Author Topic: The Divine Code Daily Dose (Read 201208 times)

Hrvatski Noahid · « **Reply #125 on:** September 12, 2018, 04:35:56 PM »

If one built a house, or married a woman, or had a child, and then had success three times afterwards, he is permitted to consider this as a sign of his success, and it is permitted for him to set this as a good sign for the future to depend upon; i.e., that if he builds another house, or marries another woman (in a place and time that it is permitted to have more than one wife), or has another child, he will then have success, because this is not soothsaying; rather, the person sees it as an assurance of Divine assistance (a mazal).

As it is correctly understood in classical Hebrew, a mazal is not a superstition, but a natural destiny which G-d has provided. Since this is a phenomena within the natural creation, there is a logical basis for allowing oneself to rely upon it, in the manner described (the Divine Code by Rabbi Moshe Weiner, Ask Noah International, 2011, p 245).

Hrvatski Noahid · « **Reply #126 on:** September 13, 2018, 08:49:00 AM »

Likewise, if one tests a medicinal charm three times and has success each time (such as through an amulet worn by a sick person), even though he doesn't know how it might work, but only that it is a repeatable good charm, it is permitted to use it based on this (the Divine Code by Rabbi Moshe Weiner, Ask Noah International, 2011, p 245).

Hrvatski Noahid · « **Reply #127 on:** September 14, 2018, 02:49:06 PM »

Gentiles are not liable to capital punishment by a court for compelling a forced sale (although theft in general is a capital sin for Gentiles). The reason for this (as explained in footnote 1) is that even though the owner has distress over the incident, he accepts the sale and he does not lose any net monetary value (the Divine Code by Rabbi Moshe Weiner, Ask Noah International, 2011, p 654).

Hrvatski Noahid · « **Reply #128 on:** September 15, 2018, 12:20:29 PM »

Although the courts do not give capital punishment for forcing a sale, the forcer will nevertheless be punished harshly by G-d for this sin. Furthermore, if the courts do not establish laws and punishments that will deter this, people will be less stringent in general, and they will think that if they also commit extortion or rob a small amount, they will avoid the authority of the court. This tendency to leniency obviously applies to robbing something that is less than a perutah in value. It also applies to stealing small amounts of money that people will normally not take the trouble to claim in court, and for which they will not normally call on law enforcement to report the robbery (the Divine Code by Rabbi Moshe Weiner, Ask Noah International, 2011, p 654-655).

Hrvatski Noahid · « **Reply #129 on:** September 16, 2018, 05:01:50 PM »

The structure of the Hebrew words used by Abraham to name G-d is significant. He proclaimed to the world that G-d's name is "E-l olom," in which the word "E-l" (G-d) is attached directly to the word "olom" (universe), with no letters intervening. If Abraham had used the phrase "E-l ha'olom" (explicity stressing "G-d of the universe"), it would have left the impression that the universe is a separate entity from G-d Himself. Abraham's declaration of "E-l olom" stresses that there is in fact no true separation between G-d and the universe. Rather, the universe is nothing more than an emanation of G-d's power, which is united with G-d Himself in total unity. Therefore, when we bless G-d that He is "King of the universe," we are praising His rulership over the physical realm, while bearing in mind the lesson from Abraham that intrinsically, the universe and all its inhabitants are no more than an expression of G-d's creative power and His inner will. With this realization, a faithful person will naturally be motivated from love and awe of the immanently present Essence of G-d to dedicate his entire life to his direct source in Godliness, by serving Him and fulfilling His will (the Divine Code by Rabbi Moshe Weiner, Ask Noah International, 2011, p 143).

Hrvatski Noahid · « **Reply #130 on:** September 18, 2018, 01:42:40 PM »

One who hits a pregnant woman and kills her embryo,³¹ or a doctor who performs an abortion - by which process the embryo cannot possibly live,³² or a doctor who gives the mother medicine for the purpose of aborting the embryo or killing it in place, or a pregnant woman who took this action herself,³³ are all liable to be punished for murder in a court of law.

