iHeartNoahides polled our readers asking:

What is the single most important next step for Noahide communities?

The number one response was “Child & Youth education”

Having said that, iHN excitedly presents our exclusive interview with Kristine Cassady, Co-Founder, President, and Administrative Director of N.O.A.H. : Noahide Online Association of Homeschoolers.

All bold and italics and links were added by me, the editor of iHN.

It is my honest opinion that N.O.A.H. is laying the foundation for establishing real, non-web-based Noahide communities around the world.  Of course, it first begins online, as you will read in the interview.

Wishing you well, dear readers!
Happy Pesach.

- Daniel

p.s. my offer to hear your story and present it on iHN still stands.

*************
March 2009

Can you start by telling us about N.O.A.H.: Noahide Online Association of Homeschoolers?

N.O.A.H. is a subsidiary organization of Noahide Nations created to meet the needs of Noahide parents and children.

Although our name seems to limit our scope to homeschooling, our desire is to assist all Noahide families. It is a common opinion that parents who use public or private schooling options are not homeschooling their children; however, N.O.A.H. would like to challenge Noahide families to think differently.

We believe all Noahide parents are in fact homeschooling for a portion of their child’s education- the most important element of their education, actually, which is spiritual awareness and growth. After evaluating the need for Noahide specific material, a small group of three homeschooling mothers, including myself, came together under the Noahide Nations’ banner to devise a solution to the problem of limited resources for Noahide parents. The result was the foundation of N.O.A.H.: Noahide Online Association of Homeschoolers. www.NoahideHomescool.org

What services will N.O.A.H. offer?

The services we offer are closely tied to the goals we have set for the organization, which are multifaceted.

We feel there is a great need for Noahide specific Torah-centered material, so we have devoted part of our organization strictly to curriculum development for Torah related topics- emphasizing the Noahide perspective, including Parsha lessons and the feasts and festivals.

To maintain the highest standards possible, all of N.O.A.H.’s curriculum will be written from an observant orthodox viewpoint, but geared toward a Noahide audience. We believe rabbinical oversight is an important element and will have rabbinical approval of our curriculum material prior it becoming available to members.

We also believe strongly in the need for establishing meaningful relationships within the global Noahide community and will offer community building services like separate online forums for parents, teens, and elementary aged students, featured articles written by fellow Noahides on relevant education or parenting topics, and a service we are really excited about- our individualized notification to members of other member families within their region. This notification process will allow families to build (form) small groups of support and begin the process of the true community building we all know is needed. A core ingredient of attaining our organization’s goals is our Education Department which is responsible for creating the curricula, classes, and resources for N.O.A.H.’s members, and lead by Elisa Jay.

Will you only focus on the spiritual education of children or branch out?

Our primary goal, at first, is to fill the very real “hole” in resources available to Noahide parents regarding Noahide spiritual growth, understanding, and lifestyle. We hope to achieve this by the on-line classes and original Noahide Torah curriculums I mentioned earlier; as-well-as offering printable activity sheets for each of the 7 Laws, Torah lesson plans, creating original children’s books, and forming a Noahide appropriate book list. We are putting a lot into N.O.A.H. and are really excited to see where it could go.

So, all of that to say, once we have produced enough material to get parents going on the spiritual front, we will venture out into the academic fields. Our Educational Director (and Vice-President), Elisa Jay, has already started to create an ancient world history curriculum that incorporates the Torah timeline and corresponding Jewish calendar dates. She also has plans for a high school level science program that will introduce Torah science and how it applies to all the different disciplines within the currently accepted scientific arenas.  It will be a process and take time to develop these resources.

Some of our other future academic goals include writing Noahide specific guides for the Humanities, such as literature, art, and music, and establishing a high school level course in political science and psychology from the Noahide viewpoint.

I just want to reiterate to your audience that all material created by N.O.A.H. will have orthodox rabbinical approval prior to becoming accessible to members.

How will people access all of these amazing resources?

As our title implies, our organization is based solely in cyberspace and all of our resources will be available at our website: www.NoahideHomeschool.org.

Our website is divided into three separate spaces; one is the Home site mainly for parents/ adults to access family related material and support.

The second section is our Student Zone which is dedicated to students age 13- 18 years old.  Age appropriate Torah-centered educational material, printable documents, and a link to the teen community are all found in the Student Zone.

Our third area, the PlayScape, is set-up for students ages 5- 12 years old to use along with their parents, preferably.  Again, it will have age appropriate Torah-centered educational material, activity pages, and a link to the N.O.A.H. community forum for them to connect with other Noahide students.

Now, the public will have access to the Home site, but both of our student spaces are password protected and we have created a social network for our community forum site which allows parents to monitor where the students are while giving the students a place of their own to get to know fellow Noahide youth, you can visit the N.O.A.H. Community at www.NoahideHomeschool.ning.com.

So, membership to N.O.A.H.: Noahide Online Association of Homeschoolers will allow people full access to all of your services?

Yes and there is an additional benefit…it is all free to the public!

What can you tell anyone interested in helping N.O.A.H?

We are currently seeking illustrators, experienced curriculum developers, professional educators, or others with a passion for Torah and children.

I would also like to mention to our Jewish friends, please let the Gentiles in your community know about us and the work we are doing to bring Torah truth to the Gentiles in our communities.  As we know, there is a lot of confusion out there and well-meaning people are wondering around without proper direction and basing their faith on misinformation.  Noahides need all the help we can get to spread the truth of Torah-centered living–so if a gentile comes to you for direction–please let them know about us.

You may contact me at KristineCassady@NoahideNations.com if you wish to volunteer your time or talents to our organization.  I’d love to hear from you.

