gives proper charity is acting piously; he is acting in accordance with the image of God in which he is created, for this is also the conduct of the Creator, Blessed be He. The sages said, “Just as the Holy One, blessed be He, is called Merciful, so should you be merciful; just as He is called Gracious, so should you be gracious ...” (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 124)

There are levels of charity. If kiddush is empty, maybe spending more on moshke is the answer, maybe spending it on kiruv is, or maybe you should be freeing the captive with your time. Just like in business, innovation and originality leads to success and the profits don't disappear from your account forever.
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Israel Chai on January 02, 2019, 09:01:46 AM
In an attempt to potentially demystify my words, if you can look at the one receiving the blessing from the act of you giving money to a guy on the street as you, then the holy business you're undertaking is sitting on the street collecting heaven money, and if you start an organization that puts people's time into it, it's like you started a company that makes heaven profits and the next examples I'm not smart enough to write in a way that's not too cryptic but maybe someone holier can get the picture and help out.
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on January 03, 2019, 07:20:30 AM
In an attempt to potentially demystify my words, if you can look at the one receiving the blessing from the act of you giving money to a guy on the street as you, then the holy business you're undertaking is sitting on the street collecting heaven money, and if you start an organization that puts people's time into it, it's like you started a company that makes heaven profits and the next examples I'm not smart enough to write in a way that's not too cryptic but maybe someone holier can get the picture and help out.
My idea is to help people in the way you can. Someone is not in the situation to give charity so he can help with the act of kindness. After all there was a quote in the Divine Code Daily Dose thread: An act of kindness is greater than charity, as it can be done for the rich as well as the poor, and can be done both with money as well as bodily effort (such as visiting the sick, gladdening a bride and groom, and escorting a friend). As well, charity is done only for the living, whereas one can do kindness for the dead as well (such as eulogizing, escorting the bier and burying the dead) (the Divine Code by Rabbi Moshe Weiner, Ask Noah International, 2018, p 695).
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on January 03, 2019, 07:21:31 AM
The focal point of kindness is giving charity to the poor. It is the hallmark of a pious person to be charitable with the needy, and for a Gentile this is truly pious behavior, for he is going beyond the measure of the law in his relationship with both God and his fellowman. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 124)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on January 04, 2019, 07:19:31 AM
One who gives charity to a poor person should not do so unpleasantly or with his face down. Instead, he should give the charity with a pleasant countenance and cheerfulness, yet commiserating with the poor person troubles – as Job said, “Did I not weep for those who face difficult times; did not my soul feel sorrow for the destitute?” (Job 30:25) This is an attribute of God – as it is stated, “So said [God], the High and Exalted One, … ‘I abide in exaltedness and holiness, but I am with the [people who are] despondent and lowly of spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the despondent.’ “ (Isaiah 57:15) (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 124)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on January 05, 2019, 06:09:57 AM
If one is asked by a poor person for charity and has nothing to give, he should conciliate him with words. One should not scold a poor person or raise one’s voice against him and shout, because his heart is broken and crushed, and therefore God is with him – as it is stated, “a contrite and broken heart, God, You do not disdain.”(Psalms 51:19) (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 124)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on January 06, 2019, 05:51:27 AM
A pious person who gives charity should not seek to be honored for doing so. It is admirable to give charity secretly, so that the poor recipient will not feel shamed. There is no greater giver of charity than God, Who gives existence to the whole world at every moment, and He does so secretly, hiding His Presence from the mortal recipients of His kindness. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 125)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on January 07, 2019, 06:48:05 AM
The highest level of charity occurs when a person supports someone who has fallen into poverty by giving him a present or a loan that he will use to achieve a steady livelihood. Giving money is not even required, if the poor person is given the advice he needs, or a job or a partnership, that will bring him to be self-sufficient. It is a great merit to help others find work that will sustain them comfortably and honorably. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 125)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on January 08, 2019, 06:36:38 AM
Why is this greater than any other form of charity? A poor person who accepts handouts is embarrassed by doing this, but for one who receives help or a loan that allows him to begin an occupation, he has been saved from falling to that level. Instead, he feels honorable and not disgraced, because he will be able to repay the loan, and he will be supporting himself. Therefore, one who gives help in this manner has not only given charity, but also honor as well, and he does kindness by sparing the recipient from embarrassment and degradation. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 125)

Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on January 09, 2019, 06:50:32 AM
Also included in doing this level of charity and kindness is one who finds a successful match between a man and a woman to join in marriage, and then helps them to establish their home. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 125)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on January 10, 2019, 05:53:28 AM
Other traits of kindness that God displayed in the Torah are: clothing the naked (for Adam and Hava), visiting the sick (for Abraham), comforting the bereaved (for Isaac), and burying the dead (for Moses). God also demonstrated the kindness of providing for the needs of a new couple ( Adam and Hava) in their marriage. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 125)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on January 11, 2019, 06:21:41 AM
Inviting guests was a main characteristic and method of kindness displayed by Abraham. He would bring in people who were traveling through the desert, and give them sumptuous food and drink (and accommodations if they needed), and he would then escort them on their way. The following episode teaches that hospitality to guests is a greater spiritual accomplishment than receiving God’s Presence: The Torah relates, “And God appeared to him [Abraham] … and he saw; and behold, three men were standing before him … and he ran toward them [to invite them].”(Genesis 18:1-2) Abraham was sitting in communion with God, yet he asked God to wait for him while he ran to invite the “men” (who were angels in disguise) to be his guests.
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on January 12, 2019, 06:34:30 AM
One who escorts a guest who is leaving on his way has done a greater deed than one who has invited him in and fed him. The sages said: “one who does not escort a guest on his way is as if he had shed blood.” The cited measure for escorting is at least four cubits (6-8 feet) outside of the home. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 126)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on January 14, 2019, 07:10:44 AM
The culmination of all one’s good traits is expressed in the trait of doing kindness for others, and it is the correct trait that rises above all the others.

