Hello,Rabbi: I am searching for other Noahides in the Columbus, Ohio area. My family and I feel very alone and isolated in our beliefs. I wondered if you know of any Noahides or Jewish folks in the area who might be interested in meeting a sincere Noahide family? Thank you so very much for your website and all you do! blessings, maggie badertscher
Category: Basic concepts-Unanswered
Wedding ceremony
My elder son is almost getting married with a girlfriend who is a Roman Catholic. While the time is almost to happen I worry if the parent of his girlfriend would
disagree that the system of the ceremony will be based on a Noahide way instead they will invite a christian to officiate that ceremony. I ask your advices Rabbi
regarding this matter, what shall I do? I need your help and prayer.
Wedding ceremony
My elder son is almost getting married with a girlfriend who is a Roman Catholic. While the time is almost to happen I worry if the parent of his girlfriend would
disagree that the system of the ceremony will be based on a Noahide way instead they will invite a christian to officiate that ceremony. I ask your advices Rabbi
regarding this matter, what shall I do? I need your help and prayer.
Why did G-d Make Two Sexes?
Q: Why did G-d separate the human species into men and women? (This question is related to the prohibition, “Do not commit adultery.”)
My Noahide Paper
Dear Rabbi Richman:
I am (Ezra) James A. Nollet. By way of introduction, I am a ger tzedek. You may find links to articles I’ve written recently in The Jewish Press of Brooklyn, in which I translate portions of Mark Wischnitzer’s book Die Juden in der Welt. I now live in Poland and function as the rabbi of the local synagogue! You COULD call me “the Legnitzer Rebbe”!
I am the author of a paper about Noahide Law as it appears in the NEW Testament. Yes; as surprising as that may be, it is the CHRISTIAN scriptures which (whether the authors even realized it or not) which give the BEST evidence that Noahide conversion was actually a COMMON occurrence in the last decades of the Second Temple.
Here is the problem as I see it with trying to teach the Goyim (the Christians, anyway) about the Noahide Laws. As soon as you the rabbi try to teach them aout these laws, they are apt to say, “Dear Rabbi, forgive me for being blunt, for I don’t wish to be disagreeable, but the plain fact is, I believe that MY religion is superior to your religion; MY religion in fact REPLACED your religion; YOUR religion and Covenant in fact is defunct, and null and void, because MY Apostle Paul said so. So therefore, WHY should I listen to a thing that JUDAISM claims are my moral responsibilities?”
And, Rabbi, I hold this is actually a logical and reasonable question.
And I have an answer for it!
My paper shows how THE ORIGINAL JERUSALEM CHRISTIAN CHURCH actually held by Noahide Law and OBSERVED it themselves. (The original Jerusalem Church actually was not really a “church;” it was in fact a SYNAGOGUE and FULLY TORAH OBSERVANT. And the New Testament itself says so!)
And therefore, the answer to my hypothetical Christian is, YOU should observe Noahide Law BECAUSE THE FOUNDERS OF YOUR OWN RELIGION OBSERVED IT, and if it were good enough for them, it SHOULD be good enough for you!
I am most eager to send you a copy of my paper, either digitally or a print version. Would you therefore please kindly make contact with me? Again, my email address is jnollet@interia.pl
Ezra James Nollet
the word “yom” in Bereshieth
Erev tov shalom Rabbi,
Rasji explains that the word “jom” has many different meanings, as for instance ‘a thousand years’ and therefore concludes that HasHem probably not created the universe and world in six days but in a much longer time. The essence of the Torah is not to tell us HOW HasHem created the universe and world but to let us know WHO created all the wonders. I can agree with this opinion of Rasji. Nevertheless this brings me to another question (and to my suprise and happiness my son of 15 whom I explained the opinion of Rasji asked me exact the same question) and that question is: if indeed the words “jom” has to be explained in a different way and therefore HasHem indeed did not create the world in six days, how do we have to understand the by HasHem himself given demand to work six days and keep Shabbath on the seventh day. It seems obvious that there is a clear connection between the days that HasHem needed to create the universe and world and the day he needed to rest on the one hand and his demand for humans to have a rhythm of seven days on the other hand. Isn’t that a proof that the joms mentioned in Bereshiet has to be taken literal in the most direct meaning ‘day of 24 hours’?
