Ger toshav

thumb|The [[rainbow is the unofficial symbol of Noahidism, recalling the Genesis flood narrative in which a rainbow appears to Noah after the Flood; it represents God's promise to Noah to refrain from flooding the Earth and destroying all life again.]]

Ger toshav (, ger: "foreigner" or "alien" + toshav: "resident", ) is a halakhic term used in Judaism to designate the legal status of a Gentile (non-Jew) living in the Land of Israel who does not want to convert to Judaism but agrees to observe the Seven Laws of Noah, a set of imperatives which, according to the Talmud, were given by God as a binding set of universal moral laws for the "sons of Noah"—that is, all of humanity. A ger toshav, especially one who decides to follow the Noahic covenant out of religious belief rather than ethical reasoning, is commonly deemed a "Righteous Gentile" (, Chassid Umot ha-Olam: "Pious People of the World"), and is assured of a place in the World to Come (Olam Ha-Ba). The theological basis for the seven commandments of the Noahic Covenant is said to be derived interpretatively from demands addressed to Adam and to Noah, who are believed to be the progenitors of humankind in Judaism, and therefore to be regarded as universal moral laws.

The Encyclopedia Talmudit, edited by rabbi Shlomo Yosef Zevin, states that after the giving of the Torah, the Jewish people were no longer included in the category of the sons of Noah; however, Maimonides (Mishneh Torah, Hilkhot M'lakhim 9:1) indicates that the seven commandments are also part of the Torah, and the Babylonian Talmud (Sanhedrin 59a, see also Tosafot ad. loc.) states that Jews are obligated in all things that Gentiles are obligated in, albeit with some differences in the details. Following Moses Maimonides' analysis of Islam, medieval Jewish rabbis affirmed that Islam as an entire religion, despite its perceived errors and cruelties towards the Jews, could still be considered as a Noahide faith, and the 13th–14th century Catalan rabbi Menachem ben Solomon Ha-Meiri fully extended much the same status to Christianity itself.

The Talmud has some striking accounts illustrating how far God's lovingkindness and mercies might extend, giving ultimate salvation even to persons who had led notoriously evil lives: some said that if those persons had done only one truly selfless, kind and good deed in their entire lives God would accept them for the sake of that precious act into Paradise, either immediately at death (if their death was the result of an extraordinarily generous, self-sacrificing, or courageous deed) or after they had atoned for their sins in Purgatory—so it is evident that full observance of the Noahide covenant itself was not always obligatory for salvation after all, even if it remained the chief guide to lives of spiritual loftiness and nobility. This led the 18th-century Italian Jewish Kabbalist and rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto to emphasize and explain at length that God would end up accepting all humanity, good and evil alike, into the World to Come (Olam Ha-Ba)—the evil ones, however, would of course need to purify themselves in Purgatory first, but there will be no eternal punishment for them.

During the 1860s in Western Europe, a resurgence of Noahide faith as the universal moral religion for Gentiles (non-Jews) was developed by the 19th-century Italian Jewish Kabbalist and rabbi Elijah Benamozegh. Between the years 1920s–1930s, French writer adopted the Seven Laws of Noah at the suggestion of his teacher Elijah Benamozegh; afterwards, Pallière spread Benamozegh's doctrine in Europe and never formally converted to Judaism. According to Schneerson's view, based on a detailed reading of Maimonides' tractate Hilkhot Melakhim in the Mishneh Torah, the Talmud, and the Hebrew Bible, the seven commandments originally given to Noah were given yet again, through Moses at Sinai, and it's exclusively through the giving of the Torah that the seven commandments derive their current force. What has changed with the giving of the Torah is that now, it is the duty of the Jewish people to bring the rest of the world to fulfill the Seven Laws of Noah.

Modern times and views

Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the Lubavitcher Rebbe, encouraged his followers on many occasions to preach the Seven Laws of Noah, devoting some of his addresses to the subtleties of this code. Since the 1990s, Orthodox Jewish rabbis from Israel, most notably those affiliated to Chabad-Lubavitch and religious Zionist organizations, including The Temple Institute,

According to the Jewish philosopher and professor Menachem Kellner's study on Maimonidean texts (1991), a ger toshav could be a transitional stage on the way to becoming a "righteous alien" (, ger tzedek), i.e. a full convert to Judaism. He conjectures that, according to Maimonides, only a full ger tzedek would be found during the Messianic era. which he believes is contrary to what Maimonides thought and the Torah teaches, In any case, even when there is a Jewish king and a Sanhedrin, and all the twelve tribes live in the Land of Israel, Jewish law does not permit forcing someone to convert and become a ger tzedek against his will.

High Council of

A "High Council of ", set up to represent Noahide communities around the world, was endorsed by a group that claimed to be the new Sanhedrin. The High Council of consists of a group of Noahides who, at the request of the nascent Sanhedrin, gathered in Jerusalem on 10 January 2006 to be recognized as an international Noahide organization for the purpose of serving as a bridge between the nascent Sanhedrin and Noahides worldwide. There were ten initial members who flew to Israel and pledged to uphold the Seven Laws of Noah and to conduct themselves under the authority of the Noahide (religious court) of the nascent Sanhedrin.

Modern times and views

High Council of

See also

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