It is a pious trait and a wise path for a person to be merciful and pursue righteousness, and not be overbearing, even towards one’s subordinates. One should not pain them or cause them trouble. The early righteous ones would give their servants a portion of every food they would eat, and would feed their animals and servants before they themselves began to eat. This behavior is in accordance with the verse, “Indeed, as the eyes of servants are turned to the hand of their masters, as the eyes of a maidservant to the hand of her mistress, so are our eyes turned to the Lord our God, until He will be gracious to us. Be gracious to us, Lord, be gracious to us ...” (Psalms 123:2-3) (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 126)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on January 14, 2019, 07:11:36 AM
One should not yell or get angry at one’s subordinates, but should rather speak with them gently and listen to their grievances. Job strived to act in this manner – as it says, “If I ever spurned justice for my servants and maid servants when they contended with me; then what could I do when God would rise up [to examine my ways], and when He would make an accounting of me, what could I answer Him? Did not the One Who made me in the womb make him [my servant] too, and did not One form us both in the womb?” (Job 31:13-15) This surely applies to one’s interaction with other people, and it reflects a trait of God that we should emulate – as it says, “The Lord is good to all, and His mercies are over all His works.” (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 126)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on January 15, 2019, 08:37:42 AM
The sages said, “Similar to the measure that one acts, it is measured to him;” i.e., in the same way a person acts in his own wrongdoings, and in the way he acts toward others, God acts correspondingly toward him. This is said regarding a person’s wrong behavior, and it applies even more so to the corrects behavior of a pious and wise person. One who has mercy on others will receive mercy from God; one who forgives and pardons others will also receive God’s forgiveness and pardon; and one who judges others favorably will be judged favorably. This will be granted to him, measure for measure, even if he retains some wrong tendencies. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 128)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on January 16, 2019, 05:54:20 AM
The sages taught, “One is obligated to say a blessing [to God] over bad tidings, just as he says a blessing over good tidings.” For the truth is that whatever God does in the world is good – as it says, “Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that evil and good emanate?” (Lamentations 3:38) This means that God is always in full control and everything is from Him, and no evil happens. Rather, our perception of an event as bad is only based on our shortsightedness and limited understanding. The truth is that what we perceive as a bad event is in essence a kindness from God, and it is such a powerful good that it cannot be openly revealed, for it cannot yet be grasped by the severely limited ability and frame of reference of our human minds. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 130)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on January 17, 2019, 06:43:44 AM
The general nature of tests from God can be divided into two categories: a test of attraction to spiritual evil (a temptation to sin), or a test of physical hardship:

1.A test of spiritual evil comes from one’s evil inclination, which endeavors to make a person sin. Included in this category are a person’s challenges from seeing other individuals sinning, or seeing his general society being engaged in forbidden activities. One is drawn to be like them and joined with them by acting in concert with their sinful ways.

Part of this test comes from the questions: “Why are evil people successful? Why does God hide His face from showing truth and justice in the world? Why does He not grant success to righteous people, or punish and hinder the evildoers?”

Another part of this test is that many people endeavor to attain much honor and riches, yet they do not know how to use these things for good and correct purposes; instead, they use them for negative ends. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 130)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on January 18, 2019, 08:19:34 AM
2.One can be tested by challenges in life – the hardships of earning a livelihood, or physical problems or loss of loved ones, or natural disasters, or any other types of tribulations that come upon people. These are all difficult tests, and the question arises in the person’s heart: “Why is this happening to me?”

When a person has difficulty during a challenge, it may go against his nature to stand strong in his faith and trust in the Creator, and at the same time, his evil inclination brings him to question whether he is going in a correct path or not in his service of God. Furthermore, when one’s faculties are weakened by troubles, it is hard to be strong-minded. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 130-131)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on January 19, 2019, 04:34:57 AM
The Godly purpose in any of the abovementioned tests is to uplift the person. Who is greater example for us than Abraham? He was the first and only person to discover the One True God completely on his own. He then contended for many years against all the world’s idolatrous societies to convince them that there is only one God who directs everything, and that all idols and idol worship are false. Yet this righteous and pious person was tested by God with ten harsh challenges. Abraham withstood them all, and with this God showed how greatly he loved Him. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 131)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on January 20, 2019, 06:33:05 AM
A person may wrongly think, “Perhaps I am not capable and fitting to do the service which God commands for me, and therefore God is afflicting me with hardships.” The person should instead ask, “If God Himself testified in the Torah about Abraham’s right and correct path and pureness of heart, then why did he receive these ten bitter and harsh tests?”