I agree with Rasji that it is maybe even trivial to know HOW and in how many days HasHem created the world and that the most important lesson should be that we believe and know THAT HASHEM IS THE ONLY CREATOR, but I the other hand I can’t believe that there is no connection between the six days of creations and seventh day of rest and the same rhythm of seven days HasHem gave us.
I ‘m (and my son also :)) very curious for the explanation of the Torah you can give and want to say in advance ‘ toda raba’ for your time and energy and ‘shlicha’ for my bad English 🙂
Shalom!
Frans and Max Janse
the word “yom” in Bereshieth
Erev tov shalom Rabbi,
Rasji explains that the word “jom” has many different meanings, as for instance ‘a thousand years’ and therefore concludes that HasHem probably not created the universe and world in six days but in a much longer time. The essence of the Torah is not to tell us HOW HasHem created the universe and world but to let us know WHO created all the wonders. I can agree with this opinion of Rasji. Nevertheless this brings me to another question (and to my suprise and happiness my son of 15 whom I explained the opinion of Rasji asked me exact the same question) and that question is: if indeed the words “jom” has to be explained in a different way and therefore HasHem indeed did not create the world in six days, how do we have to understand the by HasHem himself given demand to work six days and keep Shabbath on the seventh day. It seems obvious that there is a clear connection between the days that HasHem needed to create the universe and world and the day he needed to rest on the one hand and his demand for humans to have a rhythm of seven days on the other hand. Isn’t that a proof that the joms mentioned in Bereshiet has to be taken literal in the most direct meaning ‘day of 24 hours’?
I agree with Rasji that it is maybe even trivial to know HOW and in how many days HasHem created the world and that the most important lesson should be that we believe and know THAT HASHEM IS THE ONLY CREATOR, but I the other hand I can’t believe that there is no connection between the six days of creations and seventh day of rest and the same rhythm of seven days HasHem gave us.
I ‘m (and my son also :)) very curious for the explanation of the Torah you can give and want to say in advance ‘ toda raba’ for your time and energy and ‘shlicha’ for my bad English 🙂
Shalom!
Frans and Max Janse
Jesus
How should one deal with a 90 year old father who is always getting on one’s case about accepting Jesus?
Shabbat
Follow up to a question answered previously. The question is: “Is a Noahide allowed to work on Shabbat?”
The answer is:A: Yes, he is allowed, unless when he declared to a Beit Din that he accepts the Noahide laws he also took on a specific obligation to observe the laws of Shabbat. But this is very rare (see Be’er Halacha, in Orach Chaim 304).
What is Be’er Halacha, Orach Chaim 304?
Where can I find it?
Judaism for Gentiles
Shalom! (I hope I used that correctly)
First, I would like to thank you for this site and the resources it contains. I’d also like to thank you for the videos you have posted online.
I would also like to submit constructive feedback. . .when reading or speaking jewish names, is it possible to speak slower and more distinctly? All of the Rabbi names sound the same to me when read at conversational speed. Additionally, the Rabbi’s seem to assume an advanced knowledge of Judaism in the Basic concepts videos. For example, something called the Rambam? Sanhedrin? (which is talked about like a book, but I thought it was a body of Rabbi’s that makes decisions). There are more examples (like the names of G-d), I really only know 2 G-d and Jehovah. Adonai, HaShem, etc, are very, very new terms for me.
I hope that feedback is received as it was intended. . .with the desire to improve this site!
Now, on to my question/concern. At this point and time, I am neither Christian nor Jewish. . .I’m gentile through and through. However, I sponsor a child in poverty through a Christian organization. The organization is “Compassion International” and they preach about Jesus. My dilemma is this:
Helping a child out of poverty, in my mind, is without question something G-d would wish me to do. However, if the organization that is helping the child teaches Jesus as Lord and Savior, am I committing a grave sin? Should I continue to sponsor this child?
Are there similar organizations for gentiles through Jewish organizations? That is, are there Jewish out reach programs that attempt to aid children in escaping poverty?
_Jim