How to tell a Hindu they are non-idolatrous under Noahide Law

In 2007 and 2008, the Chief Rabbinate in Israel along with many notable Hindu organizations officially defined Hinduism in Jewish terms. As long as the religion was defined as monotheism and not polytheism then it was considered Noahide-complaint.  From the article below you can see that the Jew uses this statement to convince other Jews that Hinduism is not idolatry.  However, other things were agreed upon at the Hindu-Jewish summit, and that was the label of non-idolatry only applies to Hindu theology and not belief or practice.  Being Noahide in theology is a good enough place to start, Hindu beliefs and practices can be taken care of later. This is a good way to calm down any Hindu who may think that Hinduism will be labeled idolatry under Noahide. 

https://western-hindu.org/2010/07/18/hinduism-and-judaism-mutual-understanding/?fbclid=IwAR1CtJYwCakInIPlRe606Cl_Ot5L4n86ASpQhDVvKdL2jSMCE_cHq9Lm6ww

Hinduism and Judaism, mutual understanding

Posted on July 18, 2010 | 48 Comments

Hindus and Jews share more than just a symbol

A few days ago I read some comments that were rather disparaging of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. The commenter was a Hindu who lumped all Abrahamic religions together as proselytising and intolerant.  Of course there are many Christians and Muslims who are tolerant and accepting of other beliefs, but as far as Judaism is concerned the accusation misses totally, it goes against the faith’s basic teachings. Unfortunately the linked comments  are not the only time I have seen this “lumping together” of Judaism with Christianity and Islam on the web.

Judaism is not a proselytising religion. Though accepting converts, Judaism does not actively seek them. In fact traditionally people wanting to convert are turned away three times before being accepted. Jews do not want everyone in the world to become Jewish. Just like Hindus they believe that this is their way, but others may follow a different path. But what do Jews think about Hinduism?

Some Jews know that India is probably the only place where Jews have lived without persecution for centuries, and appreciate this.  Jews believe that non-Jews can be righteous if they follow the Noahide Laws. According to the Talmud these were laws given to Noah for all the non-Jewish people in the world. Jews believe that they have to conform to a much larger and more restrictive set of laws themselves. The seven laws are:

1. Prohibition of Idolatry: You shall not have any idols before God ([who the Jews see as] Yahweh).
2. Prohibition of Murder: You shall not murder. (Genesis 9:6)
3. Prohibition of Theft: You shall not steal.
4. Prohibition of Sexual immorality: You shall not commit any of a series of sexual prohibitions, which include adultery, incest, anal intercourse between men, and bestiality.
5. Prohibition of Blasphemy: You shall not blaspheme God’s name.
6. Dietary Law: Do not eat flesh taken from an animal while it is still alive. (Genesis 9:4, as interpreted in the Talmud (Sanhedrin 59a))
7. Requirement to have just Laws: Set up a governing body of law (eg Courts)

There is no dispute that Hinduism traditionally meets laws two to six (see Hindu Yamas and Niyamas and the Ten Commandments), though the first has been a point of debate. Some Jews accepted that Hidus use the murtis as a means of worshipping God and not as objects of worship themselves, others did not. Generally Jews are more inclided to accept that Hindus meet the first law since a 2007 pronouncement by the Chief Rabbinate of Israel:

For the past 1,500 years or more, what in English is called “idolatry” has clouded Jewish perceptions of Hinduism. Happily, this issue may have been resolved once and for all at a February 2007 dialogue in New Delhi between members of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel, a body which speaks with authority in the Jewish world, and the Dharma Acharya Sabha, a similarly august Hindu group. Led respectively by Rabbi Yona Metzger and Swami Dayananda Saraswati, the rabbis and the swamis issued a nine-point statement of principles, the first of which removed the “idolatry ” issue from the table: “Their respective Traditions teach that there is One Supreme Being who is the Ultimate Reality, who has created this world in its blessed diversity and who has communicated Divine ways of action for humanity, for different peoples in different times and places.

It is unfortunate that a lot of Jews don’t know about this pronouncement, and generally don’t understand the Hindu view of God. The Hindu belief in one God and created Devas (divine created beings) is similar in some ways to the Jewish belief in one God, angels and archangels. Many Jews think that Hindus believe in multiple equal Gods, and see this as idolatry.

I believe that there can be a lot of mutual understanding between Jews and Hindus. Both religions are tolerant of other faiths and non-proselytising, both believe in similar moral codes, and there are even similar philosophies in some sects. We really need Hindus and Jews to know enough about each other’s  beliefs to understand and accept this.

HINDUISM IS NOT IDOLATRY IN THEOLOGY

BUT IS IN BELIEF AND PRACTICE

What Was Agreed Upon At The 2007 Summit?

