Posted on 01/26/2016 7:07:18 AM PST by Borges
A man with a brambly salt-and-pepper beard, a kippah on his head, and circular glasses balanced on his nose stood behind a podium, lecturing on the parasha, the weekly Torah reading, in a southern twang. He was not a rabbi. He wasnât even Jewish.
In front of him, an audience of about 20 sat in rows, listening attentively. Some wore head wraps and dresses suitable for a wedding, and others looked like they came in off the street. One man boasted neck tattoos and a gauge earring.
I was the only Jew in the room, but everyone else was here to study Torah. I was here to study them.
They call themselves Righteous Noahides: non-Jews who believe in Orthodox Judaism. According to Jewish theology, there are laws that Jews must obey, the 613 mitzvot, but then there are seven laws for children of Noahâeveryone else in the world. They are: Do not deny God; do not blaspheme; do not murder; do not engage in incest, adultery, pederasty, or bestiality; do not steal; do not eat of a live animal; and establish courts.
The Noahide laws, which are derived from passages in the Torah, were enumerated in the Talmud. In the Middle Ages, Maimonides urged their observance on non-Jews, writing, âAnyone who accepts upon himself and carefully observes the Seven Commandments is of the Righteous of the Nations of the World and has a portion in the World to Come.â But the idea never really caught on among non-Jews.
But about 40 years ago, Chabad grand Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson launched a global âNoahide Campaign,â writing and speaking about the need for Righteous Noahide communities, believing Noahide laws would bring about peace and understanding and would hasten the coming of the Messiah. Some non-Jews listened. For example, in 1987, President Reagan signed a proclamation glorifying âthe historical tradition of ethical values and principles, which have been the bedrock of society from the dawn of civilization when they were known as the Seven Noahide Laws, transmitted through God to Moses on Mount Sinai.â
Noahidism now encompasses communities around the world, especially in Great Britain, the Philippines, Latin America, Nigeria, Russia, and the United States. According to Rabbi Michael Schulman, who runs Noahide website AskNoah.org, the Philippines may have the most developed community, with well over 1,000 adults and their children living in a collection of agricultural towns. They run Hebrew schools, community meetings, and even a national summit.
The group I visited, called Netiv, is a bustling 40-person community located in Humble, Texasâin the United States, Texas is the center of Noahide life. Some members travel over two hours each way, two or three times a week, for classes. They obey the Noahide laws, but they also take the concept further, endeavoring to obey other mitzvot and learn more from Judaism.
Adults set out a potluck in the kitchen while children ran around. The man with neck tattoos showed everyone the Kabbalistic painting he made and auctioned it to the crowd.
But the main event was Rod Bryantâs lecture on the parasha, in which MosheâBryant used Mosesâ Hebrew nameâstrikes down an Egyptian for beating a Jew. Itâs a familiar story, but Bryant put a Noahide spin on it. He emphasized how Moshe stood up for what he knew was right, despite the masses around him just following the status quo.
Like Moshe, Bryant said, Noahides struggle to stand up for their beliefs, despite being surrounded by Christian families and friends. Unlike those around them, Noahides do not identify as Christian. Their feelings on Christianity and Jesus range from respect of the âall religions have something to offerâ variety to palpable disdain. Theyâve given up what they consider idol worship to follow Jewish theology.
Bryant didnât always teach Torah; he was a Pentecostal chaplain in the Army during the first Gulf War. He started a small study group in his house that got so large that it moved to a church. Around that time, Bryant began finding inconsistencies in Christian scripture, so he started digging into historical records.
âIt was like archeology,â Bryant recalled.
The larger his group grew, the more uncomfortable he felt: He was responsible for the spiritual lives of all these people, and here he was teaching things he didnât believe. When people asked him to lecture on passages about Jesus, he started making excuses.
âHe was like, âItâs too long,â â remembered one former Christian group member. âI was like, âIâll bring food.â â
He started teaching Torah from a Jewish perspective to a small group. Arilio Navarro, who had been having similar doubts about Christianity, came in to learn at one point. Navarro pulled Bryant aside and told him quietly, âI donât think Jesus is God.â He was pretty sure heâd be thrown out.
To his surprise, Bryant replied, âOh, you donât? Me neither.â
It eventually became obvious that Bryant couldnât be part of the church anymore, and he left, or was kicked out, depending on whom you ask. Probably a bit of both. Either way, he found himself without a job.
