We continue studying the first chapter of the book “Brit Shalom”, which I had the merit to write. In this chapter, there is a summary of the laws pertaining to the Noahides (the descendants of Noah). Now, we arrive at paragraph 10, which discusses the seven Noahide commandments.
The seven commandments are primarily defined in the negative sense, meaning that the commandments for Noahides do not outline the positive content of faith and behavior, but rather provide a foundation by specifying what must not be done.
Here are the seven commandments:
- Prohibition of idolatry.
- Prohibition of blasphemy, meaning that a person must not curse, Heaven forbid, toward the Divine.
- Prohibition of murder.
- Prohibition of illicit sexual relations. What are illicit sexual relations? There is a list of prohibited intimate relations that must be adhered to.
- Prohibition of theft – one must not take the property of another.
- Prohibition of eating a limb from a living animal. What does this mean? It is forbidden to eat the meat of an animal while it is still alive; this is considered cruel.
- The commandment of establishing justice – the establishment of a system, such as courts of law, to judge human beings. This is a commandment imposed on society as a whole.
Of course, these laws are very general, and therefore, in paragraph 11, there is a detailed explanation of the laws concerning these seven commandments. This will be clarified in the following chapters, but as we have said, this is the minimum.
Although these seven commandments form the foundation of the Noahide laws, there are many additional matters included in this body of law that pertain to living a life of devotion to the Creator. These include learning, prayer, charity, character development, and more, which will be detailed later.
Now, an important note – in this context, only the laws that apply to non-Jews are presented. The laws that pertain to the relationship between the people of Israel and the nations of the world are not included here, as this is a vast body of literature – discussing what the relationship should be between Jews and non-Jews.