The Chief Rabbinate Required Monotheism For Hinduism To Be In Compliance With The Noahide Laws 

Traditionally, the recognition by an orthodox Jewish faction of another religious tradition as being acceptable to follow is based on that tradition's adherence to the seven Noahide laws. The Seven Noahide mitzvoth (commandments), as articulated in rabbinic literature, consist of the following: establishing courts of justice, practicing sexual morality, and the avoiding of bloodshed, robbery, tearing the limb from a living animal, idolatry, and blasphemy (Katz, 1997, p. 35). The first five laws deal with ethical behavior, but the last two laws are matters of doctrine and therefore are separate from ethical behavior. In using the Noahide laws to determine acceptable religious practice, therefore, the Chief Rabbinate requires a tradition to be monotheistic in addition to being ethical. The comment by Rabbi Sperber and the necessity of adherence to the Noahide laws, demonstrates a position by the Chief Rabbinate that seems to exhibit characteristics of both pluralism as well as inclusivism. They are pluralistic in the sense that the practice of other traditions can be acceptable and as equally effective in connecting with the divine as their own tradition. This point is made clearer at the summits by Rabbi Daniel Sperber when he states, "We [the Jews] are not a religion of proselytizers. In our views, all people of all beliefs and faiths should share things, including their own way of seeing things" (Sperber, 2007a). They are also inclusive in some respects as well because as Rabbi Rosen said "there must be limits to pluralism." Although the practice of other traditions can be completely acceptable in the eyes of the Chief Rabbinate, it does not come without a stipulation. That stipulation is the obedience to the Noahide laws, which requires the adoption of some of the most basic tenants of Judaism. By requiring other traditions to adopt these laws in order to be "acceptable," they seem to imply the superiority of certain aspects of their own understanding of truth and therefore identify with the inclusivist position as well.

- Michael Mclean Bender, "The Hindu-Jewish relationship and the significance of dialogue : participants' reflections on the 2007 and 2008 Hindu-Jewish summits at New Delhi and Jerusalem", Florida International University, Retrieved 02/25/2020 _from: https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.bing.com/&httpsredir=1&article=2703&context=etd

Hindus Are Monotheistic & Non-Idolatrous But Some Hindus Still Harbor Idolatrous Practices

In the resolution the Hindu leaders also committed themselves to monotheism and rejected idolatry. "The Hindu leaders told us that idolatry was not a part of Hindu faith but that many followers continued to harbor idolatrous practices," said Metzger. 

- Matthew Wagner, "Metzger meets Hindu leaders in India", 02/06/2007, Retrieved 02/26/2020 from: https://www.jpost.com/International/Metzger-meets-Hindu-leaders-in-India

In Direct Regards To The Noahide Laws, The Label Of Hinduism's Non-Idolatry Only Relates To "Theology" But Not Many "Practices" And "Beliefs" Of Hinduism

Still, these meetings opened a discussion of Hinduism by a few Orthodox Jewish scholars guided by traditional Jewish law, the halacha. According to halacha, non-Jews must abide by the “Seven Noahide Laws” to avoid being branded as “idolatrous.” Rabbi Alon Goshen-Gottstein, who is knowledgeable about Hinduism, quotes the opinion of Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz that Hinduism and Buddhism are “adequately monotheist, adequately non-idolatrous, and at least adequately ethical.” Hence, according to Steinsaltz, they qualify as compliant with the Noahid laws.69 It must be added that this conclusion applies to Hindu theology, not necessarily to all practices or beliefs of individual Hindu worshippers. 

- India, Israel and the Jewish People, Jewish People Policy Institute, Retrieved From  - Report of the Hindu-Jewish leadership summit, 1st Summit 2007. Retrieved from http://jppi.org.il/new/wp-content/uploads/2017/India-Israel-Jewish-People-JPPI.pdf

 

The 2008 Hindu-Jewish Summit In Israel

What Was Agreed Upon At The Israel Summit?

Hindus Are Non-Idolatrous Non-Polytheists, But Remember This Does Not Include Hindu Practices And Some Beliefs!

It is recognized that the One Supreme Being, both in its formless and manifest aspects, has been worshipped by Hindus over the millennia.  This does not mean that Hindus worship ‘gods’ and idols’.  The Hindu relates to only the One Supreme Being when he/she prays to a particular manifestation. 

- (Link Broken, Get PDF (here). Declaration of the Second Hindu- Jewish Leadership Summit, Chief Rabbinate of Israel, Retrieved From https://www.hafsite.org/sites/default/files/Summit%20Declaration.pdf 

Hindu-Jewish Summit 2008 Rabbi States Non-Jews Bound To Follow The Noahide Laws. He Is Still Not Convinced Hinduism Is Not Polytheism

In Sinai as we believe, the law was given to us in two tablets of stone by Moses. We believe that every human being is bound by the basics of seven roles. It started with Adam, the first human being in our tradition and was renewed and established finally by Noah after the flood, and those are the values in which we believe, we all should observe as human beings. The first one is not to worship Idols but to worship God. We must know more about your religion, because from outside I saw that there is only one discipline among many disciplines in India that really believes in One God who created the world. I tried to read and understand and I reached a stage to know that I do not know and then you start learning. Now I think I know what I do not know, so you have to teach us in order to for us to understand the practice of Hinduism falls into the worship of God or, are many Gods. That is very interesting for us and very important.

