Gentiles, Torah, and the Moshiach

And while it's true that the Moshiach's primary task will be to bring the Jewish Nation closer to God, the Moshiach will also convince the entire world of the existence of God and the truth of the Torah.

Rabbi Hershel Brand from his book
On Eagles' Wings: Moshiach, Redemption, and the World to Come

I reviewed this book on my congregation's blog last October and by way of introduction, I said:

The book’s intent is to take all of the widely scattered references of the Moshiach throughout the Bible and all of Jewish authoritative literature, and gather them in one place for easy access to Jews who want a definitive Messianic guide. Rabbi Brand settled on writing this book as a fictional conversation between “Rabbi Cohen” and a student named “Daniel”, focused on answering Daniel’s questions about the Messiah. For those of us who lack a classic Jewish religious education, we experience a particular “stretch” at the sources “Rabbi Cohen” uses in his responses to Daniel’s queries, yet from a Jewish point of view, these are the only answers that make any sort of sense. Commentaries by Rambam and Ramchal, and quotes from the Gemara, Mishnah, and Zohar, are all perfectly expected within the context of this book. Christianity tends to dismiss these authorities as “just commentaries”, but the insights of the ancient Sages are the clarifying lens by which the Jewish people have been viewing the Torah for untold centuries.

This blog post is an extension of Gentiles and Torah which I posted yesterday and continues the assumptions I made in that article relative to MJ/BE and Orthodox Judaism. If MJ/BE very closely identifies and agrees with rabbinic Orthodox Judaism, then, with very few exceptions, it should accept the same belief structure as the Orthodox. For instance, if Orthodox Judaism accepts that in Messianic days, Gentiles will be brought to an understanding of Torah (whatever that understanding may be), the MJ/BE congregations should likely accept this idea as well. Here's what else Rabbi Hershel has to say about Gentiles, Torah, and the Moshiach via "Rabbi Cohen" and "Daniel":

Daniel: Even the gentiles? I mean, will there even be gentiles after the Moshiach arrives?

Rabbi Cohen: Of course. We mentioned once...that the Moshiach will destroy the enemies of the Jewish people, but those nations who are friendly to the Jews will still exist during the time of the Moshiach as before. Obviously they will accord great honor and respect to God’s true, chosen nation. And, like the Jewish nation, their primary occupation will be to understand and become closer to God.

"Rabbi Cohen" then goes on to quote the sources that support his statements to "Daniel":

And they shall bring all your brethren from all the nations as a tribute to the Lord, with horses and with chariots, and with covered wagons and with mules and with joyous songs upon My holy mount, Jerusalem," says the Lord, "as the children of Israel bring the offering in a pure vessel to the house of the Lord. -Isaiah 66:20

So said the Lord of Hosts: In those days, when ten men of all the languages of the nations shall take hold of the skirt of a Jewish man, saying, "Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you." -Zechariah 8:23

From the traditional Jewish viewpoint, learning to understand and come closer to God always involves Torah study, both the written and oral Law, so it seems reasonable to believe that, from an Orthodox (and thus MJ/BE) perspective, Gentiles will at least be studying those portions of Torah that have a direct bearing on the nations.

As I intimated in my previous blog post, what portions of Torah Judaism considers relevant to Gentiles extends beyond the Acts 15 letter and perhaps even beyond the Seven Noahide Laws. While conducting my online research for this blog, I came across a site called Wikinoah and a page on that site which asks Can Righteous Gentiles Study the Torah? The page starts out asking these questions:

It is said that Noachides are not allowed to study Gemarah, but what about Rashi Commentary on Torah? Is it recommended? I also want to know if a noachide is free to study all the midrashim? If Maimonides "The Guide for the Perplexed" is not considered a religious work but a philosophical book, is a noachide permitted to read from it although it seem to contain references to Gemarah? I also wonder about "Everyman's Talmud" by Abraham Cohen...is it wrong to read it.

The wiki site is dedicated to a population I have long suspected existed but never saw any evidence for: Gentiles who believe the Jewish paradigm of the "righteous Gentile" and who seek to adhere to the Noahide Laws. As a believer in Yeshua, I can see the efforts of these Gentiles as well-meaning though in error, but if you are a Gentile who completely accepts the rabbinic Jewish viewpoint about the nations and you want to have a place in the world to come, closer fellowship with the Jewish people, and to walk humbly with God, this would be a logical response. I wouldn't be surprised if quite a number of Gentiles who originally were involved in the OL and MJ movements "shot out the other side", so to speak, and either converted to rabbinic Judaism or became a Noahide.

Returning to the question quoted above, the answer is an unabashed yes, but with some possible qualifications:

So... exactly what can TOGs (Torah Observant Goy) study?

A more realistic example of what I'm talking about is, in fact, the question on what a TOG is allowed to study. There is discussion in the Talmud about this, but it appears to be divisive. One sage votes for the death penalty to Gentiles who study the Torah. (Seriously.) Another states that a Gentile who studies the Torah ‘is as a High Priest’.

The current view seems to be that Torah study for TOGs (which presumably would include appropriate portions of the Talmud, and the Rabbahs, etc.) is a blessing, not a sin. Yet others insist that TOGs are only allowed to study the portions of the Torah which directly apply to them: in particular, the first twelve chapters of Genesis or only that which directly applies to the Seven Noahide Laws. Still others argue that Gentiles should never be permitted to read the Torah, but instead rely solely on materials written by rabbinical authorities which specifically address the Noahide Commandments.

