Image from www.myjewishlearning.com
[First posted in 2014; —Admin1]
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Sinaites were invited to a gathering of Jewish men (and their partners) who have formed a local Jewish club in our city of residence. The occasion for the gathering was to meet a young Jewish rabbi . . . he looked like the stereotype you see in movies: black hat, black suit, white shirt, beard.
We were introduced, and since the president of the Jewish Club was still under the impression we were ‘Jew-wannabe’, he added “they are interested in joining Judaism.”
I immediately corrected ‘no, we’re not interested in joining; we have done our homework on Judaism, it is not for us.’
The Rabbi asked, ‘so what are you then?’
And that’s always the opening for us to get a foot in the door, so to speak, of anyone even vaguely interested in what we stand for: “We refer to ourselves as Sinaites.”
R: “And what is a Sinaite.?”
In a nutshell, we explained: “We are gentiles who live the Torah. We don’t aspire to become Jewish or join Judaism; we recognize that the God of Israel has already delineated the lines between Israel and the rest of the world, the nations, Gentiles. We know which laws and commandments apply to us from the Torah; we have isolated these from the ones specific for Israel and Israel only.”
We related our surprise upon discovering that the masses of slaves that left Egypt during the Exodus were a ‘mixed multitude’ of Jacob’s descendants and slaves from other nations, Gentiles.
No visible reaction.
R: “So what have you concluded as applicable to you?”
S6K: “Briefly:
- the 10 commandments,
- the dietary laws of Leviticus 11, and
- 3 out of the 7 feasts of Leviticus 23.”
R: “Which feasts?”
S6K:
1)The weekly Sabbath,
2) Shavuot which is the anniversary of the giving of the Torah, and
3) Yom Kippur since all men, whether Jew or Gentile sin against God and fellow-humans and need to repent of their sins.
This time he nodded, then asked further: “And how did you arrive at all this?”
We said, ” by studying what is uniquely for Israel and what is universal for all humankind.”
He thought for a while, then said, “This is an interesting perspective, I have not heard of it. I was exposed to the teaching of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson” and he gave us a calling card.
On one side of the card is a picture of Rabbi Schneerson with the text:
“The Rebbe calls You. The seven Universal Noahide Laws that G-d gave to Moses on Mt. Sinai apply to all mankind. The leader and prophet of our time, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, calls on us to unite around these precepts, for they are the secure foundation upon which to build society and a happier life for everyone.”
Moschiach is on his way. Our part is to greet him by adding acts of goodness and kindness.” — The Rebbe, CNN 1991
Long live our master, teacher, and Rebbe. King Moschiach, forever!”
On the other side of the card is this: THE SEVEN UNIVERSAL LAWS The Way to True Peace
1. Believe in One G-d:
Reject any form of idol worship.
2. Honor G-d:
Do not blaspheme.
3. Preserve Human Life:
Do not murder.
4. Respect Family Relationships:
Do not commit adultery, incest, homosexuality, etc.
5. Respect Property:
Do not steal.
6. Respect G-d’s Creatures:
Do not eat the flesh of an animal that is still alive.
7. Establish honest Courts.
And a Just Legal System.
What was on the card struck us as strange, coming from a Rabbi, this one in front of us and the Rabbi Schneerson whose writings we have read in our Jewish resources.
Our discussion was cut short because the social gathering had ended, so we did not have time to express our view on the Universal Laws that apply to gentiles, embraced by the Noahide Movement.
We would have wanted to comment that we never read in the Torah text that such laws were given on Sinai, unless Rabbis made an out-of-context determination which they do in their books.
It makes sense since, in the NT Book of Acts, the Jerusalem Council made a resolution about gentiles coming to the synagogue (we have a post about this) and what should they be required to obey since they’re not Jews? (Acts 15). We were taught by our Christian bible teachers that actually those requirements fall under Noahide laws, that’s the first time we heard of Noahide.
To move on: the Sinaite position is expounded in the articles under the category SINAI6000 but briefly: In the progressive revelation of our Lord YHWH’s Will for humanity, we learn gradually through His interaction with handpicked figures or people groupings He communicated within the Torah books:
- He had specific commands given to the first couple for testing their free will to obey or disobey His instructions, with specific consequences for the latter;
- Then as early as Cain we learn God’s position on the principle on which Torah living is based: “Am I my brother’s keeper?”
- With Noah, we learn of His wrath toward evil caused by sinful humanity, but also we see His mercy and get a glimpse of His being a covenant-making Deity who makes promises He keeps and who uses visual signs in nature, such as the rainbow, to serve as a perpetual reminder to humankind (or those paying attention and believing that the flood account was real).
In general, that is as much as one can glean from the narratives starting with the Creation to the Flood. If the Creator/God who interacted with these figures stopped there, then that is all we are privileged and limited to know, but since He didn’t stop there and in fact went on with more teaching points in the tower of Babel, the call of Abraham, the specific line that issued from Abraham and Sarah that led to the formation of the distinct people who would carry the name of the third patriarch Yaakov/Yisrael—-well, then it is only reasonable and logical to conclude that with more light and more revelation, we go as far as the Self-Revealing God allows us to go. And that would lead us to Sinai where the Torah was given, simultaneous with the birth of the chosen nation.
We could have joined Noahides, remembering them from our Christian bible study; in fact we checked them out and considered the possibility of affiliating ourselves with them . . . but after much research and discussion and deliberation, we concluded the Sinai revelation superseded the Seven Universal Laws determined by Noahides (or Rabbis) for Gentiles. In fact, admittedly we were puzzled to read on the Rabbi’s card about Noahides because as far as we understand, the TORAH is for all humanity, Jew and Gentile; that is why the multitude that left Egypt and stood before the REVELATOR on Sinai was, according to Exodus, a MIXED multitude, not just Israelites. The message is clear: Torah is to be modeled by Israel for the Gentiles/Nations to witness that the Torah life focusing on other-centeredness is the ideal for life in community. What are commandments 5-10 for when one lives alone?
Perhaps now that one Rabbi has heard and understood our position, who knows, Sinai 6000 might be added to his calling card, to distribute to Gentiles who might consider Sinaite-ism instead of Noachide-ism as the alternative to Judaism.
You think!?
NSB@S6K
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