Report of the 2nd Hindu-Jewish Leadership Summit, World Council of Religious Leaders, Retrieved 02/27/2020 From: http://www.hindujewish.org/pdfs/2nd-Hindu-Jewish_Summit_Report-Final-print.pdf 

Hindus Suggested Not To Use The Term "Gods"

The second thing is the reason that there is a general misapprehension as to the notion of Hinduism being a polytheistic religion with Idolatry is a semantic one according to your description. You speak of many Gods and then you say that basically they are not Gods but they are just an expression of the Supreme Being. If there was a different term used other than Gods, for these instances through which one can bring about an understanding of a partial conception, since our human perception is always limited and flawed, if there was a different word other than the word Gods to distinguish between the Supreme Being and all the other Gods in inverted commas, we would not be troubled by this miscomprehension. So I feel that over here basically we have a semantic problem rather than ideological, philosophical or theological problem. If this were clarified educationally, people would understand that basically Hinduism believes in One Supreme all presence Being, and all the others are only instruments or reflections or means through which one can achieve some partial understanding. This I think would perhaps help towards a greater understanding of what Hinduism really is. 

- Rabbi Professor Daniel Sperber Bar Ilan University, "Report of the 2nd Hindu-Jewish Leadership Summit", Retrieved 02/26/2020 From: http://www.hindujewish.org/pdfs/2nd-Hindu-Jewish_Summit_Report-Final-print.pdf

Why Noahidism will spread faster among Hindus than Islam

The question is should Hinduism be totally destroyed as idolatry, partially tolerated with the aim of eventually subverting the religion, or accepted as it is. According to the writings below, Judaism allows a softer and more supple form of demanded monotheism. Jews are to follow strict monotheism, but it is questionable whether this applies to non-Jews. Judaism is not a universal religion, there is one law for Jews and one law for non-Jews and the stipulations between these two laws differ. This is quite different than Islam which is a universal religion.  Islam has one definition of what is idolatry for both Muslims and non-Muslims.  In a Muslim state, open idolatry is not permitted (only private idolatry is allowed). India could become a Muslim state, or it could become a Noahide state. In a Muslim state there would be one definition of idolatry for all, in a Noahide state Hindus might be able to practice their religion a little easier. However, I don't think any Rabbi anywhere is not planning to slowly mutate Hinduism into full Noahidism, but this would be done in a much softer way than how Islam brings people over... there does not need to be immediate conversion... there can be intermediate steps. 

https://www.christianforums.com/threads/noahide-buddhism-and-hinduism.8104000/?amp=1&fbclid=IwAR0dDoD5Lacdbp_rS6jdT7dh8s1JhyKaYzwF51gCKr2ppivieD0pt3t-vbM

Under the Noahide laws, it is possible to assume that Hinduism and Buddhism are sufficiently monotheistic in principle for moral Hindus and Buddhist to enter the gentile’s gate into heaven. 諾亞律可視佛教為一神教只要它滿足倫理原則，以作為外邦進入天堂的大門。

Elijah Interfaith, Sharing Wisdom Fostering Peace #MakeFriends

Sharing Wisdom: Wisdom of Rabbi Adin Steinsalz

Peace without Conciliation: The Irrelevance of "Toleration" in Judaism

From: Common Knowledge

Volume 11, Issue 1, Winter 2005

pp. 41-47 |

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

The Irrelevance of "Toleration" in Judaism

By the standards of Jewish law as applied to Jews, Hinduism (and Buddhism) do not count as monotheistic traditions. 按照給猶太人的猶太律法，佛教不算一神教。However, the essential point of the Noahide laws is that the standards of Jewish law do not apply to non-Jews. 但是諾亞律的精華在於猶太法不適用外邦。Radically pure monotheism is expected by Judaism only from Jews. 嚴格一神僅限於猶太。The Noahide laws do not preclude gentile religions from developing softer, more complex, and compromised forms of monotheism. 諾亞律不排除外教發展更加溫和微妙妥協的一神觀。Under the Noahide laws, it is possible to assume that Hinduism and Buddhism are sufficiently monotheistic in principle for moral Hindus and Buddhist to enter the gentile’s gate into heaven. Jewish law regards the compromises made or tolerated by the world’s major religions as ways of rendering essentially monotheistic theologies easier in practice for large populations of adherents. The fierceness of Islamic opposition to such compromises has no counterpart in Judaism. In Islam, it is seriously blasphemous for anyone of whatever faith to combine belief in the one God with popular ideas about other heavenly powers or with subtle theological doctrines such as the Trinity. Islam cannot tolerate such compromises because the truth that they violate is applicable universally and not simply to Muslins. The problem is that Islam is radically monotheistic (like Judaism) yet is also (unlike Judaism, which is the religion of one people) universalistic as well.