³¹ Rashi on Tractate Sanhedrin 57b.

³² Although it may be possible to place the aborted embryo in an incubator and it would survive, if the doctor does not intend to do so and the baby is not put in an incubator, this is considered murder.

³³ Since the abortion-inducing medicine will surely take effect in her body, it is tantamount to the case where one pushes a victim into a pit where he will surely die from hunger or lack of air, and as explained in topic 2 above, this is considered direct murder for a Gentile.

Although Rambam, Laws of Murderers ch. 6, differentiates between a murder caused directly from one's own power or that comes as a result of one's actions, this difference applies only for inadvertent killing and for a Jew, as opposed to an intentional murder caused by a Gentile, who is liable for indirect murder (the Divine Code by Rabbi Moshe Weiner, Ask Noah International, 2011, p 384).

Hrvatski Noahid · « **Reply #131 on:** September 20, 2018, 04:13:28 AM »

This Third Edition of The Divine Code contains eight main Parts. Each Part contains numbered chapters, and each chapter contains numbered "topics." Thus, Part I, topic 6:2, refers to topic 2 of Chapter 6 within Part I. In this edition, we have placed the Editor's notes as added footnotes marked by an asterisk (*); these include commentary or additional information. Also, several errors that were found in the recent Limited Edition, in the cross-referencing of the renumbered footnotes, have been corrected (the Divine Code by Rabbi Moshe Weiner, Ask Noah International, 2018, p 21).

Hrvatski Noahid · « **Reply #132 on:** September 21, 2018, 12:17:22 AM »

To make the footnoted citations of Rabbinic sources more meaningful, a bibliography for the book has been provided on our Web site, with short historical information on the source texts and their authors.⁷ The sources are generally cited using our transliterations of their Hebrew titles. The exceptions are the citations of section titles in Rambam's Mishneh Torah, which are translated into English for the benefit of those who wish to look up the citations in a translation of Mishneh Torah. For this purpose, these translated titles match, or nearly match, the titles as they appear in the Mishneh Torah volumes that have been published in English by Moznaim (Brooklyn, New York; translated by Rabbi Eliyahu Touger). This series has been a valuable asset for our translation of the topics in Sheva Mitzvot HaShem, many of which follow the wording of Mishneh Torah.

⁷ https://asknoah.org/wp-content/uploads/the-divine-code-bibliography.pdf (the Divine Code by Rabbi Moshe Weiner, Ask Noah International, 2018, p 21-22).

Hrvatski Noahid · « **Reply #133 on:** September 22, 2018, 01:03:42 AM »

In Part I, Chapters 1-4 present basic principles of Torah-based faith in the One G-d, acceptance of the truth of the Torah, acknowledgment that Divine rewards accrue from observance of G-d's will, and that the opposite (G-d forbid) accrues from deliberate, or sometimes careless, transgressions of His will. In Chapters 5-6 and 8-9, we present a practical and reliable guide to subjects that are of prime importance in daily life: Torah Study, Prayer, Moral Conduct, and Repentance. A few topics may seem outdated (e.g., Chapter 7 in Part I, and Chapter 4 in Part II, which have been significantly shortened; and Chapter 4, after topic 1, in Part V). However, this provides more material from Torah sources for Gentiles to study, and by learning how the general rules applied in those cases, one can see how to apply those rules in a situation that might be encountered today. In this new edition, a few editing updates have been made for additional clarity (the Divine Code by Rabbi Moshe Weiner, Ask Noah International, 2018, p 22).

Hrvatski Noahid · « **Reply #134 on:** September 23, 2018, 01:35:35 AM »

The Noahide precept of justice, or dinim, is the obligation, incumbent upon societies, to establish the rule of law through courts in every district of the land. It is, however, not simply the establishment of law and order (however that might be) specifically in reference to the Noahide Laws, which have somewhat of a parallel in secular legal philosophy that might be called an order of "natural justice." In actuality, it is the Divine template for human conduct, set out in the Hebrew Bible and its Oral tradition. This is what Rambam intends when he states that the Noahide precept of establishing a system of justice is for the purpose of ruling on the other six universal Noahide Laws. That is to say, justice itself is one of the Seven Noahide Commandments, with its own parameters, and its purpose is to judge in relation to, and to enforce the observance of, the other six Noahide Laws (the Divine Code by Rabbi Moshe Weiner, Ask Noah International, 2018, p 662).