Rather, through being tested, Abraham reached much loftier spiritual levels than he could have reached on his own. Because of God’s love for Abraham, He tested him and raised him above his worldly limitations and natural traits, through leading him to refine his conduct in the face of great adversity. God did this to demonstrate to Abraham and the people of all subsequent generations, how true were his faith and trust and his commitment to following the One God’s instructions in all of his ways. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 131)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on January 21, 2019, 08:58:07 AM
Maimonides identified Abraham’s ten tests as the following difficulties that he faced (his name was Abram until God changed it to Abraham in Genesis 17:5):

1. God’s command to Abram to leave his homeland and travel to sojourn in another country, without telling him where that would be, as God said to him, “Go for yourself from your land, from your birthplace, and from your father’s house, to the land that I will show you.”(Genesis 12:1)

2. The famine that occurred in the Land of Canaan when he arrived there – as it says, “And there was a famine in the land, and Abram descended to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was severe in the land.”(Genesis 12:10) This happened despite the fact that God had promised him, “And I will make you into a great nation...”(Genesis 12:2) He was faced with the exact opposite of what God had told him – he became impoverished and afflicted by the famine in the land that God led him to, and this was an immense test. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 131-132)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on January 22, 2019, 07:20:24 AM
3. The oppression he suffered from the Egyptians when they took his wife Sarai (whom God later renamed as Sarah) and brought her to the pharaoh. (Genesis 12:15)

4. His battle with the armies of the four kings who kidnapped his nephew Lot. (Genesis 14:14-15)

5. Heeding Sarai’s instructions to take her handmaid Hagar as a second wife, after Sarai’s sterility continued, (Genesis 16:1-3) even though he was promised by God that he would have a child in his old age. (Genesis 15:4)

6. His circumcision at the old age of 99, which God commanded him to do. (Genesis 17:24)

7. The oppression he suffered when Abimelech, the Philistine king of Gerar, took Sarah away from him. (Genesis 20:2) (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 132)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on January 23, 2019, 05:23:54 AM
8. Being impelled by God to follow his wife Sarah’s instructions to send away his concubine Hagar into the desert, along with Ishmael, his son whom he had with her. (Genesis 21:10-12)

9. Being instructed by God at that time to distance himself from Ishmael, despite his fatherly love for him – as God commanded him, “Do not be distressed over the lad ...”(Genesis 21:12) The preceding verse testifies how disturbing this matter was to Abraham (“The matter greatly distressed Abraham, regarding his son”), yet he still followed Sarah’s instructions as God told him to do, and expelled Hagar and Ishmael.

10. Swiftly following God’s request that he offer Isaac, his most beloved son, as a sacrifice to Him. (Genesis 22:1-10) (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 133)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on January 24, 2019, 07:01:15 AM
One should contemplate that as much as Abraham was pious and trusted God, and had faith in Him, he was still tested repeatedly by such difficult tests as these, which the average person would have no power to withstand. Why did God test him this way, so many times? It was because He wanted to demonstrate His love for Abraham. He wanted to show all people (and Abraham himself as well) how close he was to God, to the extent that he cleaved to God with all his might under difficult circumstances. Abraham did not weigh any nor all of his tribulations and challenging experiences – whatever they were – against his faith and trust in God. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 133)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on January 25, 2019, 05:53:18 AM
A trouble that comes upon a community results from their sins as a community. For example, the community in general may be accepting of a particular serious sin or immoral behavior that many of the people there commit regularly as their normal way of acting. Some examples in the Hebrew Bible are: the generations of the Flood and the Tower of Babel; the metropolis around Sodom in the days of Abraham; the city of Nineveh in the days of the prophet Jonah; and the Land of Israel in the days of the prophet Joel. If the people admit their wrongdoing, stop the sinful behavior that caused this, and collectively repent, they will be forgiven and the trouble will be averted, as it happened for the people of Nineveh. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 134-135)

Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on January 26, 2019, 06:02:45 AM
This is not the same as in the case of trouble that occurs to an individual. If it is God’s will and wisdom that an individual person is to receive distress, then if he prays and repents and fixes his ways – and especially if other individuals also pray for God to help this person – then it is possible that God in His mercy will remove the trouble. But it is also possible that God in His wisdom made it a firm decree that will not be removed, even if this person prays and repents to the utmost of his (limited) ability. Even if his prayer is not fully granted, God may ease his trouble what it would have been otherwise. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 135)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on January 27, 2019, 06:24:35 AM
Regardless, it is still obligatory to endeavor to better one’s ways, repent, and pray to God to be saved from the distress , because in either case, the person needs to draw closer to God through all of that Divine service for his own benefit. The merit he earns from doing this will bring him a reward from God, either during his physical life or in his spiritual afterlife. At the same time, by enduring his troubles with faith that it is all for the best, they will provide an amount of atonement for his sins. It is a fundamental principle that trouble is administered by God to cleanse a person’s soul, and although it is temporary painful, this knowledge itself should help the person to endure the pain and remain thankful to God for the blessings that he has. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 135)

Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on January 28, 2019, 06:51:41 AM
On a very simple level, one can understand this concept based on an analogy with the beneficial function of physical pain that accompanies an injury or illness. If a person did not feel pain, he would not know that he was injured or sick, and he would not realize that he must act as soon as possible to get the proper treatment or begin a healthier lifestyle, in order to preserve his life and health. The purpose of God’s creation of the bodily function of feeling pain is not for the sake of the pain itself, God forbid, and not so that it should continue without relief. Rather, it is the body’s “alarm system” to notify the person that his body needs healing. Likewise, troubles and pain also serve as a spiritual “alarm system” to alert the person to honestly examine and improve his ways, and that God is desiring for the person to come closer to Him with faith and repentance. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 135-136)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on January 29, 2019, 06:37:07 AM
The trust and faith that everything comes from God, Who only does good, and that He is together with a person in all harsh situations, will help a person to accept his difficulties with more tranquility. (The very fact that people in the world still experience pain and suffering is due to the mystical truth that God’s Divine Presence in the world, the Shechinah, is still suffering along with us in our temporary condition of spiritual exile and the continuing destruction of His dwelling place, the Holy Temple in Jerusalem.) When a person in distress recognizes the connection he has with God’s Presence, he can receive his situation with cheerfulness – as it says, “Happy is the man whom you chasten.” And because he knows that everything comes from God and is for his ultimate benefit, whether in this world or in his afterlife, this happiness turns his perception of his pains and troubles into good, which is in fact the true reality of their hidden source within the Supernal Good. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 136-137)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on January 30, 2019, 06:16:17 AM
Just as all things that God does for a person are for his good, a person should know that whatever desires God puts into his heart through his evil inclination are also for good. The evil inclination, which tries to seduce him to sin, is not part of his inner essence, but is like a bad spirit that rests in the person to test him. (This mode of our existence began with the temptation and fall of Adam and Hava on the day of their creation in the Garden of Eden, in accordance with God’s plan.) (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 137-138)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on January 31, 2019, 06:29:29 AM
It is for the benefit of a person to fight against his bad inclination and subdue and control it, for this reveals his inner powers and the image of God within him. Through this ongoing battle he will merit to become a pious servant of God, blessed be He, like a soldier who serves valiantly on the field of battle for the defense and love of his homeland. It is only through this war with one’s internal evil that one can awaken his inner powers to beseech God for His help in this effort and to become ever closer to Him, as explained above regarding Abraham’s tests. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 138)

Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on February 01, 2019, 06:32:37 AM
A pious person should contemplate the fact that every “bad” occurrence also comes from God. It may be that on a revealed level it is connected with an apparently “random” course of events, such as sickness or the forces of nature. Or it may be that another person abused him, for God gives life to the abuser as well, and also directs the specific harm he does. For even though the person who is causing the trouble has the freedom of choice to abuse or not (and he will therefore be punished by God for choosing to commit this sin, if he does not properly repent), nevertheless, it was already decreed by God that the victim would undergo this suffering. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 141)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on February 02, 2019, 05:29:34 AM
Thus is the way of those who are pious, to act kindly and to empathize with the pain and troubles of other people. Whoever sees a friend in pain and hides from him is a sinner, and certainly that is not the way of the pious. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 142)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on February 03, 2019, 06:05:12 AM
Nevertheless, one should learn from the lesson of Job’s four friends, how not to speak to a person who is suffering, while he is being tested and his faith is being challenged. When they heard of his illness and tribulations, they all came with the initial good intention to comfort him and encourage him to the best of their abilities. ( For when a person is beset with suffering, his friends feel pained by that as well and want to help.) But in the case of Job’s friends, three of them failed to do so, and instead spoke to him hurtfully and without wisdom – as it says, “They found no answer and condemned Job.” The fourth spoke with wisdom, but he did so in anger and with his voice raised. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 142)

Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on February 04, 2019, 05:41:07 AM
One must remember that the purpose of visiting people during their illness or distress is to show them support and pray for them, and beg God to grant them mercy. By visiting someone who is in distress, one can also best find out how to help fix the unfortunate situation, and to give gentle good advice for how the person can help himself with a wise plan of action or by improving his ways, or the like. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 142)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on February 05, 2019, 03:18:45 AM
Conversely, depression is a harsh and bad trait, which hinders a person’s ability to serve God and have success in life, to the point that one can generally consider a fall into depression as a scheme of the evil inclination (as opposed to those for whom it is a chronic clinical medical condition, which is not discussed here).

Therefore, one must distance oneself from depression to the utmost, knowing that this is not the path of serving God. On the contrary, it makes one fall into the schemes of the evil inclination and give in to hedonistic pleasures of the physical world. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 143)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on February 06, 2019, 08:14:55 AM
A person should contemplate and recognize the source of depression. If it comes from physical hardship, one should contemplate the matters elucidated earlier in this section, based on the verse, “Happy is the man whom You chasten” - that one should be happy with the knowledge that everything comes from God and is for his ultimate benefit, although it is sometimes hidden from human comprehension. Through this one will believe and accept that this suffering comes from God for his good, which thereby eases the hardship, as explained earlier. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 143)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on February 07, 2019, 08:17:02 AM
If the depression results from the hardship of one’s spiritual standing (e.g. that the person is unable to overcome his evil inclination or the like), or that he had previously erred and done many sins, causing his heart to be broken, he should contemplate that the depression is only another scheme of the evil inclination. After it seduces a person to sin, it endeavors to cause him to completely give up hope in his effort to be righteous, so that through falling step by step, he will become subjugated to his sinful desires. This is the way of warring nations: part of the battle is psychological warfare, in which one side tries to convince the other that it has no chance of winning, in order that its forces will weaken and grow fearful, and be defeated more easily.

Regarding this tactic of the evil inclination, King David said: “I have become wise from my enemies” - i.e., I will learn the ways and tactics of my enemies in order to be victorious over them. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 143-144)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on February 08, 2019, 05:26:47 AM
The depression that comes from the evil inclination occurred with the first evil acts that were perpetrated by human beings in the world. It occurred to Cain, when he saw that his sacrifice to God was not accepted, despite the fact that his brother Abel’s sacrifice was accepted. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 144)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on February 09, 2019, 07:03:57 AM
“And the Lord said to Cain: ‘Why are you annoyed, and why has your countenance fallen?’ [i.e. Why are you falling into depression?] ‘Is it not true that if you do well, you will be forgiven? But if you do not improve [yourself], at the entrance [of your grave], sin crouches; its longing is toward you;’ [ i.e. The evil inclination desires to make you sin, and therefore it begins by seducing you to frustration. Then it continues to endeavor to subdue you with depression that will cause you to despair. But if you sincerely try, although it is a challenge,] ‘yet you can rule over it.’ [i.e. you, and not the evil inclination, are master over your body and your actions.]

