A Spiritual Path to HaShem for the Noachide with Kabbalistic Commentary

The basis of these lessons uses a book titled "The Path of the Righteous Gentile-An Introduction to the Seven Laws of the Children of Noah" by Chaim Clorfene and Yakov Rogalsky.

This is the Introduction that comes from a blog BY NETIV / THE PATH · SEPTEMBER 5, 2014

chanoch's Commentary

The Hebrew language has two words that translate as "pathway". One is mistranslated as law; that is the word Halacha. The Halacha is a path for the public. It is traveled by everyone who chooses to follow this path as recommended by the Jewish Sages and elucidated in the Talmud.

The other Hebrew word for path is Netiv. Netiv means a path traveled by one person alone. The Sefer Yetzirah uses the word Netiv to teach a path to prophetic consciousness that is only available to each person individually. In this class it is my intention to bring the Kabbalah systems to the Netiv - Path of the Noachide who wishes to cleave to HaShem.

The Kabbalah teaches that the Children of Israel represents souls that have achieved a certain level of Tikune - Correction. The negative aspects of these souls are connected to the Children of Noach. The Children of Israel inherited, a desire to receive the goodness of the Creator from the Patriarchs. The children of Noach did not inherit this easier path to become closer to the Creator. The Noachide can rise to a higher level through effort and learning from the Children of Israel. In fact, the Children of Noach represents the sparks of the endless vessel that fell deeper into the Klipah - the negative consciousness than the Children of Israel. This means they - Children of Noach have a potential to rise above the Children of Israel spiritually. This means that the Children of Noach have the potential ultimately to reveal more of the Light of HaShem. Since each aspect of the Children of Noach need to learn from each Child of Israel there is a need for both the sets of Children to grow together. This can only be done without coercion. This can only happen when the two sets of children grow closer together.

Introduction

This book - "The Path of the Righteous Gentile" summarizes the Torah’s call to inform and guide the Gentiles, the descendants of Noach, as to their true spiritual path in the world. Jewish readers will also be interested in learning about this little known area of Jewish study. This is an aspect of the unification of the Creator. These Seven Laws of the Children of Noach are the basic principles of civilized humanity.

chanoch's Commentary

The Kabbalah teaches that there are 10 Sefirot - 10 levels of spiritual consciousness. From the frame of the human being the 10 are perceived as 7 lower Sefirot and 3 higher above. Today Sciences theorizes that there are 10 dimension associated with the string theory. Six of these collapsed and one became our physical world. The Torah gives 7 recommendations to the Children of Noach and 10 Debrot - Sentences/Utterances to the Children of Israel. Included in the 10 Utterances are the 7 recommendations. When it comes to Torah study there are 613 Mitzvot included in the 10 Utterances. The majority of these Mitvot are included in the 7 recommendations. There are only 2 areas that can not be studied by the Children of Noach. These are the laws / Mitzvot associated with the Kingship of Israel and the Service in the Temple. The reason for this exclusion is that the requirement to be a Cohen or a Levi indicates a birthright which the Children of Noach do not possess [as of yet]. This also applies to the King of Israel which must be born to a mother of the Tribes. Today we do not know who has a mother born from the Tribes except for the Tribe of Judah which we call Jews today. In this book the word Commandment is used instead of the words recommendation and Utterances and Mitzvot. In my commentary i will try to remember to use the proper words. Please let us know in case we miss something. It is helpful for you to think of the proper word to substitute every time you see the word "Commandment".

For the past two thousand years, Christians and Moslems and every other religious group that has had the opportunity have been proselytizing to the Jews, telling them what their religious duty should be. The Jews, by contrast, have never actively sought converts to their own religion. Perhaps this is why few people realize that Judaism has something to say concerning the religious and ethical duties of the non-Jews in the world.

chanoch's Commentary

The Torah is not a book of ethics and morals and thus the statement above is correct but corrupted. It is a statement of religion. All religions come out of two sources. One is the religion called Judaism and the other is out of the religion called "Many Gods". This is the source of the corruption. To understand the Torah we need to understand the essence of the Torah which is the "Mind of the Creator". Put in modern terms the Torah are principles to explain and understand the transformation of spiritual energy into physicality. It is a Book of Physics and all other sciences - yet it is much more. At a minimum the Torah describes energy changes and transformation and how to achieve them.

