Who Knows One? We All [Should] Know One!

The Gemara in Avodah Zara poses the following query: What is a ger toshav? A ger toshav is not obligated in all the mitzvos that a Yid is. Yet, there is an obligation to financially support him, just as there is an obligation to support a Yid. Of course, even if someone were not a ger toshav, there is an obligation to support him mipnei darchei sholom. However, that obligation does not rise to the level of support one is required to give a ger toshav. This may be similar to the halacha that one has an obligation to support his family members first, before he supports strangers.

There are three opinions quoted in the Beraisa as to what an individual must do to gain the status of a ger toshav. The second opinion is that he must publicly declare that he will observe the seven Noahide laws. The third opinion is that the individual must accept upon himself additional mitzvos besides the seven Noahide laws. Rashi explains that the difficulty with the second opinion is, what difference does it make if he publicly accepts them or not? Either way every person in the world is obligated to keep at least the seven Noahide laws.

This raises a question that often bothers many. How can every person in the world be obligated to keep the seven Noahide laws? They never heard of them! R’ Elchonon Wasserman, Hy’d, answers this and other questions in the Sefer Kovatz Ha’aros on Masechta Yevamos which he published himself. (Most works attributed to him were published posthumously.) The last few pages of that sefer have several discourses that were written on Aggadita. What follows is an adaptation of the first piece.

Our sages taught that the words “V’Lo sasuru acharei levavchem,” Do not be led astray by your hearts, are an admonition against heresy. The heart in this context usually refers to one’s desires and emotions. However, it seems out of place here. Heretical ideas are a product of the intellect, the mind, not the emotions, the heart.

A seemingly unrelated question may be asked on the Rambam. The Rambam in Sefer HaMitzvos lists the very first mitzvah as belief in Hashem. How can there be a mitzvah to believe? Either one believes or he doesn’t. If someone doesn’t believe in Hashem, chas v’sholom, it should be akin to an oneis. It’s beyond his control. What can he do if he doesn’t believe?

Further, how can we expect even young adults to believe in Hashem? Rambam wrote that Aristotle was so wise that his wisdom was close to the level needed for prophecy, yet he didn’t believe in Hashem. A person is obligated to believe in Hashem from the time he turns into an adult, just as he becomes obligated in all the other mitzvos. How can a teenager be expected to come to an awareness that Aristotle didn’t attain?

Moreover, every gentile in the world is expected to keep the seven Noahide laws. Hashem will punish all those who didn’t keep them. What type of cruel joke is this? How can they be punished for violating laws they know nothing about?

To answer these questions we must point out that the fact that Hashem created the world is obvious and clear to anyone who has intellect. Just as one who sees a beautiful poem would not entertain the possibility that is was the product of an accidental ink spill, so too the world, which is much more sophisticated, is certainly the product of intelligent design. If one were to see a machine that performs one specific task, it would be obvious that its inventor was a skilled person. The human body performs an infinite amount of tasks that are entirely interdependent. Perforce, its creator must be infinitely greater.

Although, R’ Elchonon wrote these arguments 80 years ago, they are still relevant today. Consider the following: Dr. Michael Denton, in his book Evolution: A Theory in Crisis describes the intricate organization of nerve cells in the brain [pp. 330 - 331]. There are 10 billion nerve cells in the brain. Each of the 10 billion cells sprouts between 10,000 to 100,000 fibers to contact other nerve cells in the brain, creating approximately 1,000 million million connections, or, 10 to the 15th power.

It is hard to imagine the multitude that 10 to the 15th power represents. Take half of the United States, which is 1 million square miles, and imagine it being covered by forest, with 10,000 trees per square mile. On each of the 10,000 trees, which are on each of the one million square miles, there are 100,000 leaves. Add up all the leaves. That’s how many connections are crammed inside your brain. And they’re not just haphazardly thrown together. They form an incredibly intricate network system that has no parallel in the industrial world.