âOK, Hashem, funny sense of humor,â he remembered thinking. âNow I really have to trust you.â
He started communicating with rabbis who had been inspired by Rabbi Schneersonâs teachings about Noahides, and he learned about Righteous Gentiles and the seven laws of Noah. Eventually, in 2010, he founded Netiv, which has been growing ever since.
***
Like Bryant, others who have discovered Noahidism, while not identifying as Jews, seem to love Judaism: the emphasis on asking questions rather than just taking a priestâs word for things, the traditions, the intellectual rigor, the in-depth instructions it provides for maintaining family relations. But above all, they say Judaism gives them a newfound sense of peace.
âIt gives me a new way to breathe before God,â said Irene Griffin, a Netiv regular.
The typical story goes like this: A person starts out Christian. (Iâve yet to meet someone who came to Noahidism from anything else. Bryant said one Muslim girl used to stop by, but her family found out and put a stop to it.) These seekers then find inconsistencies between the scripture and the priestâs or ministerâs teachings. They start asking questions their religious leaders canât answer to their satisfaction, questions like: âWhy donât we keep the Sabbath?â âWhy do babies need to be baptized?â âIf the Bible says God is one, why do we have a Trinity?â
And so on.
Thus begins a journey into different kinds of Christianity. Some searchers become Seventh Day Adventists, who obey Old Testament commandments. Many, interestingly enough, join Messianic Judaism, which becomes a stepping-stone toward more traditional Judaismâapparently, Jews for Jesus can occasionally bring Christians to Judaism rather than the other way around.
At some point, many give up Christianity altogether, which puts them in a boat that seems to be taking on water.
âWeâre not Christian. So, what are we?â Dianna Navarro, Arilioâs wife, remembered thinking. She recalled when she discovered that God was one in Genesis while in her old Christian church, while she was starting to doubt the Trinity. She jumped up, excited, crying, âGod is one!â The lady next to her muttered, âI know.â
Tina Sachs was already part of Bryantâs group while she was questioning, resulting in a fairly smooth transition from Christianity to Noahidism. But for others, like the Navarros, there was no easy way to land safely: They gave up Christianity and found themselves like Looney Tunes characters who had walked off a cliff with nowhere to stand.
***
Though he and his wife Jackie are currently Noahides, Richard Waer didnât used to be religious at all.
âHe wouldnât let me baptize my babies!â pouted Jackie Waer, who had been raising their children Catholic up until a few years ago. It must have been a big source of marital stress at the time; I marveled at how irrelevant it is now.
Richardâs friend Arilio Navarro brought him to a Netiv class, and Richard was hooked. âI felt like Iâd been taken out of the Matrix,â he said. âAnd I felt a little lost.â
Jackie came on board immediately. Something about Judaism attracted her. But even more important was seeing how much her husband began to change. Heâd struggled with alcoholism before, but Noahide theology set him freeâparadoxically, by calling him to account. âSeeing alcoholism not as the devil, and not as me, but as something in me was what did it,â Richard said. Judaism didnât demonize alcohol but set forth a way of thinking about the yetzer haraâevil inclinationâthat made sense to him.
âGod speaks to people how they listen,â he said. âI just had to get out of my own way.â
Jackie covers her hair with colorful wraps that she finds on Wrapunzel.com, an online community of Orthodox Jews. A foodie at heart, she zealously tries to make her Netive Mexican cooking kosher, although cholent remains a challenge.
âA lot of us are just fumbling in the dark,â she said.
People around the Waers didnât really know what was going on when they became Noahides, and many confuse them for Muslim. Even the Waersâ three daughters were perplexed by the sudden âGuess what, kids! Weâre not Catholic anymore!â nature of their familyâs change, but they noticed that their parents seemed happier.
Ryan Smithâs journey to Noahidism was considerably different. While incarcerated in 2009, he dreamed he was watching the news, and the weatherman said there would be a solar flare causing temperatures to hit about 800 degrees.
In the dream, Smith waited for everything to start burning. Then he saw some sort of figure coming out of the sky, saying, âDonât be afraid, Iâve come to take my people home.â Smith started crying in his sleep and woke up.
Despite growing up Catholic, Smith had never seriously read a Bible before, but the moment after waking up from an apocalyptic dream seemed like a good time to start. He went on to research religion obsessively and even taught himself to read Hebrew, he said, so he could read the Torah. He contacted Schulman, the rabbi who runs AskNoah.org, from whom he learned about Noahidism, and began teaching Noahidism to other inmates, turning it into a small prison religion.