This teaches that it is in your power to improve and not despair, but if you continue in the way of depression once it starts, you will fall prey to the plan of the evil inclination, which will continue to succeed in causing you to sin. (That is what actually did occur to Cain: he allowed his depression and jealousy to continue until it brought him to fall into much greater sin of killing his brother Abel.) (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 144-145)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on February 10, 2019, 06:07:50 AM
However, there is a small advantage that one can draw out from a bout of depression if it happens due to one’s hardship or lack of success in spiritual matters (described above) or material matters. The advantage is achieved by transferring the depression into a feeling of bitterness over the distance one has put between himself and God, by falling prey to mundane distractions which are akin to actual idolatry. The bitterness will cause one to abhor the triviality of one’s mundane life, with its meaningless chasing after physical pleasures and honor. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 145)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on February 11, 2019, 07:58:24 AM
One must be careful that the temporary bitterness which is aroused will bring only positive awakening, a renewed spirit and hopefulness in the heart (which is the opposite of depression, that instead results in despair, dullness and spiritual death). With this awakening, one can demand from himself that he abandon his pursuit of honor and worldly pleasures. Then the true positive purpose for this bitterness will be achieved, to motivate the person to take action and return to God. Then he should not retain it, God forbid, but rather replace it with the true joy that results from it, which is the joy of coming back under the “wings of the Divine Presence.” (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 145)

Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on February 12, 2019, 09:25:00 AM
The effectiveness of sincere repentance to God as an antidote for past sins can be seen in the case of the Gentile population of the Biblical city of Nineveh, as it says in the Book of Jonah:

And the word of God came to Jonah son of Amittai, saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh, the great city, and proclaim against it, for their wickedness has come before Me.” … Jonah began to enter into the city … and he proclaimed and said, “In another forty days Nineveh will be overturned!” And the people of Nineveh believed in God … it was proclaimed and declared throughout Nineveh by the counsel of the king and his nobles, saying: … “Both man and animal shall cover themselves with sackcloth, and they shall call out mightily to God. Everyone shall repent of his evil way and of the robbery that is in their hands.”… And God saw their deeds, that they repented of their evil way; and God relented concerning the evil He had spoken to them, and He did not do it. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 147-148)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on February 13, 2019, 05:15:59 AM
A person should not think that repentance is only necessary for sins that involve speech or deeds, such as slander, idolatry, promiscuity, or theft. Rather, just as a person is obligated to repent from those types of sins, similarly, he must search out and strive to correct his bad character traits, whether he has them inherently or he learned them from others. He must turn away and repent from anger, hatred, envy, frivolity, greediness, honor-seeking, gluttony and the like.

