The Hebrew words Bney Noah mean “The Children of Noah”, referring to all the people in the world, all of whom are considered to be the “children” or descendants of Noah, whom God saved from the great Flood. The Torah sages specifically use the phrase Bney Noah to refer to all of the people in the world except for Children of Israel, who are bound by the 613 Commandments of the Torah, as opposed to all other people, who are bound only by the Seven Universal (“Noahide”) laws, while being free to adopt many other Torah commandments voluntarily.
Conversion
A person born non-Jewish who desires to convert to the Jewish religion and observe all of the 613 Commandments of the Torah must follow the appropriate procedures before a Court of Rabbis ( Beit Din , “House of Law”) in accordance with the law of the Shulchan Arukh Torah code. Many non-orthodox organizations of different kinds offer easy “Jewish conversions” but these are not recognized by orthodox Jewish communities.
Ephraim
The Israelite tribe of Ephraim (who was the son of the Biblical Joseph) became the leader of the "Northern Kingdom"consisting of ten of the Twelve Tribes of Israel, with the exception of Judah and Benjamin. Some generations prior to the destruction of King Solomon's Temple, in about the year 555 B.C.E, the Ten Tribes under the leadership of Ephraim were exiled from the Land of Israel by the Assyrian ruler Sennacherib. While some returned to Judea and became merged with the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, many “disappeared” and are referred to as the Ten Lost Tribes. In the Hebrew prophets, the term Ephraim is used to refer collectively to the Ten Tribes. Today growing numbers of people, including many who were brought up as Christians and who are re-evaluating their received traditions, identify with the Ten Tribes and may call themselves “Ephraim”.
Ger Toshav , “Resident Dweller”
The status of Ger Toshav , “Resident Dweller”, is under Torah law accorded to a person who is neither Jewish nor a home-born member of the Twelve Tribes of Israel nor a full convert, but who has undertaken allegiance before a rabbinical court to the Seven Universal “Noahide” laws. The Ger Toshav is considered Chassid Oomot Ha-Olam , one of the “pious of the peoples of the world”.
Ger Tzeddek , “Convert” or “Proselyte”
A true Ger Tzeddek “Righteous Dweller” is a man or woman who was born non-Jewish and who has undergone a full Jewish conversion under the supervision of a recognized orthodox rabbinical court. The Ger Tzeddek has the same obligation as all Jews and all members of the Twelve Tribes of Israel to observe all of the 613 Commandments of the Torah as they apply today.
Halachah
The Hebrew word Halachah, "law", (plural, Halachot, laws) literally means “the way to go” and refers to each of the individual rules of behavior which apply at all the various different junctures in our lives in order to fulfill the commandments of the Torah in practice. The term The Halachah may also refer to all these rules collectively. There are Halachot that apply to Jews who are required to observe the 613 Torah commandments, and there are Halachot that apply to all humanity, who are required to observe the Seven Universal “Noahide” Laws.
Israel
Israel was originally the name given to the third of the patriarchs (“founding fathers”) Jacob (Genesis 32:28). His children and descendants became known as the Children of Israel. When God redeemed them from their exile in the land of Egypt, they became known as the People of Israel, and the land which God had promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob for their descendants, where they entered under Joshua, is known as the Land of Israel. The present-day State of Israel occupies a small portion of the biblical Land of Israel, and the citizens of Israel are referred to as Israelis. However, descendants of the Children of Israel are scattered throughout the world, and the Biblical prophets promised that they will eventually return to the Land of Israel, which will be restored to its Biblically-defined borders.
Jew
The English word Jew derives from “Jude” or "Yid", referring to a member of the tribe of Judah (Hebrew, Yehudah). After the exile of the majority of the Ten “Lost” Tribes, the tribes of Judah and Benjamin together with the remnants of the other tribes and the hereditary Cohen priests and Levites all became merged as one people and were referred to as Yehudim. Their descendants until today, together with all the converts, are known as the Jews. As a result of the major assimilation among numerous people of Jewish descent over the past few hundred years, many today who are descended from Jews may in fact not observe the Torah or be aware of its obligations.
Mitzvah
The Hebrew word Mitzvah (plural: Mitzvot) means a “commandment” or “law” of the Torah, and may refer to one of the 613 Commandments that are binding on the People of Israel or one of the Seven Universal “Noahide” Commandments.
Noahide
The term Noahide consists of the Hebrew name of Noah with the suffix –ide indicating a “descendant”. Thus the English word Noahide – which has been in use for nearly 300 years – refers to one of the “Children of Noah” (see Bney Noah ), who are bound by the Seven Universal “Noahide” Commandments. Especially since the 1990's growing numbers of people across the world have been awakening to the importance of the Seven Universal Commandments and identify on some level as Noahides and are developing a diverse array of communities, networks and organizations.
Noahide Laws
The Seven Universal “Noahide” Laws are:
Idolatry is prohibited.
Blasphemy is prohibited.
Murder is prohibited.
Sexual immorality is prohibited.
Stealing is prohibited.
It is forbidden to eat a limb cut from a living animal.
The rule of Justice must be ensured through competent Courts of Law.
Orthodox Judaism
Those who are considered to practice “Orthodox” Judaism submit to the authority of the Torah Code as contained in the written Hebrew Bible and as transmitted by the sages of the People of Israel in the Babylonian Talmud and Shulhan Arukh Law Code and their accepted rabbinical commentaries. Jewish movements who feel entitled to change and diverge from accepted laws cannot be considered “orthodox” even if they call themselves "orthodox".
Rabbi
The Hebrew word “rabbi” literally means “my master” and was used by servants referring to their master and also by the students of the Torah sages when addressing their teacher. In classic usage the title of Rabbi was reserved for a Torah scholar who had received ordination from a recognized Torah authority. In recent generations numerous organizations who have diverged from orthodox Torah observance have freely bestowed the title of “Rabbi” on all kinds of people. This means that it cannot be taken for granted that a person who is called or styles himself a “Rabbi” is in fact a truly competent Torah guide.
Talmud
The Talmud is a voluminous collection of Torah teachings of many different kinds transmitted from generation to generation by the Torah sages of the Land of Israel and Babylon from about the 3rd century BCE until the 5th century of the Common Era. They are all based on careful, detailed analysis of the original Hebrew Biblical texts. The teachings are organized in a framework of Talmudic “tractates”, each of which is a loose “weave” of many individual teachings and discussions relating to specific given themes with all their ramifications. One edition of these teachings was written down in Israel during the 2th-4th centuries and is known as the Talmud Yerushalmi or “Jerusalem Talmud”. A different version was written down in Babylon during the 3rd-5th centuries and is known as the Talmud Bavli or “Babylonian Talmud. The legal rulings of the latter are considered binding on all Jews.
Torah
The Hebrew word Torah literally means “Teaching”. It is often translated with the English word “Law”, but this term does not do full justice to the breadth and depth of Torah teachings, which contain profound wisdom, inspiration, lessons and practical rules of conduct in all areas of life. The term Torah may be used to refer to the Five Books of Moses, and the scroll in which they are written is known as the Torah Scroll. In addition to the Written Torah, Jewish tradition includes what is known as the Oral Torah, which was originally transmitted by word of mouth and through practical example by parents and teachers to their children and students. The teachings of the Oral Torah were written down in the Mishnah, Talmud and subsequent rabbinical literature. In the general sense the term Torah refers to the entire religious tradition of Judaism, including both the Written Torah (Bible) and the Oral Torah.
