11-12-2012, 11:53 PM
(This post was last modified: 11-14-2012, 04:58 AM by Rabbi Moshe Weiner.)
The Noahide Commandment and obligation for Laws and Courts is not only for Noahide courts to judge according to the other 6 Noahide Commandments when the society accepts this. Independent of that, any court of law that is established has an obligation within that commandment to guard the morality and safety of society. This includes making civil laws that uphold morality and prevent the people from acting in harmful ways, and any other laws necessary for the establishment of a just, safe and peaceful society.
Gentiles are therefore commanded in general to also make civil laws that are effective for all the society regarding dealings between people. The people who write the civil laws, and the judges who rule on the applications of these laws, must establish them according to their knowledge of the true needs of the country’s population, and the establishment of moral society. They do not necessarily need to follow the Jewish Torah Laws for monetary matters. Rather, the Gentile's monetary and other civil laws (outside of the scope of the specific 7 Noahide Commandments) may rule similarly or differently based on their society's own view of what is necessary for the specific societal needs of their country. The civil laws must obviously conform to logical and moral standards (and they obviously must not be similar to the evil and cruel laws of the biblical city of Sodom).
If the society fulfills this civil obligation in an upright way, but they do not abide by some of the Noahide Commandments, then they are only partially fulfilling the Noahide Commandment for Laws and Courts. But this partial fulfillment is definitely better than no fulfillment at all, and corruption of the legal process in the courts even in these civil areas is a transgression of the Noahide Commandment itself.
In direct answer to your question: the obligation upon the people to know and abide by the government's civil laws in civil matters is not like the commanded Divine service to learn and abide by the Noahide Commandments specifically, and the Noahide Code in general (which involves matters that are logical and moral obligations in the eyes of G-d, that are obvious from G-d's Torah, and which are counted as sinful if they are transgressed - e.g., people should not dishonor their parents, they should not engage in prostitution, and other boundaries of moral behavior that are taught in the Noahide Code). Rather, in civil matters, a person is answerable to the civil courts based on their own power and authority, and liable to the punishments and fines that they establish. I.e., the civil laws become the law of the land - for both the Gentile and Jewish citizens.
Gentiles are therefore commanded in general to also make civil laws that are effective for all the society regarding dealings between people. The people who write the civil laws, and the judges who rule on the applications of these laws, must establish them according to their knowledge of the true needs of the country’s population, and the establishment of moral society. They do not necessarily need to follow the Jewish Torah Laws for monetary matters. Rather, the Gentile's monetary and other civil laws (outside of the scope of the specific 7 Noahide Commandments) may rule similarly or differently based on their society's own view of what is necessary for the specific societal needs of their country. The civil laws must obviously conform to logical and moral standards (and they obviously must not be similar to the evil and cruel laws of the biblical city of Sodom).
If the society fulfills this civil obligation in an upright way, but they do not abide by some of the Noahide Commandments, then they are only partially fulfilling the Noahide Commandment for Laws and Courts. But this partial fulfillment is definitely better than no fulfillment at all, and corruption of the legal process in the courts even in these civil areas is a transgression of the Noahide Commandment itself.
In direct answer to your question: the obligation upon the people to know and abide by the government's civil laws in civil matters is not like the commanded Divine service to learn and abide by the Noahide Commandments specifically, and the Noahide Code in general (which involves matters that are logical and moral obligations in the eyes of G-d, that are obvious from G-d's Torah, and which are counted as sinful if they are transgressed - e.g., people should not dishonor their parents, they should not engage in prostitution, and other boundaries of moral behavior that are taught in the Noahide Code). Rather, in civil matters, a person is answerable to the civil courts based on their own power and authority, and liable to the punishments and fines that they establish. I.e., the civil laws become the law of the land - for both the Gentile and Jewish citizens.