Noahide Fellowship

The following Explanation from Rabbi Moshe Weiner of Jerusalem, about The Torah’s Principles of Faith as they relate to Noahides

Rabbi Weiner is the author of the works Sheva Mitzvot HaShem (in Hebrew) and The Divine Code, which serve as a "Shulchan Aruch" for the Torah-based principles and precepts for observance of the Noahide Code.

Rabbi Moshe Weiner Wrote:

· In the Torah itself (in regard to the Jewish commandments) we find a mitzva-commandent and its details.

· Likewise in the Seven Mitzvot for Noahides, each of them is one mitzva, with many details. The fundamental difference between counting a detail as a different and separate mitzva, or whether it is one of several details within one general mitzva, is based on the teachings of Torah Law (halacha), and this also extends to spiritual considerations.

· But at the most basic level, we can understand this as follows:

· The term "mitzva" in Hebrew is a "command." The command makes an association between the Commander (G-d) and the one who is commanded (a person). For example, a Jew is commanded to refrain from the 6 sexual relations that are forbidden for Gentiles as well. But for a Jew they are 6 different (separate) commands/connections (between G-d and the Jewish person), whereas for a Gentile those six details are all aspects of one connection (between G-d and the Gentile person).

· The 13 Principles of Rambam are correct for a non-Jew as well, since they all stem from Rambam's volume "Yesodei Ha'Torah" (Foundational Principles of the Torah), which are true for a Gentile as well. It is only that a Gentile is not *commanded* in regard to these concepts (at least for most of them), whereas a Jew is commanded. (But even for a Jew, not every one of the 13 Principle of Faith is a distinct commandment.)

· Both a Gentile and a Jew are commanded by G-d, and the essence of such a command/connection between G-d and any person is basically one thing.

· The 13 basic principles that Rambam counts teach the fundamental belief of Judaism, so therefore they apply equally for a Gentile/Noahide who believes in G-d in the way taught by traditional Judaism (i.e., according to the Torah of Moses that was given at Mt. Sinai). These basic principles teach:

Acceptance of the one and only G-d;

G-d has interest in people and He gave commandments to mankind (mankind was not created for nothing, but for the purpose of serving G-d in physical activity);

G-d gives reward and punishment for a person's deeds;

G-d connects Himself to mankind through prophecy;

G-d gave commands in the Torah that are of an eternal nature and that will not change or bend forever.

I would conclude: there is no written set of 13 Principles for a Gentile, and we are not commanded that we must convince Gentiles to believe in a particular set list of beliefs. Nevertheless, for a truly faithful Noahide who believes in the One True G-d, it is of the greatest importance to understand and meditate at length on the 13 Basic Principles of the Jewish faith, because these are the fundamental issues of faith in G-d.