Noach, Genesis 6:9–11:32
God Of Jews, God Of Humanity
The seven Noahide commandments mediate God's love for all of humanity and God's unique relationship with the Jewish people.
Is Judaism a particularistic religion, concerned
only with the well-being and sanctity of the Jewish People, or is it also one of
the universalistic faiths, expressing a concern for all humanity in every region
of the globe? To the enemies of our people, Judaism is portrayed as a narrow,
legalistic and particularistic religion. By focusing on the Chosen
People--defined as the Jews--and their needs to the exclusion of everyone
else's, Judaism seems to show an indifference to the rest of the world.
By its own admission, Judaism doesn't actively try
to seek out converts--those who are attracted to our ways are welcome, but there
is no burning drive to "Get the word out."
The God of the Bible is one who liberates the Jews
from slavery, who gives them a path of life, who provides them with a Promised
Land. Doesn't that focus make everyone else peripheral, indeed negligible?
On the other hand, the God of the Bible is also the
Creator of the Universe, the planet Earth, and all that it contains. The Bible
explicitly speaks of God's covenants with other people too--the Assyrians and
the Egyptians to name just two.
Does God Have The Same Relationship With Everybody?
If God is the God of the whole world, then wouldn't
God have the same relationship with everybody? The Torah presents that paradox
to us--God is the God of the Jewish People, and also the God of all humanity.
That dual set of concerns are mediated through the Laws of the B'nai Noah, the
Children of Noah, a way that Judaism and halakhah (Jewish law) incorporate God's
sovereignty and love for all people with God's unique mission for the Jews.
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