Jews are ambivalent over whether Hinduism is Noahide or idolatry, this must be exploited to Noahidize Hinduism

From the article below, you can see that Jews are a bit confused as to whether or not Hinduism is monotheism or polytheism.  The Jews have a definition of something in between called "shituf" which Hinduism may fall under. Rabbis disagree whether shituf is permissible or not.  It could be argued that Hinduism is not idolatry in theology but perhaps in practice, but even this is confused.  Can a Hindu worship many gods just so long as one god is at the top of the pantheon?  Can a Hindu worship an idol just so long as s/he is not worshiping only the idol but god in union with the idol?  Jews are still working these things out.  The ideal situation is to start out lenient, make Hindus feel that none of their customs or beliefs constitute idolatry.  Once you have them studying Noahide then start bringing in the harsher criteria and start asking the Hindus to make changes to their religion in order to be in line with Noahide code. 

https://www.torahmusings.com/2009/04/is-hinduism-avodah-zarah/

Is Hinduism Avodah Zarah?

Posted by: Gil Student in Legacy, Posts Apr 23, 09 0

Avodah Zarah is loosely translated as idolatry or polytheism. I don’t know much about Hinduism but as I read Dr. Nathan Katz‘s memoirs of his journey from studying Hinduism to becoming an Orthodox Jew, I was surprised by some of his comments. He suggests a few times that perhaps Hinduism is not avodah zarah. He is not an authority on Judaism but most Jewish scholars do not know about Hinduism with the same depth that he, a professor of the subject, does.

Click here to read moreHe writes in his book, Spiritual Journey Home: Eastern Mysticism to the Western Wall:

The question of one God versus many gods confounds every westerner who approaches Hinduism. On the apparent level, Hinduism has many gods who are depicted by murtis, statues or idols. Idolatry, of course, is not only condemned in the Biblical second commandment, it even contradicts the much less doctrinaire seven Noahide commandments that are said to be obligatory for all descendants of Noah, which is to say everyone.

Yet when the swami speaks of God as the Light, beyond all form and distinctions, this apparent level of understanding is put into question. And the more one delves into the philosophies underlying Hindu practice, the more the apparent level is exposed as a mere comic book version of a profound and serious theology. At the same time, some of the practices of Hinduism cannot be affirmed from a Jewish standpoint. (p. 42)

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Most of us think of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam as the three western monotheisms, as though monotheism never existed in India. Some politely refer to them as the three Abrahamic faiths, as Abraham is taken to be their father, either in a literal or a spiritualized sense. These western religions are assumed to be distinct from “eastern religions,” which are characterized by a cyclic view of history and multiple deities. Indeed, that is one way to make a general distinction. But it is not the only way, as I tell my students… (p. 46)

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For an observant Jew, participation in this sort of dialogue raises issues of avodah zarah, a derogatory term meaning “other people’s worship,” something to be avoided at all costs by observant Jews. Is Tibetan Buddhism avodah zarah, or is it another name of God?… Yet, the question is not simple. Ample halakhic authorities, from Sa’adia Gaon to Maimonides, sometimes held accommodating views regarding other religions. Somehow this liberal thread has receded into the background, and more rigid views have come to the fore. The texts do not hold a monolithic view… (pp. 114-115)

There are opinions that polytheism is not considered avodah zarah for Gentiles if they worship God at the top of their pantheon. This is not the position of R. Sa’adia Gaon or the Rambam, contrary to what Dr. Katz suggests, but that of many Ashkenazic authorities. If Hinduism has the same God as we do then perhaps it qualifies as shituf.

However, Dr. Katz suggests that Hindu practice might qualify as avodah zarah even if its theology does not. Meaning, if Hinduism allows or requires certain acts that qualify as idolatrous, then the concept of shituf does not help. This is, indeed, the view of the Avnei Nezer (Yoreh De’ah 123:9-10), but only if the worship is solely to a statue and not to a statue and God together. If Hindu worship is to one of their gods and also to the supreme God together, then it is permissible as shituf. I don’t know enough about their theology and practice to reach any solid conclusion.

Note that this post is not an invitation to speak in-depth about Hindu beliefs and practice. Rather, it is to raise the awareness that an expert in Hinduism (who is now an Orthodox Jew) considers it to be less of an avodah zarah than I had previously thought.