These bad character traits are more difficult to abandon and repent for than those that involve deeds. If a person is attached to any of these bad traits, it is more difficult for him to separate himself from them. In this context it says, “May the wicked abandon his path, and the crooked man his designs, and he should return to God and He will have mercy on him, and to God, for His forgiveness is bountiful.” (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 152)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on February 14, 2019, 06:39:43 AM
If the sins committed by the people of a country are exceedingly numerous and extreme, God will bring it to oblivion, by destruction or by events that nullify their national identity. This is exemplified in God’s statement to Abraham about the verdict He was placing upon the wicked people of Sodom and its surrounding metropolis:”And God said, ‘Since the outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah has become great, and since their sin has become very grave; I will descend now and see, whether they have done according to the cry of it, which has come before Me – [I will bring] destruction, and if not, I will know.” This implies that God would examine the sins of each and every person, and that His righteous judgment would ensure that any righteous people in that population would be saved, even if they were only a small minority. God assured Abraham about this when He responded to Abraham’s request and prayer that He consider any righteous people before His verdict for the population’s destruction was sealed. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 154)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on February 15, 2019, 07:23:57 AM
In regard to the entire world as well, if the sins of humanity would become exceedingly greater than their merits, the wicked would be destroyed, as happened to the generation of the Flood. The wicked would perish, and the righteous would be saved, as were Noah and his family, as it is written, “God saw the evil of mankind was great … and God said: ‘I will wash away man’ … But Noah found favor in the eyes of God.’”(Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 154-155)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on February 16, 2019, 06:46:18 AM
A person who regrets good actions he has done and discredits his merits, saying in his heart, “What difference does it make that I have done them? I wish I had never done them,” loses those merits, and does not receive a reward for any of them, as the verse says, “… The righteousness of the righteous will not save him on the day of his transgression ...” (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 155)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on February 17, 2019, 06:09:33 AM
This judgment of individuals, communities and nations occurs every year at the beginning of year in the Hebrew calendar, which is the day of Rosh Hashanah – the first day of the month of Tishrei, which falls in September or early October. That is also when God, the King of the Universe, determines what the lot in life will be in the year ahead, for all people and all living creatures. God administers this judgment with mercy, for He allows a person’s repentance, prayer and charity to avert the strictness of His decree, and those efforts by a person are especially effective in the 30 days before Rosh HaShanah. Even after Rosh HaShanah, a person can repent and be forgiven for the sins for which he was judged on Rosh HaShanah, and he can be shielded from punishment by doing more deeds of goodness, kindness and charity. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 157)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on February 18, 2019, 06:50:48 AM
All of this applies while a person is still alive. When a person dies, there is no more opportunity for repentance, and his soul is given its summary judgment in the Heavenly Court. If in the balance of merits and unrepentant sins it is found to be righteous, it immediately merits to enter its place of spiritual paradise in the Heavenly firmaments, where righteous souls receive their reward for their service to God during their life on earth. If in the balance it is found to be sinful, it descends to Gehinom , which is the spiritual Purgatory. After the sinful soul is purged of its unrepented transgressions in Gehinom, it then ascends to its spiritual paradise to receive the reward for its merits. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 157)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on February 19, 2019, 05:49:16 AM
It remains to explain God’s judgment of a beinoni soul, at the intermediate level described above, whose unrepented sins are exactly balanced with its merits. If it does not have a sin of forbidden relations as part of its unrepented transgressions, then God, in His abundant kindness, turns the soul’s balanced judgment to the side of righteousness and raises it to its spiritual paradise. But if it has a sin of forbidden relations as part of its unrepented transgressions, God’s judgment tips to the opposite side, and the soul is assigned to Gehinom because of its sins. After the soul is cleansed there, it then rises to receive its reward in its spiritual paradise. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 157-158)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on February 20, 2019, 07:10:05 AM
Tractate Rosh Hashanah 17a. Maimonides, in Laws of Repentance, ch.3, states that among Gentiles, only the pious have a share in the World to Come. It appears that he is including only those who observe all the Seven Noahide Laws as Divine commandments given by God through Moses at Mount Sinai, as he explains in Laws of Kings 8:11. In more detail, a Gentile who accepts the Torah’s Seven Noahide Laws as his commandments, and accepts belief in the One God and the yoke of His Kingship, is guaranteed a share in the future World to Come, which will begin with the general resurrection of the righteous. If a person with this faith happens to infrequently transgress some of the Noahide Laws because of enticement from his evil inclination (and not on account of rejecting God’s Kingship over him and/or the faith that the Noahide Laws are from God), he is still recognized by God as being Pious Gentile. Thus, on the one hand, a person may be judged by God to be generally pious in regard to having merit to receive a place in the future World to Come. But this does not change the fact that when he passes away, his soul is judged at that time according the principles described in this chapter, as to whether, in the balance, he was righteous, intermediate or sinful (with only the unrepented sins being considered) (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 157-158)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on February 21, 2019, 05:55:39 AM
There are also some people who are so bad that they have no portion in the future World to Come, and also no spiritual reward before that, in their afterlife. On account of their serious deliberate, rebellious, and unrepentant sins, the good deeds they did are not enough to tip their scale to the side of receiving any spiritual reward, even temporarily. Rather, their souls will be cut off forever from experiencing God’s Presence. After their death, their souls are repaid in Gehinom for their unrepented sins and for remaining in their evil natures and attitudes throughout their lives. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 160-161)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on February 22, 2019, 04:39:00 AM
Five types of people are in the category of a “deviant believer”:

(a) one who says there is no deity, and the universe is not overseen;

(b) one who maintains that there are two or more gods;

(c) one who accepts that there is only one god, but having a body or form;

(d) one who maintains that God was not the only First Existence and the Creator of everything, but rather there was a continuously existing primordial matter from which God formed the world;

(e) one who worships/serves and idol (or a star or constellation, or some other entity), having in mind that it will serve as an intermediary (a shituf in Hebrew) between him and God. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 162-163)

Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on February 23, 2019, 06:39:48 AM
Three types of people are in the category of a “scorner”:

(a) one who maintains that there is no prophecy at all and no communication of knowledge from God to the hearts of individuals;

(b) one who denies the prophecy of Moses our teacher;

(c) one who maintains that God does not know the actions of people. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 163)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on February 24, 2019, 07:32:34 AM
Three types of people are in the category of a “denier of the Torah”:

a) one who maintains that any of the commandments from the Torah scroll, or any of its text, are not from God (even if he nevertheless observes some or all of the commandments that are possible for him to observe, doing so because they seem to him to be logical or beneficial). This applies even if he holds that some of the commandments in the Torah came from Moses himself (from Moses own intellect) instead of being from God;

b) one who maintains that the Oral Torah and its explanations of the Torah’s commandments originated not from God, but rather from Moses himself or from some other person(s). This applies even if he says that the Written Torah and its commandments were from God;

c) one who maintains that God replaced any of the commandments He gave through Moses with another later commandment, or that His original Torah and commandments were later nullified. (This includes those who say that the “original” Torah which was given through Moses was true and from God, but it was later nullified, changed, or replaced). (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 163)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on February 25, 2019, 06:26:50 AM
The category of one who causes large numbers of people to sin includes:

(a) those who cause the people to commit a severe sin, like Jeroboam in the Book of I Kings, who caused the Ten Tribes to worship idols;

(b) those who cause the people to commit even a slight sin, even if it is only the nullification of a positive command.

