Torah: For All Mankind

Rabbi Moshe Ben-Chaim

Reader: In your recent Jewishtimes (April 24, 2020) you claim, “All mankind should follow Torah, as we all share one design, as witnessed in the COVID-19 pandemic: the virus doesn’t distinguish between races. Torah too doesn’t distinguish: what benefits one person, benefits all.”

You stated that the Coronavirus teaches us of one human design as it affects all classes of humanities irrespective color, race and religion with more fatal outcomes in the elderly. You interpret this as a proof that there is only one religion for all mankind. The question is, since all mankind descend from Adam and Eve and it is even proven in DNA studies, it may not translate that Hashem wants the same religion and tradition for all mankind, for it was stated in Genesis that the Almighty was the one that split mankind into different languages, bringing human diversity into existence. As long as humanities do not speak the same language, there can be no way our mentality will be the same as it was before Babel. 

Rabbi: You make a step that is wrong. God’s separation of languages is the “only” change He made. Therefore, in all other ways, all mankind is identical. One religion is God’s only will.  Please think about this: the reason God confounded the peoples’ languages at Babel was to halt their corruption, precisely to revert them back to following God. This means that all peoples shared the identical capacity to follow the same monotheism, both before and after the change of languages.

Reader:  However, even if we say that G-d wants all mankind to follow one religion, which let’s say is Judaism, what version of Judaism should we follow? 

Rabbi: There is only one version of Judaism from Sinai 3332 years ago: Orthodox. Conservative, Reform  and Progressive were all created in the past few hundred years. 

Reader: There have not been organized efforts by World Jewry to bring the light of the Torah to the heathen and idol worshipers of Asia and Africa. The standard teachings of Jews is that the righteous of the world have a share in the world to come, in contrast to the Christian teaching that the “word of G-d” can make a difference and heathen culture must be converted as a mission by Jesus. The only times we see Jews interacting with the rest of the world is through the world of business and money. Israeli companies are in virtually every country where business opportunity arise, but they do not spread the light of Torah. In fact, there are articles that were published sometimes ago in Israel that shows how Israeli companies are responsible for selling many of spy gadgets to repressive regimes in the world, not to talk of arms sales. The article was published by Haaretz a Liberal Jewish Newspaper in Israel. In some communities like the Ugandan Jews that have showed interest in the Torah and formally disengage themselves from the missionary Jesus religion, there have been little or no support from the Orthodox Judaism. A number of Conservative Judaism congregation send Torah scrolls and helping out, but the Traditional Jews have failed to even look at the community. Before this coronavirus shutdown, young men from that community that came to Israel for rabbinic training were denied visas. The attitude of Judaism has been that it is a religion not meant for the whole world, unlike Christianity and Islam. Rabbinic Judaism prescribed two sets of standards for humanities, a set of moral codes: the 613 Commandments (for Jews) and the Noachide rules for non Jews, not even the Ten Commandments that have made the West great. The question is how can the same G-d creating the same humans create two sets of standards for the same humanities who all die and return to the same dust irrespective of the race and religion? Are there two types of heaven: one for the Jew another one for the Gentiles? Is the Almighty not running the risk of corrupting the afterlife, letting people in who are used to the easy and relaxed rules of the Noachides? How can a gentile in other religions, no matter how righteous, spend eternity with the G-d revealed in the Torah if he dies in his idolatrous religion, giving how strict and holy Hashem of the true Bible is? Thank you. Sincerely asked to clarify the points Sir.

Rabbi: As I wrote, God gave only one religion to mankind. The Jew is at fault for not sharing Torah with the world. But each member of mankind too is at fault for not investigating the religions to discover which one is God’s will, and which are false. Every gentile can obtain the same books as a Jew and study Torah if he wishes to convert. There are righteous rabbis willing to help gentiles. But all Jews should  make themselves available to gentiles to teach them, as is God’s will.  

Abraham was idolatrous, but he used his mind to discover the falsehood of alien religions and the truth of monotheism, and God helped him. God will help any human seeking Him. Abraham demonstrates to the world today that every man and woman has the innate capacity to distinguish truth from falsehood, no matter his upbringing or culture. No one is without blame for following Christianity, Islam, and the others. They each fail to prove their claims, but blindly follow the emotional appeal of these baseless religions. While it is true that 613 Commandments are for Jews alone and the 7 Noachide rules for non Jews, the best life is for one to convert to Judaism and observe all 613. It’s simple: the more commands one observes, the greater is his/her perfection. There is one heaven, which is attainable by every human. 

We must not judge Judaism based on what Jews do, meaning the failure of today’s Jews to assist gentiles. We judge Judaism based on God’s Torah, which is replete with examples of gentiles and gentile descendant whom God loved and helped. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and the matriarchs, Joseph, his wife, the 12 Tribes, and Moses and his wife were as gentile as the rest of the world, until God have His Torah and created the Jewish nation. These people were all righteous, and most were prophets. They were all gentiles. Kings David and Solomon and the messiah all descend from a gentile: Ruth the convert. 

As Abraham and Moses taught monotheism to gentiles, we follow these examples God highlighted in His Torah, as we follow God’s Torah instruction, not Jews today who might be uninvolved with teaching gentiles.