Weekly Parsha

The National Day of Prayer is an annual day of observance held on the first Thursday of May, designated by the United States Congress, when people are asked "to turn to God in prayer and meditation". The president is required by law to sign a proclamation each year, encouraging all Americans to pray on this day.

Blind faith? What comes before faith?

A good example is King Solomon. G-d gave him Wisdom, knowledge and understanding (comprehension), from there comes speech (demanding) and listening as words of prayer ascend to faith and then actions that will make your dreams, ideas and intentions become a reality. It is a Divine mechanism to be successful in everything. It is when preparation meets the opportunity.

Human beings interact with the world on three levels: thinking, speaking and acting. Each of these three is the key to the three basic principles: you age by the same thought or will. You interact with G-d through speech. You can relate to others through actions. In our quest to improve, we also need to elevate others and elevate our relationship with G-d. It is necessary to have success and balance in three to grow in this world .

Teshuvah (Return), Tefillah (Prayer) and Tzedakah (Justice) avoid bad decree.

Watch & Pray - A Relationship with G-d

G-d's made a covenant with Noah right after the flood. G-d promises never again to destroy all life on Earth by flood and creates the rainbow as the sign of this everlasting covenant and commanded all human being to observe (watch) seven universal laws.

Seven Universal Laws?

We need only look at what we see today, in order to recognize the validity of these true statements. We should watch and observe these laws: 

The Seven Laws of Noah (Seven Universal Laws) include prohibitions against worshipping idols, cursing G-d, murder, adultery and sexual immorality, theft, eating flesh torn from a living animal, as well as the obligation to establish courts of justice.

Seven Laws Vs Ten Commandments

G-d declared that the Israelites were His own people and that they must listen to G-d and obey His laws. The Ten Commandments were written in stone by the very finger of G-d after the nation of Israel was freed from slavery in Egypt. 

But if the people who lived before Moises's time had not known the commandments of G-d, how could they understand what sin was and what behavior G-d expected of them?

All Binei Adam (Adam's Children or Human Beings) were supposed to observe the seven laws according to the covenant made with Noah. A human being who observes the seven universal laws are called "Binei Noach" and are considered a good human being.

Who should observe the seven laws?

G-d commanded all human being to observe (watch) the seven universal laws. Even the Jewish People because there is no way to be a good Jew if that person is not a good human being.

What if I am not Jewish? Can I observe the Seven Laws and the Ten Commandments?

For the Jewish People it is a obligation. For the Non-Jews are not an obligation but they are free to observe the ten commandments if they have an ideal for pure faith, ready to abandon the world and cultivate a life of inner tranquility with no idolatry.

According to our sages, every individual whose spirit moves him and whose intelligence gives him the understanding to withdraw from the world to serve G-d and to know G-d, and who walks upright in the manner in which G-d made him, is totally consecrated, and G-d will grant him/her a place in the World to Come.

Quarantine: Should we protest on the streets?

One of the Seven Laws of Noah is the obligation to establish courts of justice. We should respect (Watch) their laws and pray. Because G-d, the Creator is The One Who Controls everything.

Have the Noahide Laws been recognized by any governments beside Israel?

The universality of these principles and global import was recognized in 1982 by President Ronald Reagan when he spoke of “the eternal validity of the Seven Noahide Laws [as] a moral code for all of us regardless of religious faith” (Proclamation on the National Day of Reflection, April 4, 1982).

Seven years later, in 1989, President George H.W. Bush not only proclaimed that these “Biblical values are the foundation for civilized society,” but he also recognized that “A society that fails to recognize or adhere to them cannot endure.”

He understood how these “principles of moral and ethical conduct that have formed the basis for all civilizations comes to us, in part, from the centuries old Seven Noahide Laws.” And, in doing so, he noted their origins: “The Noahide Laws are actually seven commandments given to man by G-d, as recorded in the Old Testament. …” (Proclamation 5956-Education Day, USA 1989 and 1990, 102 Stat. 3016, April 14, 1989).

Both the Senate and the House of Representatives of the United States Congress in 1991, on a [unanimous] bipartisan basis, further recognized how this “historical tradition of ethical values and principles…upon which our great Nation was founded … have been the bedrock of society from the dawn of civilization, when they were known as the Seven Noahide Laws.” The American Congress understood how “the most recent weakening of these principles … has resulted in crises that beleaguer and threaten the fabric of civilized society.” Thus, they warned us that “without these ethical values and principles the edifice of civilization stands in serious peril of returning to chaos.” (Public Law 102-14, 102d Congress, 1st session, H.J. Res. 104)

 102nd U.S. Congress (1991-1992), House Joint Resolution H.J.RES.104.ENR designating March 26, 1991, as Education Day, U.S.A.:

“Congress recognizes the historical tradition of ethical values and principles which are the basis of civilized society and upon which our great Nation was founded … these ethical values and principles that have been the bedrock of society from the dawn of civilization, when they were known as the Seven Noahide Laws.”

Rabbi Tank, what should we do now?

Watch (observe the covenant) and pray!

Rabbi Ovadiah Tank

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