These include both those who force people to sin, and those who entice them to sin and lead them astray. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 164)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on February 26, 2019, 05:59:55 AM
One who cruelly imposes fear upon large numbers of people is one who persecutes the community oppressively until they are very afraid of him, and he intends for this to enhance his own status, with no intention for increasing the honor of God. (This has often been the case for dictators or idol-worshipping kings, and it is similar to the category of those who bring large numbers of people to sin.) (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 164)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on February 27, 2019, 07:07:07 AM
This principle is a fundamental concept and a pillar of the Torah and its mitzvot, as these verses state: “See, I have set before you today a blessing and a curse. The blessing that you will heed the commandments of the Lord, your God, … And the curse, if you will not heed the commandments of the Lord, your God,” implying that the choice to do good or bad, according to your desire, is in your hands. The Creator does not compel or decree that people will do either good or bad. Rather, that is left to a person’s own choice. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 166)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on February 28, 2019, 07:27:22 AM
If God were to decree that an individual would be righteous or bad, or that there would be a quality that draws a person by his essential nature to any particular path of behavior, way of thinking, attributes, or deeds (which many of the fools believe are preordained by astrology), how could He command us through the words of His prophets such thing as, “Do this,” “Do not do this,” “Improve your behavior,” or “Do not follow after your own wickedness”? According to their mistaken conception, from the beginning of a person’s creation, it wold be decreed upon him, or his fixed nature would draw him, to a particular quality that he could not depart from. If this were so, what place would there be for the entire Torah? According to what judgment or sense of justice could retribution be administered to the wicked or reward bestowed the righteous? This was expressed by Abraham when he conversed with God: “It would be sacrilege to You … to put to death the righteous with the wicked, so the righteous should be like the wicked. It would be sacrilege to You! Will the Judge of the entire earth not perform justice?” (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 166)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on March 01, 2019, 06:54:33 AM
There are many verses in the Torah and the Books of the Prophets that appear at first glance to contradict the principle of free will for human beings, which is fundamental. Thus, many people err on account of those verses, and they think that a person’s heart is not given over to him to direct it toward any path he desires. They also wrongly think that the Holy One, blessed be He, decrees upon a person to do good or commit evil. Therefore, it is important to explain a fundamental principle, on the basis of which the correct interpretation of those verses can be understood. This is the principle of how God may punish a person during his life in this world for freely choosing to commit bad actions.

When a person consciously and willfully transgress against God’s Law, it is proper for God to give a punishment, as explained. The Holy One, blessed be He, knows how to perfectly determine the correct and just punishment for an unrepented sin. The same applies to the people of a country who transgress collectively. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 168)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on March 02, 2019, 04:26:28 AM
It may be that a person will commit such a great sin, or so many sins, without repenting, that God will then respond by not granting him an opportunity to repent from the bad ways that he has freely chosen to follow. Then when the sinner eventually dies, his soul will be “cut off” because of the seriousness of the unrepentant sins that he committed against God. This is implied in the words of the Holy One, blessed be He, which were related by Isaiah: “Fatten the heart of this people, harden its ears, and seal its eyes, lest it see with it eyes, hear with its ears and understand with its heart, so that it will repent and be healed.” Similarly, it is stated, “But they mocked the messengers of God, scorned His words, and scoffed at His prophets, until the anger of the Lord mounted up against His people until there was no remedy.” This verse means that the people willingly sinned and multiplied their iniquity until it was determined by God to hold back their repentance, which is referred to as the “remedy”. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 169)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on March 03, 2019, 06:55:55 AM
In conclusion, the Almighty did not decree that Pharaoh would oppress the Israelites, or that the Canaanites would perform abominable sexual acts and idolatry, or that the Israelites would worship idols. They all repeatedly committed great sins in open defiance of God on their own initiative, until God finally responded by restraining their repentance when it came time for Him to judge and punish them. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 171)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on March 04, 2019, 08:43:20 AM
Likewise, we find David’s statement: “God is good and upright, therefore, He instructs sinners in the path. He guides the humble in the path of justice and teaches the humble His way.” This means that God shows people the path of Truth, to encourage them to repent to Him. (This is seen many times in the Hebrew Bible, when God sent His prophets to inform people of the correct path, and how to be righteous and repentant). It was for that purpose that the words of Moses, the greatest of the Hebrew prophets, were recorded for the posterity of all mankind. Furthermore, it implies that God grants people the ability to learn and understand what He expects from them. This ability is present in everyone who is intellectually and mentally sound, so that as long as a person follows the ways of the wisdom and righteousness that are set out in the Hebrew Bible, he will desire them and pursue them. This may be inferred from the statement of the sages of blessed memory: “One who comes to purify himself is assisted [by God]; i.e., he finds that God is helping him in his effort to purify his ways. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 171-172)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on March 05, 2019, 05:21:59 AM
The retribution for the wicked is that they will not merit this eternal life of pure good and revealed Godliness. Rather, their souls will eventually be cut off from their source of spiritual life from God, and thus automatically die, in a similar fashion as the beasts that have no afterlife. This is the meaning of the Divine punishment known as karet (“cut off”) for specific severe sins within God’s Law, which appears many times in the Torah with the statement: “that soul shall ‘surely be cut off’ (hikaret tikaret).” Regarding the repetition of the verb in that verse, the Oral Tradition explains: hikaret means to be cut off in this world, and tikaret means to be cut off in the World to Come. After the souls that are judged to receive karet become separated from their bodies in this world, they will not merit to have the resurrected life of the World to Come. Rather, even in the World to Come they will be cut off. For Gentiles, the sins that incur karet are unrepented deliberate transgression of any of the specific Seven Noahide Commandments, or willful rejection of the fundamentals of acceptance of the One God and the Torah of Moses. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 174)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on March 06, 2019, 07:32:57 AM
It is written in the Talmud, “In the World to Come, there is neither eating, drinking, nor sexual relations. Rather, the righteous will sit with their crowns on their heads and delight in the radiance of the Divine Presence.” Maimonides gave the following explanation:

