It is human nature for man’s actions to be influenced by his friends, colleagues and townspeople. Therefore, you should associate yourself with the righteous, and be in the company of wise men constantly, in order to learn from their deeds. Keep away from evil men who walk in darkness, in order not to learn from their behavior. King Solomon, peace be upon him, said, “Whoever walks with the wise men will become wise, but the companion of fools will come to ruin”...And if someone lives in a town whose customs are depraved and whose inhabitants do not walk on the right path, he should move to a city whose inhabitants are righteous and lead decent lives.1

Noahides do not need to be told about the importance of having a Noahide community; not only do Noahides feel isolated from one another, but it is the lack of viable Noahide communities that keep the B’ani Noah from being a viable political force. Frum Noahides2 are scattered on every continent, on every country, and Noahide communities are few and far between. Occasional conferences and the internet community can satisfy the needs of the Noahide only up to a point. This isolation is doubly problematic since the Noahide often becomes an alien in his or her own culture.  Books, movies, music, and plays — so many of the cultural things a Noahide was involved in before they became Noahides — suddenly lose their luster because they do not reflect Torah values. Then there is the problem with holidays, the most culturally corrosive time of the year for the Noahide.  Many of the Christian holidays our society celebrates have a direct impact on our culture — in February the stores are filled with hearts and candy for the Christian Saint Valentine’s day; in March the festivities turn to green beer and shamrocks with Saint Patrick’s day. In April you are bombarded with stuffed bunnies and Easter candy; in October everything is decorated with skeletons and ghosts for the Christian Festival of Death, All Saint’s Day Eve. And of course the coup de grâce: starting in November you have two months of “Happy Birthday to Jesus” music blaring from every public address system and decorated asheirot flickering in every store window. How does the individual Noahide insulate himself or herself from the corrosive effects of our Gnostic and pagan culture? It is difficult to associate with other Noahides if you do not live in a Noahide community, and the only people the Noahide has Torah and Torah culture in common with, observant Jews, the Noahide is halachacally forbidden to socialize with.

There are two remedies to the problem of living outside Noahide communities; the first is simply to move to an existing Noahide community.3 Moving into a Noahide community is not an option for many Noahides, such as an elderly Noahide who owns their home and cannot afford to move, or the Noahide father who cannot leave his job to move to another city. The only other option is to start up a Noahide community from scratch.4 This is the most viable answer for most Noahides In order to build up a Torah-observant community, each Noahide should consider themselves the seeds of Torah, planted in their community, and causing Torah-observant Noahides to take root and spread out. Only by an organized and aggressive outreach program can this be accomplished.

There is an important reason to form Noahide communities besides simply wanting other Noahides to socialize and fellowship with: the incipient concept of the law of dinin implies that the Noahides form communities. In order to implement courts of justice, there has to be a majority of Noahides in any given area, from the local to the national level. Our modern political system, which is based loosely on “democracy,” deems that the majority of people have the voting power to implement legislation. In order to implement the law of dinin, the Noahide movement needs to organize itself into communities.

This leads to an important question: is a Noahide keeping the basic minimum of the Seven Laws if he or she does not live in a Noahide community? The commandment of dinin requires that every Noahide actively make sure that there are courts of justice in their society. In our present political system, this cannot be done outside of a community. Simply going through the process of voting is not enough; unless the candidate is a Noahide and represents a constituency of a majority of Noahides, the non-Noahide candidate is not going to support legislation to base laws on the Seven mitzvot of the Torah. Writing a letter to your congressman or lawmaker is ineffective if you are a minority of one, and will also be ineffective if the Noahide writing letters does not live in the representative’s community.

It should be understood that a Noahide, no matter how pious or “spiritual” they are, is not keeping the Seven Laws unless they are actively seeking to establish courts of justice that support the Noahide Code. Noahides should be working towards building local communities, for it is only in numbers that we can change the political process. It should also be noted that a Noahide community in Israel is useless; in the messianic age, Israel will be under the jurisdiction of the Sanhedrin, not the Noahide courts. It is imperative that the Noahide work towards the goal of forming Noahide communities, which necessitates that the Noahide actively pursue the task of teshuvah, of turning the non-observant Noahides in his or her community into frum Noahides. Thus the task of a Noahide outreach program should be a priority for every Noahide in order to build Noahide communities so as to fulfill the obligation of the law of dinin. Also, the B’nai Noah need to lead the fight against the missionaries, not only to take the pressure off of the Jews, who can better spend their time reaching out to their non-observant brethren, but because Noahides usually know more about Christianity, since most Noahides came from a Christian background. Noahides know what tactics the missionaries use, what they back up their claims with, and how best to approach the non-observant Noahide.

One must keep in mind that the Christian is not the enemy; it is not their fault that they have been mislead. Most Noahides were once Christians, and it is the Bible-believing, G-d fearing Christians that give us our greatest opportunity towards the goal of implementing the Seven Laws in our society. The organized religion of Christianity is not going to go away by itself, nor is it going to go away quietly; it is going to take an organized effort from the B’nai Noah to turn the nonobservant Noahide into frum Noahides. This is what I hoped The Noahide Code: A Guide to the Perplexed Christian could be used for; as a tool to help turn G-d fearing Christians into observant Noahides. Christianity has outlived its usefulness; the knowledge of the Torah and the concept of monotheism has been spread to every corner of the world, even if many do not yet accept it. This is the task of the B’nai Noah; not only to eliminate idolatry once and for all, and to turn mankind to the pure monotheistic worship of One True G-d, the G-d of Israel, but to establish courts of justice in every society in order to bring about a universal peace among both nations and individuals. Being able to “fellowship” and worship with other Noahides is something the B’nai Noah desire, but in order to fulfill the commandment of dinin, the building of and living in Noahide communities is not an option, but a necessary part of being a frum Noahide.

Notes

1. Shulchan Aruch, ch. 29:10.

2. Frum isYiddish for “observant” or “orthodox.”

3. Rabbi Nehorai said: Emigrate to a place where there is Torah wisdom, and say not that it will follow you, for it is your associates who will keep it ever in your hand and do not rely upon your own understanding. Pirkei Avot 4:18. Rabbi S. R. Hirsch, The Hirsch Siddur, (Jerusalem: Feldheim Publishers, 1997), p. 483.

4. [Hillel] used to say...in a place where there are no leaders, strive to be a leader. Pirkei Avot 2:6. “Where there is no one to accept communal and spiritual responsibility and provide leadership, we are bidden to rise to the occasion and fill the role.” (Rashi). R’ Nosson Scherman.  The Complete Artscroll Siddur. (Brooklyn, NY: Mesorah Publications, 1985) p. 599. “In circumstances where the affairs of the community receive proper attention and the good and the right are adequately represented, do not push yourself forward. Under these conditions modesty is a virtue, and any forwardness on your part may be presumptuous and may tend to push aside men who are better qualified than you to do the work. But in situations where true men are lacking, where the interests of the community suffer for lack of proper leadership, and where, in default of adequate support, goodness and truth remain unrecognized and unrealized—it is your duty to strive to become a man qualified to act as a leader and spokesman, and once you have acquired these skills, endeavor to take part in affairs where articulate leadership is needed, for under such conditions reticence would not be modest but downright criminal.” Hirsch, The Hirsch Siddur, p. 438-39.

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Written by :

KristineCassady