Imagine walking by that in the desert! The natural response when perceiving design of such mind-boggling complexity is to conclude that there must be a designer who created it. None of this “just happened.”

So the question now is really reversed. How could such a wise man like Aristotle and other great men not see what is patently obvious? Why did they not come to the realization that the world is a product of intelligent design?

The Torah warns a judge against taking a bribe and tells us the reason for the prohibition. Ki hashochad yeavair einei chachamim—bribery will blind [even] the wise men. Even taking a measly quarter violates this precept. This pasuk applies to all wise men—Moshe Rabbeinu as well. If he were to accept even an inexpensive trinket from a litigant, his judgment would not be completely fair and balanced even though he was aware of the bribe. The Torah is giving us a tremendous insight into the psychological nature of man. Even a small, almost meaningless bribe can render his decisions suspect. Certainly if the judge was given a large bribe, the effect would be much greater. The Talmud records that the greatest of our Sages did not want to be judges after one litigant did even a small insignificant favor for them like holding the door open. They felt that after the tiny favor, their judgment was impaired.

So too, when any man has to make a rational decision about Hashem’s existence, his judgment is impaired. He would much rather be free to engage in the pleasures of this world without any consequences. The idea that there is a G-d in this world will have a major impact on his life. His conscience or subconscious is forcing him to accept seemingly implausible scientific justifications to remain free of any Higher authority. So there really is no intellectual basis not to believe in Hashem. Heresy stems from caving in to one’s desires and pursuit of pleasures. That is why the Torah admonishes us to not follow our heart. In other words, our thought processes to determine the origins of this world should not be influenced by our desire for earthly pleasures.

Consider the following: The novelist Aldous Huxley, in his treatise, Ends and Means, says the following: “For myself, as, no doubt, for most of my contemporaries, the philosophy of meaninglessness was essentially an instrument of liberation. The liberation we desired was ... liberation from a certain system of morality. We objected to the morality because it interfered with our sexual freedom.”

Consider as well the frank admission by NYU professor Thomas Nagel in his 1997 book The Last Word. “I want atheism to be true and am made uneasy by the fact that some of the most intelligent and well-informed people I know are religious believers. It isn’t just that I don’t believe in G-d and, naturally, hope there is no G-d! I don’t want there to be a G-d; I don’t want the universe to be like that.”

The mitzvah to believe in Hashem obligates us to examine ourselves and remove any motivational factors from our thought processes. Once we do that, belief in Hashem comes automatically. It is possible even for a teenager to engage in these processes. Even a gentile who thinks rationally will come to the conclusion that there is a Creator. Once he knows that there is a Creator, he will have to wonder, why did Hashem create this world? Does he want anything of me? This pursuit of the truth will lead him to the discovery of the seven Noahide laws. Ignorance is not an excuse. If he doesn’t acknowledge the Creator and diligently try to discover His will, it is only because he allowed himself to be blinded by his desires.

They say that R’ Yonason Eibshitz was asked by a gentile, “Your own Torah says you must follow the majority. So why do you persist in the belief in Torah and Hashem? There are many more people that follow our religion.” R’ Yonason Eibshitz answered, “The Torah only commands us to follow the majority in cases of doubt. For example, what is the law in this case? Is this piece of meat from the kosher pile? When it comes to the truth of the Torah, we have no doubt.”

His answer was certainly true, but based on the above we can answer differently. Suppose there was a court case and some judges ruled one way and some ruled differently. If it came to light that some of the judges were partial based on bribery or other factors, they would be disqualified even though they are the majority. So we don’t follow the majority if their judgment is impaired. So, too, the only reason people do not believe in Hashem is due to impaired judgment. If we were to follow the majority of people who saw things impartially, namely the tzadikim, Tanaim, Amaraim, Rishonim, Acharonim, then we would perforce accept Hashem and the Torah.

May the time come quickly when all the world will recognize and proclaim Hashem as King.