Hrvatski Noahid · « **Reply #135 on:** September 24, 2018, 06:58:56 AM »

In defining the precept of dinim, the words of Rambam are "to judge in relation to these six (other) precepts" and this is understood to exclude judgment in certain areas where punishment is given over to the hands of Heaven¹ instead of the courts.

¹ Such as Rambam details in Laws of Kings, 10:6-9. See Rabbi Yehuda Gershoni, Mishpat HaMeluha on Laws of Kings 9:14. Nevertheless, even for those transgressions which are not to be judged by a Noahide court, it is incumbent to publicize and teach those laws and even apply limited punishment to offenders when they are broken, for the transgressions are serious in the eyes of G-d, and may even entail the spiritual death of the person's soul, as in the case of creating new (man-made) religions and religious commandments, for example (the Divine Code by Rabbi Moshe Weiner, Ask Noah International, 2018, p 662).

Hrvatski Noahid · « **Reply #136 on:** September 25, 2018, 01:13:34 AM »

Still it would appear that the precept applies to three areas: (a) the actual prescriptions in the Noahide Laws as set out in the Biblical revelation to Moses at Sinai, and elucidated in the Oral tradition which also derives from Sinai; (b) an area of rules and arrangements in the realm of justice, mandated by reason for the purposes of social order, where the rightness of this reason is generally informed by the rationally grasped precepts given to the Jewish people, but for which the same prescription of detail does not necessarily apply to Gentiles as does for the Jewish people;² (c) a domain of adopted stringencies, whereby higher standards of justice (judged by reference to the Jewish ideal of "absolute justice") are taken on and become part of Noahide law.³

² As we find in the general discretion given to the Jewish king and Jewish courts to rectify social order, which are in fact founded on Noahide law.

³ As the Lubavitcher Rebbe learns in the view of Rashi, Likkutei Sihot, Vol. 5, p. 190. See also Rabbi J.D. Bleich in "Mishpat mo'ves b'dinei b'nei Noah" in the Sefer HaYovel for Rabbi Y.B. Soloveitchik, pp. 203-204, where he quotes an opinion that the punishment intended for Tamar (Genesis 38:24) was for her supposed transgression of a prohibition introduced through the court of Shem (the Divine Code by Rabbi Moshe Weiner, Ask Noah International, 2018, p 662-663).

Hrvatski Noahid · « **Reply #137 on:** September 26, 2018, 12:18:09 AM »

The normative legal system is thus not a mere reflection of community values or a repository of statutes given by a legislative body, but of the Noahide Code, within which community values - including legislated laws and norms - are included so long as these are consistent with the Noahide laws. Judges, lawmakers and the enforcers of law all need to be cognizant of this higher, universal code. Where there is doubt as to the parameters of Noahide law in regard to new matters, the filling of this gap can be done only by a qualified Orthodox Rabbinic authority in the Noahide laws.⁴

⁴ See Likkutei Sihot Vol 29, p. 98, where a Noahide judge is prohibited from "filling a gap," under the general prohibition to a Noahide to m'hadesh da'at (extrapolate to a new application of Torah Law) (Laws of Kings 10:10) (the Divine Code by Rabbi Moshe Weiner, Ask Noah International, 2018, p 663).

Hrvatski Noahid · « **Reply #138 on:** September 27, 2018, 02:15:17 AM »

The function of the system of justice is also put "negatively": to disallow disorder. Here Rambam writes that the function of courts under Noahide law is to "warn the people" against its infringement. This therefore presupposes a stance of practical responsibility⁵ on the part of the State's agencies of justice: both of the constituted sovereign authority (the king or the duly instituted ruling government) and the judiciary.

