Transcript of the video:

Trust in G-d – to turn to G-d for all one’s needs, is not only a command to Jews, but also to the Children of Noah, all of Mankind. As mentioned many times, and as is clearly understood, some commandments are universal, for all. The Seven Noahide Laws themselves are included in the 613 commandments to Jews – and within Jewish Law, they attain greater significance but their purpose remains universal: “G-d did not create the world for there to be chaos, but for it to be civilized.” – this is the purpose of the Seven Noachide Laws and all their derivative laws, and all Jews and non-Jews share this obligation.

This raises the question as to whether or not a non-Jew must fulfill the above-mentioned point, to trust in G-d that everything will be good, and at the same time, if a negative event occurs, to wholeheartedly declare “Whatever the Merciful One does is for the good, and so: “This, too, is good.” Now clearly, this is an expression of faith in G-d as Creator and Director of the world. In the faith required of a non-Jew, he is not obligated to know metaphysical concepts which have no bearing on his worldly life and conduct; only to have faith as it will impact his fulfillment of G-d’s commands in this world – to promote goodness and to protect civilized life. Thus, logic dictates that he must believe that G-d is only good and that G-d’s nature is to do only good, and therefore, humans, too, must act in a civilized way. As far as the basic belief that there is a G-d, and that He directs the world, we find that Abraham worked to impress this belief on all human beings. This responsibility was then passed on to every Jew at the Giving of the Torah through Moses, to compel all of mankind to fulfill their commandments. But they are meant to create a civilized society, so the requirement is not only a belief that G-d exists, but that G-d is good and that He desires good for His creations – and therefore, people too, must enforce goodness.

So it is reasonable to conclude that part of a non-Jew’s absolute belief in G-d – and his renunciation of idolatry, which is one of the Seven Noahide Laws – includes to recognize G-d as the source of all good – and, therefore, to turn to G-d, in prayer, for all his needs. This is also the obvious reason why Jonah the Prophet was sent to arouse the non-Jews of Nineveh to pray to G-d to annul the destruction decreed upon them for their evil deeds. Jonah’s story was included as a lesson in the Torah in order to make it known to all the Children of Noah that they are obligated to return to G-d, and to pray to Him when they are in need. Now, prayer is not itself listed as one of the Seven Noahide Laws – but the Seven focus only on prohibitions, not mentioning active obligations, such as prayer. Additionally, it could be logically deduced that prayer is a part of the Noahide commandment to renounce idolatry and to believe in G-d, and of the command to establish justice; while for a Jew, prayer is a distinct obligation.

Based on the above reasoning, it is the duty of every Jew to impress upon all those around him – including non-Jews, as part of their Seven Noahide Laws – that they must come to recognize not only that G-d directs all that occurs in this world, but that G-d bestows only goodness, and He opposes anything that is the opposite of goodness.

For more on this, visit:

© The Noachide Society of Great Britain. 2003-2010 All Rights Reserved.