Torah and Jewish Idea > Torah and Jewish Idea
Need advice from a learned Jew re: the 'poor'
Lubab:
--- Quote from: newman on July 22, 2007, 07:29:46 AM ---I don't know of any noachide laws not enforced by our courts. Even the Japanese resteraunts aren't allowed to eat lobsters alive now. Boiling crabs / shrimp alive might be a violation, though.
From memory, the Jewish-only laws we can't follow tend to be things that constitute impersonation of a Jew: Tzitzis, peyot, tefflin, mezuzot, strict Shabbat observence etc. We can wear a kippa in shull and there is a noachide prayer shawl that has no tzitzis and a rainbow pattern around the edge instead of blue. The celebration of Jewish holidays is a bit of a grey area. I think noachides should celebrate all Jewish holidays as they all comemorate the deliverence of the Jews in some respect for which we goyim should give thanks. It is probably the manner in which we celebrate them that is more important as with Shabbat.
The principle behind this is that if the goyim look and act the same as Jews, the other goyim won't know who the difference between Jews and gentiles. It's the same reason catholic lay persons don't wear priest's collars or nuns' habbits.
--- End quote ---
Oh the current laws are very far from the Noahide laws. For starters, the laws have to be based on the belief that these are G-d's laws.
Many slaughterers use a procedure in which they shock the animal and start cutting it up before its dead. This is a big violation of eating the limb of a live animal.
Also violation of the negative Noahide laws is supposed to be punishable by death. The courts should be using the Torah sages to decide their cases not prior precedent, and the list goes on and on.
You are right about the fact that you can commemorate the inner meaning of the Jewish holidays (including Shabbos) you just can't keep them in the way Jews do.
But if you want to light 7 candles to remember that G-d created the world in 7 days-you can certainly do that.
If you learn about the reasons for these holidays
newman:
I'd love to have the courts based around the Sheva Mitzvot. However, I can just imagine the secular left in the cultural elite screaming their heads off about that....couts based on Torah, Impossible! Of course if it was some east asian hippie-type religion that would not be a problem.
I beleive the US congress passed a motion recognising the Sheva Mitzvot as the oldest form of law. That's a small start.
MarZutra:
I believe that the concept of Charity is only meant to be given to the G-d fearing and not just anyone who happens to be poor under Halacha. Charity is such a distortion today it is hardly comparable to anything that it was meant to be...
Lubab:
--- Quote from: MarZutra on July 22, 2007, 05:45:09 PM ---I believe that the concept of Charity is only meant to be given to the G-d fearing and not just anyone who happens to be poor under Halacha. Charity is such a distortion today it is hardly comparable to anything that it was meant to be...
--- End quote ---
I hope G-d is not so strict in evaluatiating whether he will give us the charity He does everyday ::).
Lubab:
--- Quote from: newman on July 22, 2007, 05:38:10 PM ---I'd love to have the courts based around the Sheva Mitzvot. However, I can just imagine the secular left in the cultural elite screaming their heads off about that....couts based on Torah, Impossible! Of course if it was some east asian hippie-type religion that would not be a problem.
I beleive the US congress passed a motion recognising the Sheva Mitzvot as the oldest form of law. That's a small start.
--- End quote ---
Yes. We will need to explain to the people that any system of government that attempts to ignore religion is doomed to failure.
Religion establishes the highest ideal in the heirarchy of needs and desires. Without that highest ideal established, there is no framework from which to decide moral dilemas.
For instance, the highest ideals in the American institutions are life, liberty, and happiness etc.
However these are not the top of the heirarchy of desires. One must still figure out WHY we want liberty, and WHY we want happiness-what is the purpose of it all (only the Torah tells us this).
Without establishing the highest ideal one will never know how to deal with conflicts between liberty and happiness (as is always played out in the abortion debate-it's the mother's liberty/happiness vs. the baby's life).
If a system of governmet is to endure it must be based on the Torah. Simple as that. We must explain this to the folks.
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