The doctrine of the Seven Noahide Commandments brings the Jewish idea of unity to the world. In fact, the very idea of unity in religion originated with Judaism. Whoever has this concept other than the Jews, got it from the Jews. This idea is taught by the Kabbalistic Sage Maimonides in his book Mishneh Torah, Laws of Idolatry, 1:2,32 Ibid., Laws of Kings, 8:10 And when we speak of unity, we mean both the unity of God and the unity of mankind. The unity of God means true monotheism, and the unity of mankind means a world in which all people come / cleave to God in peace and harmony. chanoch adds: included in the word unity is the idea that each person has his own perception of God. Some of these perceptions are similar to others perception yet each is unique. The phrase being used by me and others is "Unity with Diversity". This can be understood from the idea of duality. the number two is not the number one yet is made up of the number one.

All the religions of the world, other than Judaism, approach the idea of unity with the precept, “Believe as we believe, and the world will be one.” This approach has never worked. (chanoch adds: This approach implies coercion and goes against a spiritual law and thus can never work.) Judaism approaches unity from an entirely different perspective. It teaches that there are two paths, not just one. Misnah Torah . One path is yours. The other one is mine. You travel yours and I will travel mine, and herein will be found true unity – the one God is found on both paths because the one God gave us both. The Noahide laws define the path that God gave to the non-Jewish peoples of the world. Mishnah Torah 8:11

chanoch's Commentary

Rabbi Ashlag - A Kabbalist of the 20th Century teaches this idea in a different way. There are two paths. Both paths lead to HaShem. One is a personal path of Torah study and observance which leads to a living embodiment of Torah. The other is a personal path that leads to pain suffering and chaos. Eventually that path leads to a realization that there must be a better way and the person starts to search for HaShem and eventually finds the Torah path. The choice therefore is a longer path of pain and suffering or a shorter path of Torah.

The Seven Noahide Commandments comprise the most ancient of all religious doctrines, for they were given to Adam, the First Man, on the day of his creation. Mishnah Torah 9:1 Wondrously, the Seven Noahide Commandments remain the newest and most uncharted of all religious doctrines. Humanity has managed to keep them new by ignoring them throughout history. But now, in these latter days when the footsteps of the Messiah can be heard by all who will listen closely, the Seven Noahide Commandments must finally be learned and observed by all the people of all the nations [by personal choice, not coercion].

chanoch's Commentary

The language used above is religious and not Kabbalistic. There is no "must" or "laws". There is suggested recommendations that gives a person free choice. Of course to not follow the recommendations leads one to the path of chaos. Yet there is always free choice. That is the meaning of the phrase applied to Pharaoh in the Torah - "Hardened His Heart". When someone faces destruction and experiences the Power of HaShem he has lost his ability to be in a balance point in order to make a choice. Hardening someone's heart is a code word that brings the person back to the level of balance where he is capable of making his free choice - even making the same mistake again as his choice. Of course, eventually even a Monkey will type the 10 Utterances. In other words evenually the person will see the futility of his path and change it.

The word commandment is a translation of the Hebrew word mitzvah, which also means “connection.” By observing God’ s commandments, a person becomes connected to God’s infinite will and wisdom and thereby elicits a Godly light which shines onto his or her soul. This Godly light is eternal, and in it the soul earns eternal reward.this is a teaching from Likutei Torah, Rav Shneur Zalman of Liadi, Bekhukotey, page 45, column 3. By observing the Seven Noahide Commandments, a Gentile fulfills the purpose of his creation and receives a share of the eternal World to Come, the blessed spiritual world of the righteous.

chanoch's Commentary

The word Olam HaBah is translated throughout Judaism as "the world to come". It actually has the meaning of "the world that is coming". Contemplate the difference and you will realize that the world to come never arrives - it is always in the future; while the world that is coming is inevitable no matter how long it takes.

What do you think is the meaning of the word Righteous? Kabbalah teaches that an action that is "Right" is a Righteous action. Right means according to the situation the "right" thing to do. It is not a logical decision but an intuitive one. Logic is a tool that sometimes leads us to a right action and many times does not.

The hurdle that must be cleared in preparation for observing the Seven Noahide Commandments is the acceptance of the idea that mankind’s way to the Father is through the oral tradition of Judaism, known as the Oral Torah. Rebellion against the sanctity and authority of Oral Torah has been with us since those first days in the Wilderness of Sinai when the followers of Korah led a revolt against absolute authority of Moses, as we learn in the Book of Numbers, “And they assembled themselves against Moses and against Aaron and said to them, You assume too much; for the whole of the congregation are all of them holy, and the Lord is among them; wherefore then will you lift yourselves up above the congregation of the Lord? (Numbers 6:3).”

In the end, God performed a great miracle to demonstrate His preference for the Mosaic authority, “And the earth opened her mouth and swallowed them and their houses and all the men that were for Korah and all their wealth. And they went down, they and all who were for them, alive into the pit; and the earth closed over them and they disappeared from the midst of the congregation (Numbers 16:32,33).”