“… the phrase, ‘their crowns on their heads,’ is [a metaphor, implying] that they will know the [inner meanings of the Torah] knowledge that they grasped [during their lives] … This will be their crown. [Further support that the ‘crowns’ will not be physical is found in the prophecy:] ‘Eternal joy will be upon their heads.’ Joy is not a physical entity that can rest on a head. Similarly, the expression ‘crown’ used [there] by the sages refers to knowledge [which is a spiritual concept]. What is meant by the expression, ‘delight in the radiance of the Divine Presence’? They will know and grasp the [hidden] truths of Godliness …” (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 175)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on March 07, 2019, 06:49:03 AM
The future World to Come has never been seen except by God Himself, as Isaiah declared (64:3), “No eye has seen it but Yours, oh God.” Its actual state of being was therefore left open to differences of opinion. By explaining the words of the Talmud in a completely spiritual context, Maimonides was bringing support for his opinion that the ultimate World to Come will be entirely spiritual, and that the righteous who merit it will exist there only as purified souls with no physical bodies, after a temporary period of physical resurrection. However, other Rishonim sages – including Nachmanides (see Sha’ar HaGmul) and Ra’avad (see his commentary on Mishneh Torah, ibid.) - as well as the Chassidic masters, strongly disagreed and maintained that in the ultimate World to Come, the Essence of God will be revealed eternally to the righteous while they exist as souls living in their resurrected physical bodies, in the physical world. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 175)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on March 08, 2019, 05:59:26 AM
There is no way in this world to accurately grasp and comprehend the ultimate good that the soul will experience in the World to Come. We only know the good we can experience now, and that is what we desire. In contrast, the future ultimate good is overwhelmingly great and cannot be compared to the good of this world, except in a metaphoric sense. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 176)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on March 09, 2019, 07:55:14 AM
How very much did David desire the life of the World to Come, as implied by the verse: “Had I not believed that I would see the goodness of God in the land of the living!” This was also implied by Isaiah’s statement:”No eye has ever seen, O God, except for You, what You will do for those who wait for You.” By this he meant that the future good, which was stored away by God for those who serve and wait for Him, has never been able to be perceived by the vision of any prophet, because it is too exalted to be perceived by any created being in the present world. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 177)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on March 10, 2019, 05:57:30 AM
Torah: The Hebrew word Torah means “instruction”. This is the revelation of God’s will and His ways to human beings, teaching the way by which they can make the world into a place that is worthy for His Essence to be dwelling in, openly and permanently. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 177)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on March 11, 2019, 07:28:54 AM
Repentance: This word in Hebrew is teshuvah, which literally means “return”. It is the process by which a person recognizes his true spiritual standing – how he has distanced himself from God – and he is therefore motivated to correct himself and his ways to thereby restore the bond of his soul with his Creator – as the verse implies: “And the spirit will return to God Who gave it [within a person].” This means that a person’s spirit [his soul] will return to its connection with God, its Creator, to achieve the closest bond it can have with the Divine Presence while living within this world. About this process of personal repentance, the prophet said, “Let the wicked abandon his way, and the man of iniquity his thoughts; let him return to God, and He will have compassion upon him; and [let him return] to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.” Teshuvah in its essence – coming personally closer to God – applies at all times, and even to a person who has never sinned. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 178-179)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on March 12, 2019, 07:50:25 AM
Gehinom and Gan Eden : These are the spiritual Purgatory and the highest spiritual Paradise, respectively, and both of them have numerous levels. These are where a departed may receive its due punishment and cleansing from unrepented sins, or its due spiritual reward, after being judged by God.

At a time in the future, Gehinom will end and the souls in Gan Eden will return to physical bodies in the World to Come. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 179)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on March 13, 2019, 07:56:52 AM
The Throne of Glory: This is the spiritual manifestation of God’s kingship over the creation. By making this known and famous worldwide through the visions He granted to His Biblical prophets, God rightfully demands that in every generation, mankind in general – and every individual – must recognize His omniscient Kingship, and accept the yoke of His commandments that He gave in His Torah (those for Jews and those for Gentiles). (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 179)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on March 14, 2019, 08:07:55 AM
The Holy Temple: This is God’s House – His chosen place for the most open revelation of His Divine Presence in the world. The spiritual bond of the creation and its Creator is consummated through the service in the Holy Temple, which He commanded in Leviticus. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 179)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on March 15, 2019, 08:35:39 AM
The name of the Messiah: The Messiah (Moshiach in Hebrew) will be Jewish by birth and a direct patrilineal descendant of King David’s son Solomon. He will be chosen by God to teach all people to fulfill God’s will, and to rectify the world so that mankind as a whole will serve only God – as it is written, “And God shall become King over all the earth; on that day shall God be One, and His Name One.” Moshiach will complete the purpose of creation – the process which was begun by the righteous Patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob – to spread the knowledge of the Oneness of God to all people throughout the world. (Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge by Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Ask Noah International, 2017, p 180)
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on March 15, 2019, 08:36:24 AM
Here I finish quoting this great book. It was a pleasure. I enjoyed every moment. If I find some good book and have some free time I will quote again.
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Hrvatski Noahid on March 15, 2019, 08:27:04 PM
Here I finish quoting this great book. It was a pleasure. I enjoyed every moment. If I find some good book and have some free time I will quote again.

Well done, brother! May HaShem bless you for your great work!
Title: Re: Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge
Post by: Noachide on March 16, 2019, 04:59:02 AM
Well done, brother! May HaShem bless you for your great work!
Thank you, brother! Quoting Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge made me really happy.