Noah's Seven Commandments

This is the week in the Torah (October 4, 2013), where God provides humanity with the Seven Commandments.

Yes, the Seven Commandments.

Most of us know about the Ten Commandments which God and Moses presented to the Jewish people on Mount Sinai more than three thousand years ago, but few of us are aware of an earlier code which predates Moses.

And it is issued almost immediately after creation.

As the waters begin to recede after the Great Flood, as Noah's family begins to rebuild the earth, seven key directives come down from heaven.

And they are not directed at the Jewish people, but rather to all humanity.

Jewish tradition extract a code of seven laws, imbedded in Genesis Chapter 9, which universally prohibits murder, theft, idolatry, blasphemy and sexual immorality.

Humanity is also commanded not to remove the limb off of a live animal. From this Judaism concludes that the welfare of animals must be respected. Finally, we are told to establish courts of law.

In fact, March 26, 1991, U.S. President George Bush signed Public Law 102-14, a congressional resolution confirming the Seven Noahide Laws as one of the cornerstones of American society.

The inclusion of the Seven Noahide Laws is an incredible and often overlooked component of Judaism's universal perspective.

It teaches that all humans are part of a universal family dedicated to high standards of conduct and respect for all humanity, and for animals as well.

Later in our tradition, laws were added or refined to place additional obligations on the Jewish people. But Judaism still recognizes seven key benchmarks for all humanity.

The great scholar Ben Azzai preached two thousand years ago that the most important line in the Torah is not "Honor your neighbor as yourself," but rather "we are all descendants of Adam." (Genesis 5:1)

Jewish tradition recognized then that all humanity must be held accountable for their interactions with other human beings, and this earth.

There is a Jewish teaching which states that if you arrive late for religious services, and you want to "catch up," one of the ways you can do so is to recite the Ashrei, otherwise known as Psalm 143.

One of the reasons given is that the Ashrei contains the line "God is good to all, and God's compassion extends to all creation."

Although the Jewish people are later given more obligations and commandments to observe, the core of our belief system is based upon a profound statement about humanity.

Judaism instructs us to be a light unto other nations. That means engaging with all humanity and not isolating ourselves. Indeed within all society, Judaism teaches that order, respect and human dignity must be respected.

It instructs us through this week's reading of the Seven Noahide Laws that no one's ancestry is nobler than the other.

Moreover, there is so much we can learn from each other during our precious time on this earth.

Indeed, Judaism reminds us this week that "we are all in this together."

Shabbat shalom, v'kol tuv,

Rabbi Irwin Huberman