For Smith, who has since been released and is now volunteering with Schulman, Noahidism changed everything; he wouldnât take back being incarcerated.
âIt was the highlight of my existence,â he said. âIâm glad I went there.â
Just as paths to Noahidism are different, so are individual practices. Tina Sachs is a Noahide, and her husband is a secular Jew. For her, Noahidism mainly means attending classes at Netiv and lighting candles on Shabbat. On the other hand, others at Netiv are âNoahide Hasidim,â as Bryant, the Netiv leader, jokingly calls them.
The Navarros for instance, keep kosher and observe Shabbat, and Arilio studies with a rabbi online. When we met, Dianna was wearing a necklace with a Kabbalah tree of life symbol on it and a red string around her wrist.
âIt reminds me never to speak badly of anyone,â she said.
Noahides elicit mixed responses from religious Jews. When I first began researching Noahidism, one rabbi emailed me, telling me to avoid a particular Noahide leader, saying the leader was âthrowing teachings like pasta at the wall to see what sticks.â
Some rabbis emphasize that Noahides should not perform any mitzvot designated specifically for Jews; they point to interpretations of Genesis 8:22 that argue it is forbidden for non-Jews to keep Shabbat. According to Maimonides:
The general principle governing these matters is: [Non-Jews] are not to be allowed to originate a new religion or create mitzvot for themselves based on their own decisions. They may either become righteous converts and accept all the mitzvot, or retain their statutes [in the Noahide Code] without adding or detracting from them.
Arilio Navarro understands these concerns, but he doesnât abide by them.
âThere are a lot of blessings that come with Shabbat, and I donât want to leave them on the table,â he said. âI spent most of my life doing that; I donât want to do that anymore. I have a Jewish soul.â
All the rabbis and Noahides I talked to agreed that Noahides donât have an obligation to keep more than the seven laws. But the sort of people who go on a spiritual quest that leads them out of Christianity arenât the sort who are typically satisfied with that. They want to do more.
âWe left Egypt and can feel the warmth of Judaism,â said Bryant. âWe donât want to just keep wandering through the desert.â
The Navarros, like several others at Netiv, want to convert to Judaism. What holds them back is not conviction, but logistics: Itâs hard to maintain an Orthodox lifestyle alone. There are no shuls within walking distance, and the closest Orthodox Jews live in downtown Houston. Moving would be expensive; houses cost twice as much in the city. Thatâs why many at Netiv want to start an Orthodox Jewish community of their own, one intimately connected with Noahides.
But most Noahides donât express a need to convert. They like the flexibility of not being obligated to take on the laws.
***
When Gallup took a poll of 3,789 Texans in 2004, only 0.7 percent identified as Jewish. So, why has Noahidism taken root here, albeit on a small scale? I heard a variety of theories, involving, variously: Texan independence, superior leadership, or a surplus of shekhinaâdivine feminine presenceâin the Lone Star State.
Considering the large number of Noahides in Latin America and Africa, Schulman theorized that countries that had had Christianity forced upon them might be pulling off the yoke of their oppressors. And itâs true that Noahidism seems to spring up mostly in Christian countries. But imperialism is pretty much everywhereâwhat place hasnât been taken over by Christianity or Islam or nationalism or something else?
The best explanation for Noahidismâs spread lies not in space, but in time. A few decades ago, Noahides were usually lone individuals, or perhaps groups of four or five, who had come to the Noahide commandments on their own.
âNo one knew each other existed,â explained Bryant.
But thanks to the Internet, Noahides realized they werenât alone. Religious seekers were suddenly able to get their hands on all kinds of information on Judaism (many talk about Aish.com and Chabad.org like family friends), and Noahide-specific websites appeared. The true headquarters of Noahidism isnât in Texas or the Philippines; itâs in the web servers. Bryant regularly gets emails saying, âIâm so happy I found your video. I thought I was the only person in the world who lived this way.â
Because Noahides are so spread out, dating can be a problem; itâs not that easy to find non-Jews who practice Judaism. So, Noahides having started dating sites, such as Soulmate Connections. Cherrie Lacrosse, another Texan, met her husband through one such site.
âIt was like weâd known each other forever,â she remembered.
***
Of course, many are already married before becoming Noahides, such as Peter and Val Loth, a couple that frequents Netiv.