⁵ Along the lines of the Lubavitcher Rebbe's remarks on the two-fold function of a Noahide judge: (a) to set forth the relevant rulings and (b) to see to it that they are carried out. Likkutei Sihot, Vol. 29, p. 98 (the Divine Code by Rabbi Moshe Weiner, Ask Noah International, 2018, p 663).

Hrvatski Noahid · « **Reply #139 on:** September 28, 2018, 03:17:39 AM »

The precept of dinim is of particular contemporary importance, even in societies with high standards of impartiality and freedom from corruption in the administration of justice. This is because personal value judgments and beliefs can and do enter the rulings of judges, resulting in decisions which are at variance with the Noahide Laws. This we have seen in rulings permitting homosexual "marriage," abortion on demand and euthanasia. The judge must first and foremost know and be beholden to the universal Noahide Laws as the background ethical conditions for all positive (human-made) law and its adjudication (the Divine Code by Rabbi Moshe Weiner, Ask Noah International, 2018, p 664).

Hrvatski Noahid · « **Reply #140 on:** September 29, 2018, 01:37:15 PM »

Every judge is commanded and warned to judge righteously,⁴³as it says, "You shall not commit a perversion of justice; you shall not favor the poor and you shall not honor the great; with righteousness shall you judge your fellow." It also says, "Do not pervert the judgment of your poor person in his grievance." It also says, "You shall not pervert the judgment of a proselyte or orphan." The Bible repeatedly warns a number of times about the perversion of justice, especially concerning the perversion of justice for those who are weak, because the judge has to strengthen his resolve to the utmost to protect their rights before violent and strong people who try to oppress them, and the judges are likely to ignore their distress.

⁴³ From Hasdei Dovid Tosefta end of Tractate Avodah Zarah and Minhat Hinuh Mitzvah 235, this is also obligatory on Gentiles as part of their commandment of Dinim (the Divine Code by Rabbi Moshe Weiner, Ask Noah International, 2018, p 679).

Hrvatski Noahid · « **Reply #141 on:** September 30, 2018, 10:34:21 AM »

It is forbidden for a judge to pervert a judgment, which includes convicting the innocent or vindicating the guilty, whether in monetary cases or in cases of capital offence. Even regarding a defendant who is known to be wicked, it is forbidden to pervert the judgment by condemning him if there is insufficient evidence to prove that he violated the law in the case that has been brought to the court.⁴⁹

⁴⁹ See Hatam Sofer Likutim ch. 14, and Minhat Hinuh Commandments 81 and 233, that this verse also applies to Gentiles. Obviously, the judge must use his discretion when a case has reasonable doubt; it is only prohibited for him to make judgment based on a personal estimation of the righteousness of a litigant. See Sheva Mitzvot HaShem, Part VIII (Dinim), topic 5:9 (the Divine Code by Rabbi Moshe Weiner, Ask Noah International, 2018, p 679).

Hrvatski Noahid · « **Reply #142 on:** October 02, 2018, 02:46:44 AM »

This is stated regarding monetary cases in the verse, "Do not pervert the judgment of your poor person in his grievance." (About this, the Sages explained that "poor" means poor in observance of his commandments, meaning that because he is sinful, he has no merits in the eyes of the judge.) And regarding cases of capital offence, it is stated, "do not execute the innocent or the righteous." If "the innocent" is stated, what extra meaning is added by "the righteous"? It refers to a defendant who should be declared "righteous," i.e. not guilty, in his court trial, because even if he is known to have committed crimes in the past, there is not enough legal evidence to convict him in the present case, and certainly the judge must therefore not take this opportunity to have him put to death (the Divine Code by Rabbi Moshe Weiner, Ask Noah International, 2018, p 679-680).

