07-02-2011, 04:58 AM
It seems that you did yet not read far enough yet in the book to get the clarification of this question, so here are the parts that give the extra information - which is that people who have not learned a Torah-based prohibition, and cannot be expected to be aware of it, are not held liable. Please see these relevant parts of the book:
topics #11 , #12, #13 on p.54-55
footnotes 28, 29 on p. 55-56
topic # 2 p. 75-77
footnotes 86, 88 on p. 76-77
I will mention here the text of Footnote 29, p. 56:
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Rambam writes in Laws of Kings 10:1 that a Gentile is liable for transgressing the Noahide Commandments due to negligence, since he should have learned them. But it seems that he is only referring to a situation in which the general community knows the laws, yet this person excluded himself and didn’t learn them. If most of the members of the community don’t know the laws, one of these individuals is not liable unless he was previously warned, since it was impossible for him to learn in his situation. Since the laws of G-d are true and just, such a person would not be liable under these unavoidable circumstances.
It is clear that this only applies to the Noahide commandments that need to be taught (since they are not dictated by logic), such as details of the prohibitions against worshiping idols and eating flesh taken from a living animal. But for the logical prohibitions such as stealing and murder, it is obvious that a community is obligated to learn and know them, and individuals have no excuse for ignorance of the main points of these precepts.
See Ramban’s explanation of Gen. 6:2 and 6:13, that the generation of the Flood was judged for stealing because it is a logical precept, and [therefore] they had no excuse for claiming they had not learned about it.
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and from topic # 2 p. 75-77:
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It appears that if a person errs in judging his known action as permissible, he is only liable for the transgression if he should have learned that it was forbidden, as would be the case if his community as a whole knows the Seven Noahide Commandments. But in areas or times in which a community does not know some of these commandments at all, one cannot say that he should have learned them, for it was not possible, and therefore he is not liable for them.
Rather, a Gentile should first be taught and warned about the Noahide Code, and only afterwards is he responsible for his actions, in regard to the prohibitions against serving idols, forbidden relations, and eating meat that was severed from a living animal. However, for the prohibitions against murder and stealing, and for the commandment to establish courts of justice, which are all logically binding, there is no exemption for not knowing that these are forbidden.*
It also appears that there is no “erring” in regard to blasphemy. Once one knows that there is a G-d, and he knows His [holy Hebrew] Name, it is logically clear that it is forbidden to curse G-d. (But if one does not know about God at all, or does not understand what he is saying – in Hebrew or other languages – his curse is not regarded as blasphemy; see Part III.)
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Also, there is not any actual Noahide court or any real Sanhedrin in our time, so we are talking about a person's personal responsibility to G-d, and about responsibility for obeying the laws of the land. And when the Messiah comes speedily in our days, none of this will be an issue from then on, because all people will be righteous and will know and fulfill the commandments that G-d gives them.
*Note: when writing to Gentiles about the Seven Noahide Commandments, the Lubavitcher Rebbe would put the commandment to Establish Courts of Justice at the beginning of the list.
topics #11 , #12, #13 on p.54-55
footnotes 28, 29 on p. 55-56
topic # 2 p. 75-77
footnotes 86, 88 on p. 76-77
I will mention here the text of Footnote 29, p. 56:
---------------------------------
Rambam writes in Laws of Kings 10:1 that a Gentile is liable for transgressing the Noahide Commandments due to negligence, since he should have learned them. But it seems that he is only referring to a situation in which the general community knows the laws, yet this person excluded himself and didn’t learn them. If most of the members of the community don’t know the laws, one of these individuals is not liable unless he was previously warned, since it was impossible for him to learn in his situation. Since the laws of G-d are true and just, such a person would not be liable under these unavoidable circumstances.
It is clear that this only applies to the Noahide commandments that need to be taught (since they are not dictated by logic), such as details of the prohibitions against worshiping idols and eating flesh taken from a living animal. But for the logical prohibitions such as stealing and murder, it is obvious that a community is obligated to learn and know them, and individuals have no excuse for ignorance of the main points of these precepts.
See Ramban’s explanation of Gen. 6:2 and 6:13, that the generation of the Flood was judged for stealing because it is a logical precept, and [therefore] they had no excuse for claiming they had not learned about it.
------end------------------------
and from topic # 2 p. 75-77:
----------------------------------
It appears that if a person errs in judging his known action as permissible, he is only liable for the transgression if he should have learned that it was forbidden, as would be the case if his community as a whole knows the Seven Noahide Commandments. But in areas or times in which a community does not know some of these commandments at all, one cannot say that he should have learned them, for it was not possible, and therefore he is not liable for them.
Rather, a Gentile should first be taught and warned about the Noahide Code, and only afterwards is he responsible for his actions, in regard to the prohibitions against serving idols, forbidden relations, and eating meat that was severed from a living animal. However, for the prohibitions against murder and stealing, and for the commandment to establish courts of justice, which are all logically binding, there is no exemption for not knowing that these are forbidden.*
It also appears that there is no “erring” in regard to blasphemy. Once one knows that there is a G-d, and he knows His [holy Hebrew] Name, it is logically clear that it is forbidden to curse G-d. (But if one does not know about God at all, or does not understand what he is saying – in Hebrew or other languages – his curse is not regarded as blasphemy; see Part III.)
------end------------------------
Also, there is not any actual Noahide court or any real Sanhedrin in our time, so we are talking about a person's personal responsibility to G-d, and about responsibility for obeying the laws of the land. And when the Messiah comes speedily in our days, none of this will be an issue from then on, because all people will be righteous and will know and fulfill the commandments that G-d gives them.
*Note: when writing to Gentiles about the Seven Noahide Commandments, the Lubavitcher Rebbe would put the commandment to Establish Courts of Justice at the beginning of the list.