"Now when a convert or a ba’al teshuva comes to the Jewish people, he has to know that he has to be a follower – he has to listen. But sometimes a ba’al teshuva comes in and he takes over. Right away he wants to teach all the old-time Jews how to be real Jews! He knows better! So what does he do? He follows the models that he formed in the gentile world or in the non-religious world. It happens."
Rav Avigdor Miller, TAPE # 30 (August 1973)
These comments are a much-needed reminder of the need for humility. As a Noahide, I well know the temptation to believe I know more than I do. A good number of Noahides, myself included, have come out of Christianity and have read the “Old Testament” for much of their lives as a part of their Bible. We do not always appreciate that we have been misinformed about the meaning of Torah or that we do not understand the nuances of the Hebrew. It is easy to believe that we were mistaken on only one or two points, which have now been corrected. In truth, we must accept that we are beginning students with little understanding of Torah, even of the basics. We have been operating according to wrong definitions our entire lives.
ReplyDeleteIn his Collected Writings, volume II, R’ Hirsch writes about the necessity of burning a Torah scroll penned by a heretic. He notes that the essence of a word is its meaning. And so, even though a heretic’s scroll is spelled correctly and pronounced the same as an authentic Torah scroll, it is what we might call an “impostor scroll.” The heretic in writing the scroll had in mind a different meaning than the meaning of the Torah. Therefore, the work must be burned.
The Noahide—and I suspect a number of baalei teshuvah—have learned from a heretic’s scroll. Their understanding of the Torah is based on faulty definitions, taught them by the church or secular western society, neither of which is competent to teach the Torah. The Noahide really must burn what he has learned from his mind and begin learning from scratch. Therefore, we must not take it upon ourselves to teach the Jewish people the meaning of the Torah. We must come quietly to listen to him teach.
Thank you for this reminder.
Jim
Hi I am honored to meet a Noahide. Thank you for your comment. May I ask how you learn of the 7 commandments of Noah?
DeleteHello,
DeleteI believe I first heard about the Seven Noahide Commandments through lectures by rabbis online. When I concluded that Christianity could not be true, I began listening to various lectures. And I believe through those lectures, I first learned of the Seven. About the same time, I was trying to understand Torah from Jewish sources as opposed to Christian, particularly observant Jews. Looking for a commentary on the Torah, I found several, one of which was the commentary by R’ Hirsch, which I bought. He also refers to the Seven. So, I might have first learned of the Seven through R’ Hirsch, but if so, I would have been a little bit confused. I did not understand how Genesis 2:16 would give an indication of the Seven when I first read it. I required a whole new framework for understanding the Torah.
Once I learned of the non-Jew’s duties, I bought “The Path of the Righteous Gentile,” which gives the basic legal requirements for fulfilling the Seven. Later, I bought “The Divine Code,” which is a little more detailed. I use R’ Hirsch’s works to help me understand the Seven, particularly philosophically—how I should think about the Seven. I also use the “Sefer haChinnuch” to study the Seven.
Jim