Rabbi reasons - Not G-d's Will for Non-Jews to be Fruitful & Multiply? (Serious! This is What They Think of Us?) U_0104
Doc Tavish
(Link still active April 26, 2003 and archived locally as: ask002htmQ2)
Why to be "fruitful and multiply" is not a Noachide Law
AT&T Bell Laboratories, in Columbus, Ohio asks:
In Parshat Vayishlach, you wrote that "There are only three mitzvot in
Sefer Bereishit. The first mitzvah, to be fruitful and multiply, is
essential to the survival of all of Mankind..." And yet, on the
surface, "p'ru ur'vu" is not one of the commandments for the Bnei
Noach. Why not?
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Dear AT&T,
There are 7 commandments from Hashem for the Bnei Noach to govern
their behavior. They are:
Prohibition against idolatry.
Prohibition against adultery.
Prohibition against eating a limb of a live animal.
Prohibition against blasphemy.
The commandment to establish courts of law.
Prohibition against murder.
Prohibition against theft.
The Sefer HaChinuch lists the three mitzvot taught in the Book of
Bereishit, and writes that they apply only to the Jewish People.
1."Be fruitful and multiply" in Parshat Bereishit.
2."Brit mila" in Parshat Lech Lecha.
3."Don't eat the gid hanashe" in Vayishlach.
Brit mila is a covenant "between Me and you [Avraham] and your seed
after you" (Bereishit 17:10). Thus, the Bnei Noach are excluded from
this mitzvah.
In Vayishlach, the Torah states "The children of Israel shall not eat
the gid hanashe" (Bereishit 31:33). Once again the Bnei Noach are
exempted.
The mitzvah to be fruitful and multiply was given to the first Man
(Bereishit 1:28) and repeated to Noach (Bereishit 9:1). It would
appear equally incumbent upon all Mankind. Yet, this is *not* one of
the 7 Noachide Laws.
The Talmud explains that:
"All mitzvot that were given to the Bnei Noach and *repeated* at
Sinai, apply to both Jews and non-Jews. Those mitzvot that were given
to the Bnei Noach but *not* repeated at Sinai were given only to the
Jews."
"P'ru ur'vu" was not repeated at Sinai. So, even though Adam and Noach
had been personally commanded to reproduce, the mitzvah did not become
one of the 7 Noachide Laws.
It should be noted, however, that there is a special obligation to
ensure that the world is fully populated, and that this obligation is
equally applicable to Jew and Gentile. It is derived from a verse in
the writings of the Prophets which calls upon Mankind inhabit as much
of the Creation as possible:
"He [Hashem] did not create the world to be desolate; [rather] to be
settled he formed it."
Sources:
•Tractate Sanhedrin, 59a.
•Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Hilchot Melachim ch. 9.
•Sefer HaChinuch.
•The Path of the Righteous Gentile, by Chaim Clorfene and Yakov
Regalsky (Targum Press).
•Isaiah 45.
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~~~~~~~~~~ END ~~~~~~~~~~~~
The rabbi did put in his text:
It should be noted, however, that there is a special obligation to
ensure that the world is fully populated, and that this obligation is
equally applicable to Jew and Gentile. It is derived from a verse in
the writings of the Prophets which calls upon Mankind inhabit as much
of the Creation as possible:
"He [Hashem] did not create the world to be desolate; [rather] to be
settled he formed it."
..........................................
Perhaps this is just a concilatory dodge seeing how every other word
is anti-non-Jew or perhaps this is a way of saying the Jews needed
humanoid beasts of burden! :-)
Who knows other than G-d what the Jew is busily crafting today?
The rabbi did say:
The Sefer HaChinuch lists the three mitzvot taught in the Book of
Bereishit, and writes that they apply only to the Jewish People.
1."Be fruitful and multiply" in Parshat Bereishit.
and
"P'ru ur'vu" was not repeated at Sinai. So, even though Adam and Noach
had been personally commanded to reproduce, the mitzvah did not become
one of the 7 Noachide Laws.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I guess to the Jews we Gentiles are down right nasty lil' varmints
multiplying like rabbits.
Tavish