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The need for a Rabbi and related questions
#24
Hi AskNoah

I hope you are well.

Rambam, in his Mishneh Torah says:

"Anyone who accepts upon himself the fulfillment of these seven mitzvot and is precise in their observance is considered one of 'the pious among the gentiles' and will merit a share in the world to come. This applies only when he accepts them and fulfills them because the Holy One, blessed be He, commanded them in the Torah and informed us through Moses, our teacher, that Noah's descendants had been commanded to fulfill them previously." (Laws of Kings Chapter 8, Halacha 11, translation from chabad.org)

Reading the Divine Code, it says in the Author's Introduction:

"Rambam explains in Laws of Kings 8:11: “The Holy One, blessed be He, commanded the Seven Noahide Commandments in the Torah, and informed Moses our teacher that Noah’s descendants had been previously commanded to fulfill them.”"

And then, on the same page:

"According to his above-cited ruling, Rambam explains that (a) the descendants of Noah are obligated to observe their Seven Commandments because these were commanded to them by God through Moses ..."

Now according to Rambam's words, a person who accepts the seven commandments because he knows God commanded them... and is diligent in keeping those commandments, that person is one of the "pious" of the nations and has a place in the world to come. But the wording of Rambam doesn't seem to make this an obligation. It seems like a conditional statement. Where it says "if you do x, then you get y." It doesn't say "you must do x." Looking at what the English word "obligation" means, I'm not sure that Rambam's words fit the definition. All Rambam states is that if a Gentile does this extra thing, he gets a reward. That would mean that if the Gentile doesn't do the extra thing, he doesn't get that specific reward.

So my question, in what way does Rambam's statement become an obligation or get interpreted as such?

Thank you for your time.
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Messages In This Thread
RE: The need for a rabbi and other questions - by excited_for_life - 01-11-2012, 11:11 PM
looking for a tutor - by AskNoah fan - 02-20-2012, 04:31 PM
RE: The need for a Rabbi and other questions - by AskNoah fan - 02-26-2012, 02:57 PM
Ger Toshav and Rambam - by amenyahu - 01-11-2013, 03:39 AM
RE: Ger Toshav and Rambam - by Director Michael - 01-13-2013, 06:26 PM
Is this an obligation? - by GentileLaw - 07-08-2015, 02:58 AM
Rabbinical Jurisdiction - by amenyahu - 01-13-2014, 11:46 PM

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