When God gave the Torah to the Jewish people on Mount Sinai, all the people accepted the Written Torah willingly, but God had to lift the mountain over their heads and threaten to drop it on them to persuade them to accept the Oral Torah.Babylonian Talmud, Shabbat 88a. The oral tradition (primarily the Talmud and later Code of Jewish Law), according to rabbinic tradition was revealed by God to Moses at Mount Sinai, then transmitted orally from father to son, teacher to student throughout the ages. This is known as the Mesorah (the Heritage). If the Jews had difficulty in accepting the Oral Torah as no less divine than Scripture, how much more difficult must it be for the non-Jews. But accept the oral tradition The rabbis referred to are those rabbis who themselves accept the authority of the Oral Torah. they must, for the source of understanding the Seven Noahide Commandments is found in the Talmud and later rabbinic teachings, and nowhere else.

chanoch's Commentary

The Torah is alive and has a living consciousness as taught in Kabbalah. The Torah is composed of three levels - The revealed level which is the written scroll. The Oral component which was not supposed to be written down since once it is in writing it is stuck in cement so to speak and cannot change over the centuries. It was written down in two places after the destruction of the Temple. One is called Talmud Bavli or the Babylonian Talmud and one is called Talmud Yerushalem or the Jerusalem Talmud. There are differences between them. Judaisim follows for the most part the Talmud Bavli since it was written in the diaspora for the diaspora.

Here is the major criticism of those Rabbis who do not follow the oral Torah as well as the written Torah. The written Torah tells us to wear Tefillin but does not tell us what it is or how to make them or how to put them on and use them. Where are we to find out this and other how to explanations like what ritual to do on what Holiday and how to declare the Holidays. There are many other similar issues explained in the two Talmuds. Over the centuries there have been interpretations of the Torah based on what is said in theTalmud explaining the Torah yet there have also been interpretations that reject these ideas in favor of a literal interpretation of the Torah. The only way for you to know what is right for you is to make your own study. The written Torah tells you to follow the teachings of the Rabbis of your generation; yet today no Rabbi has full command of all of the information available in the 10 levels of Torah. So in my opinion it is important to study these conflicting directions from various Rabbis over the centuries in order to determine what is your truth and what is right for you to do. The author disagrees with me. You need to decide for yourself. This is a part of the Tikune of this generation in my opinion. That is why we do not have a recognized leader of the generation.

There is a second difficulty that arises in considering the Seven Noahide Commandments. It is seemingly a semantic problem, but it has profound implications. The Gentile as well as the Jew should relate to members of the non-Jewish nations of the world as Noahides, a strange new term. Seen as the Children of Noah, or Noahides, the Gentile nations at once have a unique and specific spiritual role in the world, one that is exceedingly exalted. The Children of Noah are co-religionists with the Children of Israel. Together, they are peaceful partners striving to perfect the world and thereby give God pleasure and satisfaction. By viewing himself as a Noahide, the Gentile becomes like the Jew, in that he is a member of a people whose peoplehood, not just his religion or nationality, is synonymous with its relationship to God. Chanoch adds: essentially the Children of Israel know HaShem as different from believing in HaShem. This statement "I know HaShem is very problematic for the Children of Noach. The Children of Israel have an innate knowing while the Children of Noach have no reference to this statement until their study brings them to a higher level of consciousness. Our Kabbalistic Sages refer to it as the Pintele Yid - the soul point of a Jew.

At this time, The Path of the Righteous Gentile is the only book that presents a framework of the divine code of the Seven Noahide Commandments in a practical form, albeit a limited and seminal one. For reasons explained in the first chapter, Historical Overview, previous treatises on this subject were written by Jewish scholars for other Jewish scholars and were intended to remain theoretical and academic. The Path of the Righteous Gentile is a call to action for the Jew and the Gentile, the Israelite and the Noahide. And as Rabbi Tarfon said: The day is short, the task is considerable, the workers are lazy, the reward is great, and the Boss is insistent. Section of the Talmud called Chapters of the Fathers 2:20

It all depends on us, which includes you. And so, this introductory book about the Seven Laws of the Children of Noah has been prepared. It is meant not as a document of final authority, but as a means by which people may become familiar with the subject and incorporate it within their lives.

chanoch adds: The final authority for the Noachide must be their decision on who to follow along the path until they determine it is time to go their own way on a path that will be different than the various Jewish denominations. Within the Jewish denominations is a representative of the 12 Tribes. That is the reason for the difference in approach to each denomination. This will be true for the Children of Noach as well since they are a representation of the 70 Nations as defined in the written Torah.

We hope and pray that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel will forgive any errors this work may contain, and that it will become an instrument for bringing all mankind closer to its Father in heaven. May His revealed Presence soon dwell among us. and may we all say Amen to this prayer.