Who Are We

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Who Are We

Who Are We

Who Are We?

The Children of Adam?

The Children of Enosh?

Or the Children of Noah?

The verse says: “And these are the generations of Noah,” (Gen. 6: 9.) The Midrash comments (Rashi): wherever it says “and these,” the verse cancels ‘the old’ and starts ‘the new.’ Hence from Noah onwards humanity should be named ‘the Children of Noah’‑Bnei Noah‑as opposed to the previous generations who had been named ‘the children of Adam,’ Bnei Adam. The Torah goes on to count Noah’s descendants‑the Seventy Families of Nations who comprises humanity till today.

And one may ask: What’s the difference between the two names? Moreover, since Noah was Adam’s descendant, why not call him a Child of Adam? But the difference is, according to the Rabbis, that the Children of Adam corrupted their ways and ended up at the Flood. Once they had violated the Six Commandments given to Adam and Eve in Eden, they’d lost their right to live in this world‑a lesson to posterity.

The term children of Noah, in contrast is reserved for those who observe Noah’s Seven Commandments. Not only do they keep the original Six given to Adam, but also the Seventh added to Noah after the Flood. Hence they observe IDOLATRY, ADULTERY, BLOODHSED, THEFT, JUSTICE, BLASPHEMY and Abstaining from eating Blood and a Limb from a Living Animal.

Hence we all come from Adam and Eve, but we want to be Noah’s Children. Our origin is Adam, but our future is Noah. The term Children of Noah expresses the status we all long to be, to arrive at, when all humanity observes Noah’s Commandments. But so far we are wondering somewhere in between Adam and Noah. We are; perhaps, better than the generation of the flood but we are not yet eligible to live in Noah’s Ark.

Arriving to Noah does not require a belief in a Messiah or a Prophet, nor does it depend on a miracle from Heaven. It does depend on each one of us. Each person can stop being Adam’s Child and be elevated to become a Child of Noah by simply keeping what our father Noah wanted us to do.

In that sense, the USA is the first society ever to declare in the open that its moral fabric is based upon the Seven Commandments of Noah. The USA is the first country to abandon the past and move forward to Noah.

So how would you describe us? Here we come to another, third term the Rabbis use to describe humanity‑the Children of Enosh, Bnei Enosh. Enosh, as you know, was Adam’s grandson who was born seven generations before Noah and lived to see Noah as a young lad. About Enosh it says that “it was then that they began calling the Name of Hashem,” (Gen. 4: 26.) There are many interpretations of this important verse, but all agree that Enosh started IDOLATRY in the world (see Rambam.)

Enosh’ IDOLATRY wasn’t a foolish worshipping of wood and stone’s statues. Nor did he worship the celestial bodies. As Adam’s grandson he knew the Creator and was familiar with the Story of Creation. In fact, Enosh was a compassionate man, a believer in forgiveness and mercy‑a true follower of HaShem (The Merciful Name.) As a gifted orator he impacted his generations tremendously: he preached that Mercy overrides everything and even abrogates AeLoKiM’s (or Elokim) Law. Thus, says the Midrash, he profaned the Holy Name by praying to the Merciful Name alone, thereby violating the principle of ONENESS. It looks a small error, but this was the very force that drove humanity downhill towards the Flood.

Now after the Flood, it might have been expected that Noah’s sons would follow their father’s teachings and keep all the Creator’s Commandments. They should have derived a lesson from their recent history. But instead they reverted to Enosh’s erroneous teachings and drifted down the slippery road to violate IDOLATRY with the rest of the Commandments.

And that is why in Hebrew humanity is still named after Enosh, as the Children of Enosh, Enoshm, rather than after Noah. It was as if we went back to Enosh‑midway between Adam and Noah. One day, when al the Families of Nations will adhere to ONENESS and keep all of Noah’s Seven Commandments, humanity will merit being named the Children of Noah.

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