Hrvatski Noahid · « **Reply #143 on:** October 03, 2018, 08:24:17 AM »

It is obvious that it is forbidden for a judge to pervert justice for the sake of someone whom he wishes to gain favor from or to promote, for whatever reason. Judges are warned against all these things, which are all included in the precept of, "you shall not commit a perversion of justice," that was cited above. Someone who violates one of these prohibitions has transgressed the Noahide commandment of Dinim (the Divine Code by Rabbi Moshe Weiner, Ask Noah International, 2018, p 680).

Hrvatski Noahid · « **Reply #144 on:** October 04, 2018, 05:33:00 AM »

What is included in the prohibition of "you shall not favor a poor person"? It is forbidden for a judge to have mercy on a poor person in judgment, and he should not say to himself, "This man is poor, and his opponent is rich, and it is appropriate that the rich man should support the poor man (because he needs charity). Therefore, I will award the monetary judgment to the poor man, and as a result he will be supported in dignity" (the Divine Code by Rabbi Moshe Weiner, Ask Noah International, 2018, p 680).

Hrvatski Noahid · « **Reply #145 on:** October 05, 2018, 09:14:13 AM »

The prohibition of "you shall not respect a great man" means that if a case comes before a judge between a rich wise man and a poor simple man, the judge should not favor the rich wise man. For example, the judge should not ask the rich man about his well-being, because with this the judge is showing favoritism, and when the poor man sees this, he will become bewildered and will stumble in his arguments or withhold them, and then the resulting judgment will not be fair (the Divine Code by Rabbi Moshe Weiner, Ask Noah International, 2018, p 680).

Hrvatski Noahid · « **Reply #146 on:** October 06, 2018, 09:10:43 AM »

Similarly, the judge should not say to himself, "How can I find this honorable person guilty in judgment, and then as a result he will be embarrassed? I will declare him to be innocent, and after that I will tell him privately that he is really guilty and responsible to pay the amount." A judge should not do any such things; rather, he should promptly decide and hand down the correct legal judgment, without showing favor to either litigant for any reason (the Divine Code by Rabbi Moshe Weiner, Ask Noah International, 2018, p 680-681).

Hrvatski Noahid · « **Reply #147 on:** October 07, 2018, 02:26:58 PM »

It is forbidden for a Gentile judge to take a bribe, for this directly results in a perverted judgment. Even taking a bribe to give a correct judgment is forbidden, for the Torah declares twice, once in Exodus - "You shall not accept a bribe, for a bribe will blind the clear sighted and corrupt words that are right" - and again in Deuteronomy: "You shall not pervert justice; you shall not show favoritism, and you shall not take a bribe, for bribery blinds the eyes of the wise and perverts just words" (the Divine Code by Rabbi Moshe Weiner, Ask Noah International, 2018, p 681).

Hrvatski Noahid · « **Reply #148 on:** October 08, 2018, 12:55:24 PM »

Bribery perverts the opinion of the judge, because from the moment he accepts a bribe, his opinion leans (away from the proper and unbiased judgment) because of the bribe that he received,⁵⁹ and he does not judge fairly.⁶⁰

It is also forbidden for a judge to take bribes from both litigants, even if he takes an equal sum from both of them.

⁵⁹ Rashi on Deut. 16:19 - one may not take a bribe, even to give a just sentence, for once one takes a bribe it is not possible to turn against the giver.

⁶⁰ As explained in footnote 27, the Noahide Law of Dinim is the overall commandment that includes all the details which for Jews are individual commands, as explained in Part VII, ch. 1, footnote 4. It is also clear from Ramban mentioned earlier that a Gentile judge may not take a bribe even where he has decided to make just sentence (the Divine Code by Rabbi Moshe Weiner, Ask Noah International, 2018, p 681).

Hrvatski Noahid · « **Reply #149 on:** October 09, 2018, 06:53:50 PM »

A judge has to be very careful not to take a bribe. If a judge feels that because of some favor that one of the litigants once did for him, his opinion is leaning in that person's favor, he is obligated to invalidate himself from judging in that case, because he might not make a fair judgment (the Divine Code by Rabbi Moshe Weiner, Ask Noah International, 2018, p 681-682).