The Twentieth of Cheshvan: The Day of Bnei Noach

There are dates in the Jewish calendar that speak only to Jews. And there are dates that speak to all of humanity. The twentieth of Cheshvan is one of those. It is a day that reminds us: the Almighty has a relationship not only with the Jewish people. He has a covenant with the whole world. And that covenant was made before the Jewish people ever existed.

The twentieth of Cheshvan is the day Noach came out of the ark.

The waters of the flood had receded. The earth had dried. And the Almighty said to Noach: "Go out of the ark." After more than a year of confinement — three hundred and sixty-five days, according to a number of opinions — the man, his family and all living creatures stepped out onto a new earth. An earth that had been washed and renewed. An earth on which a new history was beginning.

And immediately after the exit — a covenant. The Almighty makes an agreement with Noach, with his descendants and with every living thing. The sign of this covenant is the rainbow. The promise: there will never again be a flood over the whole world. And together with this covenant come seven commandments, which become the foundation of human civilization.

Bnei Noach literally means "the sons of Noach," the descendants of Noach. According to Jewish tradition, all people on earth are descendants of Noach — the one man who, together with his family, survived the flood. In this sense, every person on the planet is a Ben Noach, a son of Noach.

But in a more specific sense, Bnei Noach are non-Jews who take upon themselves the seven commandments given to Noach and live by them consciously. Not because it is customary, not because that is how they were raised — but because they recognize that these commandments were given by the Almighty and are the foundation of a righteous life.

The Rambam writes in his code, the Mishneh Torah: the righteous of the nations of the world have a share in the World to Come. But with an important qualification: this refers to those who keep the seven commandments because the Almighty commanded them in the Torah — not simply because it is reasonable or accepted in their culture. Conscious acceptance of Divine authority is what makes a person a Ben Noach in the full sense of the word.

The seven commandments of Noach are the minimal moral code needed for civilization to exist. They are neither random nor arbitrary. Each one closes off a particular abyss into which human society could fall.

The first commandment: the prohibition of idolatry. Recognizing the oneness of the Creator. Not bowing to anything that is not the Source of existence. This is the foundation of foundations: if a person or a society worships a false god — whether an idol of wood or an idol of ideology — everything else falls apart.

The second commandment: the prohibition of blasphemy. Not cursing the Name of the Almighty. This is a commandment about respect for the Source of existence. The world stands on the fact that something is holy — something that cannot be desecrated with impunity.

The third commandment: the prohibition of murder. Man is created in the image of God. Killing a person is not merely a crime against the victim. It is a blow against the image of the Creator in the world. The Talmud says: whoever destroys a single soul is as if he had destroyed an entire world.

The fourth commandment: the prohibition of sexual immorality. The prohibition of certain sexual relationships: incest, adultery, sodomy. The family is the basic unit of society. When the boundaries of the family are blurred, the foundation of human coexistence collapses.

The fifth commandment: the prohibition of theft. Respect for other people's property. Without it, no economy and no trust between people is possible.

The sixth commandment: the prohibition of eating flesh torn from a living animal. This is a commandment about compassion. A prohibition of cruelty — even toward animals. A person capable of causing suffering to a living creature for pleasure gradually loses sensitivity to human suffering as well.

The seventh commandment: the obligation to establish courts of justice. This is the only one of the seven that is formulated not as a prohibition but as an obligation. It is not enough to refrain personally from murder and theft. Society is obligated to create a system that ensures justice for all. Without courts and laws, society slides into chaos — everyone does what seems right in his own eyes.

In Jewish tradition, seven is the number of completeness, of wholeness. Seven days of creation. Seven days of the week. Shabbat, the seventh day. The seven commandments of Noach are a complete, finished moral code for humanity. Nothing superfluous — and nothing missing.

Interestingly, if you count the details, there are actually more Noahide commandments than seven. But they are grouped into seven main categories. Just as the seven colors of the rainbow — the sign of the covenant — contain all the richness of visible light.

The rainbow and the seven commandments appear at the same moment — and that is no coincidence.

In our time there is a real movement of people who have taken upon themselves the seven commandments of Noach and call themselves Bnei Noach or Noahides. These are people who came to monotheism through studying Jewish tradition but did not become Jews — and do not aspire to. They found their own path to the Creator through the covenant made with all of humanity.

The movement is especially active in the United States, Brazil, India, South Korea, Nigeria and the Philippines. In Israel there are organizations that work with Bnei Noach; conferences are held and literature is published. Some Bnei Noach communities number in the hundreds.

Rabbi Menachem Burstein, founder of the Machon Meir institute, and Rabbi Moshe Weiner, author of a detailed halachic work on the laws of Bnei Noach, are among those who have systematically developed this subject in our day.

What draws people to this path? As a rule, a desire for honest monotheism. Without dogmas that seem to them incompatible with reason. Without intermediaries between man and God. A direct, simple, ancient covenant: acknowledge the Creator, live righteously, build a just society.

The twentieth of Cheshvan — the day of leaving the ark — is a day of beginning. Not the end of the flood, but the beginning of a new earth. Not deliverance from the past, but the opening of the future.

Noach went out — and the world had to be built anew. From scratch. With seven principles in hand and a rainbow overhead.

This day reminds us of several important things.

First: every person — regardless of origin, nation or religion — has a place in the Divine plan. The seven commandments were not given to Jews. They were given to humanity. This means the Creator has a relationship with all of His creatures.

Second: a minimum of righteousness is not a small thing. The seven commandments seem simple. But look at the history of humanity, and you will see how rarely even these seven principles were kept at the level of entire civilizations. Do not murder. Do not steal. Establish just courts. As if it were simple — and as if it were impossibly hard.

Third: a covenant is a two-way relationship. The Almighty promises not to destroy the world by flood. But man, too, takes on an obligation — to live in such a way that the world is worthy of existing. The rainbow reminds us of both sides of the covenant.

Jewish tradition says: the path of Avraham is the path for Jews. The path of Noach is the path for all of humanity. But this does not mean one path is higher than the other. It means that everyone has their own mission.

A righteous non-Jew who lives by the seven commandments is a "chassid umot ha'olam," one of the righteous of the nations of the world. His place in the World to Come is no less real than that of a Jew who keeps the six hundred and thirteen commandments. The paths are simply different — and both lead to the same Source.

On the day Noach left the ark and received the commandments, humanity received its Torah. A short one. Seven words long. But enough to build a world worthy of its Creator.

The rainbow still appears after the rain. The covenant is still in force. And the task still stands before each of us — no matter who we are or where we come from.