מורשת המשפט בישראל
The Jewish Legal Heritage Society

Law and the Noahides All mankind is descended from Noah and his children, who were the only survivors after the great flood. Thus, all men and women are known to Jewish tradition as 'the children of Noah' or Noahides. One of the seven commandments given to the Noahides is the commandment to establish a legal system (dinim). The present study attempts to elucidate the Noahide obligation to establish a legal system. The establishment of legally binding norms, however, is not sufficient to fulfill the commandment to establish a legal system. Noahides are obliged to judge justly between citizens and strangers. Thus, the commandment to establish a legal system requires the establishment of a just legal system, one that is applied with fairness and before whom all are equal. Today, this principle is universally recognized and known as the 'rule of law.' Law that violates fundamental human values does not satisfy modern conceptions of the rule of law and cetainly does not meet the Noahide obligation to create a just legal system. Those who follow the dictates of an unjust legal system are held accountable for obeying the law and not resisting it. It was on this basis that war criminals were tried and convicted at the international war crimes tribunal in Nuremberg after World War Two. In recent years we are witnessing renewed interest in the Noahide commandments. Various groups that bear the name Noahide wish to learn of their obligation. The U.S. Congress issued a joint resolution reaffirming the commitment of the American people to the moral and ethical values contained in the seven Noahide commandments. The present study is the first in a series of studies now being prepared for publication in English. These studies are based on research originally published in Hebrew by the Israel Ministry of Justice as part of its Studies and Surveys on Jewish Law. It is hoped that the present study will help satisfy the desire for knowledge of all those concerned with the universal values essential to human society. This books is a partial English translation of the Hebrew Book "Shilton HaChok BeIsrael" ("The Rule of Law in the Jewish Sources"), and contains 148 pp.