Torah and Jewish Idea > Torah and Jewish Idea
Gentiles and Mitzvahs
genteelgentile:
I was searching out websites that list and explain the 613 Commandments that Jews are supposed to follow. Now, what I am wondering is why are non Jews not required or even forbidden to follow them? Where I am coming from is the idea that Judaism is the "Light Unto All Nations." That means to me that Jews should set a good example. If we are to follow that example, why not let us incorporate such commandments into our lives. Thank you for any info.
kahaneloyalist:
I will try to explain through an example; I try to be a good Jew and with all my heart I wish to serve Hashem in the Beit HaMikdash, bringing Karbonot and maintaining the Menorah, but I will never do this, because I am not a Levi or a Cohen. It is not my place, it is not my role and if I would bring a Karbon like a Cohen I would rightly be executed.
So to for the Goyim, Hashem gave 7 commandments incumbent on the rest of humanity. One of the duties of Benai Yisrael is to teach the Sheva Mitzvot Benai Noach to the nations, that is one of the ways we fufill the command to be a light unto the nations. But if a Goy tries to perform the Mitzvot from the Torah they are taking upon themselves things they have no right to, and which will drive them to evil as it will be too much for them and bring them to reject all goodness.
adam613:
To be honest here if a nonjew wants to keep kosher they can. They only case this exists the death penalty (which has no basis from biblical sources)is with Shabbos. As to why there are differing opinions. Some believe it was only because at that time there was animosity between Jews and Christians and Jews were afraid of christians imitating their practices for bad purposes. It should also be pointed out that a nonjew was never killed for keeping the Shabbos at any point in history so this was never actually carried out. These prohibitions that Rabbi's established toward nonjews have no basis in biblical sources unlike the prohibition that a Yisrael can't go into the Temple. So it isn't clear as to why they established that nonjews CAN'T keep Shabbos and some feel that it was only because at that time there were issues between Jews and Christians and they were concerned about Christians pretending to be Jewish. That is what Soncino says. So really a nonjew isn't required for certain obligation but certainlly if they want to have a day of rest or keep certain Kosher because they can although they are not obligated too. Also a negative command can be kept by accident. A person can keep Shabbos by just resting in bed. Certainlly this was never carried out and I actually believe that in the end times nonjews will likely take some practices from the Israelities although they are not Jews.
jdl4ever:
I agree with Kahaneloyalist's response.
Genteelgentile, your signature "TORAH... Not just for Jews anymore!!!!!!" makes me sad since the Torah was supposed to be a gift from G-d to his people and was never supposed to be translated from Hebrew into a foreign language. Ptolomy the King forced the Sanhedrin to translate it into Greek and that's how it was revealed to the nations. But this was a very sad day for us since this wasn't supposed to happen. The sanctity of the Torah was trampled on when this happened.
http://www.ou.org/chagim/roshchodesh/tevet/seventy.htm
Dissenter:
--- Quote from: jdl4ever on May 21, 2007, 02:14:36 AM ---Genteelgentile, your signature "TORAH... Not just for Jews anymore!!!!!!" is depressing since the Torah was supposed to be a gift from G-d to his people and was never supposed to be translated from Hebrew into a foreign language. Ptolomy the King forced the Sanhedrin to translate it into Greek and that's how it was revealed to the nations. But this was a very sad day for us since this wasn't supposed to happen. The sanctity of the Torah was trampled on when this happened.
http://www.ou.org/chagim/roshchodesh/tevet/seventy.htm
--- End quote ---
Sorry, but I don't buy it.
In the first place, the article questions Ptolemy's motives. But it's well known that he was a scholar who created the world's first great library, at Alexandria, and that he gathered literature into it from all over the Hellenistic world, including what was then called Judea. (The library at its peak contained 500,000 scrolls, including a proof, dating from 200 BCE, that the world is round and has a circumference of 25,000 miles, a figure in error by less than 1%.)
In the second place, if the story is true about the 72 sages in 72 rooms, then Ptolemy used a time-honored method of scholarship, comparing and contrasting independent sources. (When the Zend Avesta, the Zoroastrian bible, was written down not long afterward, by the Persian kings, the same technique was used.)
The article also claims, quite illogically, that G-d allowed the sages to create a perfect translation of the Torah, but at the same time was angry that the "secret" would be let out.
(In fact, isn't the translation imperfect, as for example when "virgin" is confused with "maiden"? So did the 72 sages miraculously duplicate each other's mistakes?)
Finally, the article makes the claim that nobody but a Hebrew-speaker, perhaps only a Hebrew-speaking Jew, can understand the Torah, even though a miraculously perfect translation is available, at least in Greek.
There are even Jews who claim that without a thorough knowledge of the gigantic Talmud, an understanding of the Bible is completely impossible. This news, I'm sure, will come as a surprise to many who believe that they've been reading the Bible with comprehension over many long years.
It was a classic dodge in ancient times for priesthoods to claim exclusive ownership of the mysterious and esoteric lore required to guarantee salvation. For Jews, or anyone else, to claim that they have such knowledge immediately invites all sorts of unfortunate accusations.
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