Last night on the train I saw a number of humane, good-hearted acts by people.  Whether it was picking up people’s dropped items for them, or helping people navigate the train lines, or simply speaking and listening to one another.

I see this all the time.
The news hides it from you.

Below is a letter to the editor of GoodNewsNetwork.org - a website the compiles good news from around the world ranging from the positive impacts we are having on the environment, to the good things American soldiers are doing abroad, and more.

When I taught in Jewish schools my students loved hearing good news from GoodNewsNetwork.  I highly recommend it for kids and parents alike in these dark times.  A little bit of light dispels a lot of dark.

p.s. The GoodNewsNetwork is not to be confused with every other “Good News” website and school club, which are run by Christian activists, many of which try to pull Jews away from Torah, G-d forbid.  This is a non-religiously oriented site dedicated to positive news.

*********

I have a 7 year old son and we don’t watch TV, listen to the news, or read newspapers because so much of it is negative and full of pain and hate — things his little body does not need.  I am SO thrilled to be able to show him stories on your Website and talk to him about the positive, Good work that is occurring here on Earth.  You have given me a safe place where I can allow my son to browse and follow the stories that interest him.  Thank you! - Esther Colwell

There is no “right way” for Bnei Noach to get married.¹  Rather, the questions to ask are:

1) What action(s) on our behalf constitute establishment of our marriage
2) What ceremonies are fitting and appropriate for Bnei Noach weddings

The length of this post will give one example of how you might answer question #2.

To answer question #1:

The subject of Noahide marriage according to Torah is discussed in the book “The Path of the Righteous Gentile,” in the chapter on Sexual Relations:

“Under the Seven Universal Commandments [for Gentiles], a woman is considered to be a man’s wife when the couple has sexual relations [in the normal manner] with the intent² that it constitute marriage.”

*******

Source: (Rabbi Mordechai)

…

…My third thought was that I wouldn’t know what ritual to use. I wouldn’t want to use Jewish ritual – they are not Jewish, and are under no illusions on that matter. So what would I do?

On the other hand: Come on, how cool is that, getting to do a Noachide wedding?

So I emailed colleagues, who clarified that a rabbi is empowered to perform any wedding which conforms with municipal law, but who had no idea what ritual to use. I Googled “Noachide Weddings” and “Noahide Weddings” and came up with this page, but the contents made me uncomfortable; I really didn’t like their adaptation of key Jewish wedding elements – the berachah [blessing] on wine, the ketubah, the Chuppah canopy.

But some colleagues of mine urged me on, pointing out that it’s pretty rare for an Orthodox rabbi to have a chance to get really creative!

Then, as I talked to the couple more and met with them, they were so visibly sincere that I fell in love with the idea beyond the “adventure” level. It was a chance to help good people do a good thing, in a meaningful way. Isn’t that why I’m a rabbi in the first place?

So I developed a ceremony which drew on biblical themes common for Jews and non-Jews, and meaningful for a wedding.

Here’s what we did:

1) They had found a non-denominational chapel in a park, and we used that space. As they stood together, I sang the traditional Jewish chuppah songs of Mi Adir and Mi Ban Siach.

2) I then presented a dvar torah on the Torah’s history of marriage, going back to Adam and Chavah [Eve]. I explained the Adam I and Adam II narratives, using Ramban’s idea that one narrative is creation of the soul (unified) and the other is creation of the body (separate). I talked about why Adam and Chavah benefit from being of two separate bodies – the idea, expressed in various commentaries, that the man and woman complement each other with their strengths, and so accomplish things they could never accomplish as one unit.

3) They had wanted to give each other rings, and written their own declaration of love and faithfulness for the occasion, so they did that at this point. I had them say “Behold you are sanctified to me,” taking the first half of the Jewish formula and dropping the “according to the laws of Moses and Israel” segment.

4) They had wanted to have a toast with wine at this point, but I was uncomfortable because of halachic [Torah Law] issues which are beyond the scope of this blog, and because of the adoption of a very Jewish wedding practice. So I decided to use water instead.

I explained the biblical significance of water, tracing it from the water present at Creation, through the punitive water of the flood rolling back Creation, through the water in which Jews drowned in Egypt, through the punitive water of Yam Suf [Sea of Reeds], through water from a stone in the desert, etc. My point was the power embedded by Gd in this natural element.

We recited the berachah [blessing] on water together (the berachah itself – “that all comes into existence at Gd’s command” – being very appropriate for the occasion), and drank.

5) To close the wedding I adapted a tefillah [prayer] authored by Rabbi Yochanan, presented in Yerushalmi Berachot 4:1, to read as follows:

יהי רצון מלפניך רבונו של עולם שתשכן בבתינו אהבה ואחוה ושלום ורעות ותצליח סופינו אחרית ותקוה ותרבה גבולנו בחברים ותקנינו לב טוב וחברים טובים ונשיש בחלקנו ונשכים ונמצא ייחול לבבנו

May it by Your will, Master of the Universe, that You bring love and brotherhood and peace and friendship into our home, that You give us success and hope, that You broaden our boundaries with friends, that You establish for us a good heart and good friends, that You make us happy with our lot, and that we rise each day to find our hearts’ desire.

On the whole, it was a remarkable experience. I was moved by their sincerity, and by their respect for Torah and Jewish belief.

I’m glad I did it - not because it was unusual, but because it really was cool in a much deeper way.

*********

This is a wonderful lecture on raising children.

Rabbi Kelemen compares traditional Jewish texts with mountains of modern scientific data to bring us these most precious teachings.  He is a passionate and funny speaker.  I always laugh when I hear him speak. Enjoy!

To Kindle a Soul (stream) (download)

brought to you by SimpleToRemember.com