Inspirational Noahide
A Ben Noah inspires me to be a better Jew:
Is there no Hebrew in this [Oklahoma Bnai Noah Society Noahide] Prayer book?1
I have spent many hours over the past years learning to pray in the Holy tongue and I prefer to pray the Psalms, etc. in Hebrew.
I do also practice Hitbodedut2 in English (although I do not do it enough and have much growing to do in this area) and I am familiar with the teachings of R[ebbe] Nachman on this issue. I guess one could just have a Hebrew Tehillim along with this siddur…but if there is an abridged or altered form or the Amidah 3 in it, it would be nice to have that in Hebrew, as well as all the other blessings4.
Like I said, “i heart noahides.” 
- Noahides do not need prayer books to pray! The tradition of Noah is to pray from the heart, in words from your heart. Jews only established organized prayer for themselves during the 2nd temple period, when it became a necessary means for keeping Judaism alive while in exile (to explain it in a nutshell). However, a great deal of thought, research, and heart went into creating the OKBNS prayer book, and there is nothing halachically wrong with using it if you are so inclined. ↩
- Hitbodedut is personal, intimate, one-on-one prayer with G-d ↩
- Amidah - the core section of the Jewish prayer service today. The 19 blessings of the amidah mostly revolve around the welfare and aspirations of the Jewish people, so I’m not sure why this dedicated Noahide was asking to find the amidah on the OKBNS prayer book. See: How Should a Noahide Pray ↩
- There’s a lot of discussion about what Bnei Noah should/shouldn’t do/say as regards blessings. Please review those discussion, such as on wikinoah.org ↩
Tags: bnai noah, bnei noach, bnei noah, judaism, noachide, noachides, noahide, noahides
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on Monday, July 21st, 2008 at 6:13 am.
Filed under Inspirational, Righteous Gentiles.
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January 3rd, 2009 at 5:23 am
Yours truly happened to be one of those who contributed materials to the OKBN prayer book. I think what the person was trying to say is, “Is there a common prayer offered by all Noahides for all Noahides?”
And although personal free prayer has its immense benefits, a prayer book is a good source of offering petitions as poetic as possible to uplift and refine the soul.
September 18th, 2009 at 11:45 pm
“Noahides do not need prayer books to pray! The tradition of Noah is to pray from the heart, in words from your heart. Jews only”
Are the above statement come from “Thus saidth HaShem?
If really Noachides do not need prayer books to pray and only need to pray from the heart…..this kind of man-created commandments are exactly like the christian claimed.
Does Noachides need no commandments from HaShem? And HaShem will put His commandments on the hearts of Noachides? If this is true, then what make Noachides theology different from the christian theology that also claimed they don need Jewish prayer books, they don need Jewish G-d commandments……Because they have Jesus. Then is there a “Noachide Jesus” that do away with these Jewishness and become more “gentileness”?
When HaShem has chosen Jews to be His witnesses it mean the Jews are to be a model role of what HaShem has commanded the Jews to learn and obserev and do has to be eventually be a model for the non-Jews to emulate. HaShem did not gave the commandments just for the Jews to keep it for themselves at home.
It is sad that people still listen to man.
The christian listen to man-made commandments.
The Noachides listens to man-made commandments.
A true lesson to learn from : Read 1st Kings chapter 13…….Do you listen to HaShem or do you listen to man?
Noachidism is no different form Christianity and Messianic Judaism. A skin hidden in the Jewish sheep’s outer skin.
Noachidism seem Jewishness and yet very gentileness like Christianity and Messianic Judaism.
October 13th, 2009 at 12:04 pm
Dear Ginberg,
I agree that some people who are new to the Noahide community still resemble Messianic “Judaism” or other Christian groups. It can be very confusing, unfortunately.
You said:
“HaShem did not gave the commandments just for the Jews to keep it for themselves at home.”
Actually, that is what the Almighty did. The Torah is given to the Jews. And we are to live the Torah in our home - in our land, and in our houses.
Anyone on the planet can join the Jewish people if they wish to observe all of the commandments as Jews observe them.
But no one HAS to be Jewish. There is the path of the Noahide. And according to G-d’s Torah, that path is perfectly good and enough for any Gentile who wishes to follow the Will of the Almighty.
Morality, behavior, character development - all of these things can be learned and copied from the Jews. But wearing tzitzit and observing the Shabbos in the manner that Jews do is not the path of the Noahide.
Just as a Jew should not call himself a Jew and then live like a Gentile, so too a Gentile should not call himself a Noahide and then live as a Jew.
Thank you for your thoughts and comments.