The latter opinions are the moral equivalent of someone wearing a kippah and tallit coming up to you and saying “You can't drink...” By this view one would not even be allowed to read the part of the Talmud which states you can't study it!

Without such study we have no way to determine what is legitimate teaching. Yet we must not merely take someone's word for it, because doing the wrong thing would be a Very Bad Thing. Ultimately it's my destiny at stake.

The article goes on (and since I previously posted a link to the relevant page, you can read all of its content), but it's important to point out that, from the Noahide point of view, there is no restriction on what a righteous Gentile can study. The only question is what parts of the Torah specifically apply to Gentiles, including the oral laws. If the Gentile doesn't study the entire body of content, how are they to know? The conclusion is that Gentiles are permitted to study the entire body of everything called "Torah" to both gain an understanding of the commands of God that apply to them (us) and also to gain a greater, general spiritual wisdom.

The only reasons a Gentile would not be permitted to study Torah, from the Noahide perspective, are these:

The restriction on Torah study is not that we shouldn't study it in the sense of reading it. It's that we should study Torah with a given purpose in mind, be it better understanding of the Seven Commandments or just to gain a better spiritual understanding. Studying the Torah with the intent of converting Jews to, say, christianity, is what the sage who suggested the death penalty had in mind.

TOGs shouldn't study as Jews are required to, because that is a special mitzvah between the Jews and Hashem; just as TOGs shouldn't wear tefillin or tallitot. Study for a purpose; don't study because you think you have to.

According to Rabbi Tzvi Freeman on AskMoses.com, the Lubavitcher Rebbes have even suggested a course of study for Noahides as follows:

What to learn:

1. The Bible with classic Jewish commentaries (including the talks of the Rebbe, which are specific to our day and age), excluding those parts dealing with commands specific to the Jewish people;
2. The thirteen principles of the faith from Maimonides;
3. The Book of Knowledge of Maimonides;
4. Laws dealing with property and personal damages, including slander, gossip, verbal abuse, verbal pledges, cruelty to animals;
5. The second book of Tanya (this was explicitly mentioned by the Rebbe), as well as selections from the first; and
6. Stories of Tzadikim.

Morning prayer (all these in translation):

1. Modeh Ani—optional
2. Study and meditation
3. Adon Olam—optional
4. Psalms of Praise (as in the siddur) — optional
5. Shema Yisrael — first paragraph (this was an instruction of Rav Azulai, father of the Birchei Yosef, to a Ben Noach in his time)
6. Psalm 100 — optional
7. Recitation of the Noahide Creed — optional

Why am I including all this and what does it have to do with Gentile Yeshua-believers associated with the Messianic movement? For one thing, it does establish that rabbinic Judaism permits a wider range of Torah study for righteous Gentiles than one might understand from some of the MJ/BE commentaries on the Messianic blogosphere. I don't necessarily say this should be the extent of our study and in fact, from what was previously mentioned, a Gentile can study any part of the Torah that a Jew can. The only question is what does and doesn't directly apply to the Gentile.

I should also probably note that, from a rabbinic Jewish point of view, no one who believes in Yeshua could be considered righteous because of the issue of Yeshua's deity (believing that a man is God) and the trinity (believing in three Gods instead of One God). That, I think, is one point where ML/BE and Orthodox Judaism must part company at some level. In fact, to the best of my understanding, only a minority of Messianic Jewish congregations join rabbinic Judaism in denying the deity of Yeshua (or the deity of the Messiah). Fortunately, as Messianic believers, we understand our righteousness this way:

But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished - he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. -Romans 3:21-26

It's not our righteous we have to depend upon, because we have none of our own, but only through faith in the Messiah are we considered righteous before the Throne of God.

That said, let's "marry" the concept of a Gentile's righteousness through faith in Yeshua and what the Orthodox rabbis say about "righteous Gentiles" (and granted, it's a shotgun wedding, but it's just for illustration). As righteous Gentiles, we have full access to the study of Torah and even to a limited range of "Jewish practices" such as praying from the siddur and even saying a portion of the Shema. While MJ/BE may not have actively denied any of this, it is sometimes difficult to get an understanding that they'd be OK with this sort of behavior from a believing Gentile. Now, am I saying I believe that this is the limitation of behavior for a "Messianic Gentile"? That's the topic of the next blog post. In the meantime, feel free to make comments and suggestions.

Afterword: In reading this and considering the traditional Christian perspective, I can imagine all of my comments and arguments seem foolish. In Christianity all of my "issues" are moot. Christ nailed the Law to the cross with him and it died with him. There are no more barriers between humanity and God as long as a person receives Jesus Christ as Lord and personal Savior. It's just "me and Jesus" (I think there's a song by that title). I'm not blogging because I am doubting my relationship with the Messiah at this point, but for the sake of both gaining a greater understanding of my duties to God and to gain a better relationship with my brothers and sisters who maintain different viewpoints on these matters. As I said in the comment section of my previous blog post, the core of our service to God isn't complicated at all. If we believe, and we act out of that belief by loving God with all of our being and spirit and if we love our neighbors as ourselves (and these commandments should be familiar to everyone reading this blog) and produce good fruit and actions out of our faith, we are doing well.