THE CONCEPT OF NOAHIDE LAWS IN SEFER HA-CHINUCH

Sefer ha-chinuch is one of the earliest and most interesting works created after Maimonides which deal more broadly with the issue of Noahide laws (laws given according to the Judaic tradition to all humanity). The purpose of the article is to present the original views of the author of this book on the issue of seven Noahide laws, and in particular on their relations to the 613 commandments of Israel. Discussion on the Noahide laws in Sefer ha-chinuch is not organized in a systematic way. The originality and value of this work lies, firstly, in the very approach to this topic in a general way (the inspiration was certainly Maimonides); secondly, in the concept of Noahide laws as categories, the details of which are comparable, although not identical, to the Israeli commandments. This concept resulted in an innovative construction involving the incorporation of the Noahide commandments into a discussion on individual Israeli commandments. Thirdly, the originality of the work is manifested also in certain halachic concepts concerning aspects of specific Noahide laws, often departing from Maimonides’ solutions.

Sefer ha-chinuch is one of the earliest and most interesting works created after Maimonides which deal more broadly with the issue of Noahide laws (laws given according to the Judaic tradition to all humanity). The purpose of the article is to present the original views of the author of this book on the issue of seven Noahide laws, and in particular on their relations to the 613 commandments of Israel. Discussion on the Noahide laws in Sefer ha-chinuch is not organized in a systematic way. The originality and value of this work lies, firstly, in the very approach to this topic in a general way (the inspiration was certainly Maimonides); secondly, in the concept of Noahide laws as categories, the details of which are comparable, although not identical, to the Israeli commandments. This concept resulted in an innovative construction involving the incorporation of the Noahide commandments into a discussion on individual Israeli commandments. Thirdly, the originality of the work is manifested also in certain halachic concepts concerning aspects of specific Noahide laws, often departing from Maimonides’ solutions.