They both grew up Christian, but as an adult Peter found out he was actually a Jewish Holocaust survivor whoâd been adopted by a Polish family as a baby. Already married, Peter and Val started looking into Judaism, and they discovered that many did not consider their marriage valid. All of a sudden, religious Jews were telling them that they might need to get divorced. âIt was scary,â said Val. Peter met Bryant at a church speaking engagement, and the Loths joined his study group, which eventually became Netiv.
They decided to remain marriedââGod brought us together for this purpose,â said Valâbut life got complicated in other ways. Peter had from time to time spoken on forgiveness to church groups, but once he announced that he was religiously Jewish, speaking engagements dried up. Upon finding out he was Jewish before one speech, a pastor dropped Peter off at a McDonaldâs, leaving him to find his own way back to his hotel.
Peter and Val arenât alone in experiencing these problems; Netiv is a kind of support group for Noahides. âWe stick together because we have to,â said Jackie Waer. Extended families rarely understand whatâs going on, and thatâs created rifts. Val Loth simply hasnât told her elderly Christian mother, knowing it would break her heart. âHonoring her is leaving her in her little Catholic world,â she said.
Most people simply donât know Noahides exist. Bryant remembers one time a Noahide group from Waco, Texas, took a trip to Israel for Sukkot and, for some reason, decided it would be a great idea to show up on the Temple Mount. A Muslim man approached them.
âAre you Jewish?â he asked.
âNo,â replied one of the Noahides, who looked like a Hasid. âIâm a Noahide.â
âAre you an American?â
âNo, Iâm a Texan.â
â⦠OK, then.â
And when Noahides show up at Chabad houses or synagogues, saying they want to learn Torah, theyâre frequently turned away at the door.
âWhat about being a light to the nations?â asked Bryant, the Netiv leader. âWhere else are they going to learn Torah? At church?â
One thing about Noahides: They really, really want to be accepted by Jews.
âWe all came from Adam and Chava,â Smith pointed out. âWeâre all related, just with very big branches.â
It seems like these aren’t Noahides so much as gentiles acting like Orthodox Jews. Noahide laws don’t require kippahs and beards etc...
Are they referring to Whoopi Goldberg and Madonna?
It seems like these aren't Noahides so much as gentiles acting like Orthodox Jews. Noahide laws don't require kippahs and beards etc...
Wearing a kippah (or some other hat) shows respect for G-d. An uncovered head is a sign of brazenness. And as for the beard, there is no prohibition on having one. In fact, that is the preferred way, just as Noachides aren't forbidden to cremate their dead but it is preferred that they be buried in the ground.
It takes a lot more than a kippah and beard to "act like an Orthodox Jew."
Doesn’t Christianity follow the Noahide laws?
Seems like people looking for Christianity without Jesus.
It does not actually. Regarding Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah would be regarded as Idolatry under the Noahide laws.
We're not Christian. So, what are we? Dianna Navarro, Arilio's wife, remembered thinking.
"Apostate" is the word she's looking for.
The Torah talks about not shaving the four corners of your beard. This, along with the prohibition on mixing wool with linen, has always struck me as something that meant something very different at the time. Back then virtually all men wore beards. Those who did not were probably members of some local cult.
Of interest, ping....
Kinda sounds like Armstrongism with some added flourishes, minus Jesus.
Splinter groups with issues.
My son’s a Noahide. My daughter and I are Jewish and he choose not to be - but he does believe in the Torah.
I really wish that the Reform Jews would accept the moniker.
No way!
Judaism makes rigorous demands of a convert and the Orthodox Jewish way of life can seem forbidding for many people to keep.
Noahidism is a sort of ideal middle ground: embracing monotheism and an ethical approach to life without being required to be Jewish.
Seven laws are easier for people to observe than the 365 laws obligatory upon Jews.
Contrary to what most people think, Judaism’s ideal is for every one to be Jewish but for every one to love God and do what is right.
Even in the Messianic Age nations and different religions will still exist. Nowhere do the Hebrew prophets envision a Jewish world.
For them, the world will be at peace with God and the role of the Jewish people is to serve as a role model on how people can get closer to God, not every one has to become a Jew to do so.
And in contrast with Christianity, the Jewish teaching holds the righteous of the world have a “share in the world to come.” If you fear God, you’re already have a place in Heaven.
Return to His ancient paths. He has not changed from beginning to end. YHVH and Yeshua are one. There is only one law-giver and He is mighty to save.
Two sticks (actually trees) are going to be made one again. Yeshua did not come to create a new _religion_.
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