Question:

Why an obligation to honor parents don’t include into the Seven Commandments of Bnei Noah?

In 9 chapter of Genesis it is said about Noah’s Commandments – about Commandments which were be given to Noah. But there is no Commandment of Honour the parents. I was surprised by this fact. Thanks.

Answer:

Gaon Rabeinu Nisim said that Bnei Noah have a lot of another Commandments that were not be included in Seven Commandments. Seven Commandments unclude six Commandment which establish moral restriction: the prohibition of murder, the prohibition of theft, the prohibition of idolatry, the prohibition of blasphemy, the prohibition of adultery, the prohibition of eating parts of the living.

Seventh Commandment tell about an obligation to establish the justice court, and there is great disagreement over what exactly this means. Most believe that this Commandment includes the establish of courts and the imposition of punishments for breaking the six other Commandments. Besides this positive commandment, all others in the Commandment are prohibitions, and among them there are no positive Commandments that show what to do. Thus, the Commandment to respect parents is not included in the seven Commandments. Rabeinu Nisim says: it is obvious that in every society there are things that are recognized as logical and necessary by all people. And Bnei Noah must observe them.

It is also clear that in some cultures Bnei Noah may consider certain actions to be right and necessary, while in another culture such actions may be considered meaningless. Thus, in those cultures in which certain actions are considered correct and positive, Bnei Noah must observe them, while in other cultures they may not be necessary.

Thus, in principle, for all sons of Noah, regardless of the culture to which they belong, restrictions can be established, but commandments should not be established.

And society can decide for itself that some things are right and important for serving God, for example, the American Thanksgiving, about which some great rabbis say that there is a obligation to celebrate it.

Rav Yeshayahu Hollander

Both the ten Commandments and the seven Commandments of Bnei Noah list the Commandments for which, under certain conditions, a person can be sentenced to death. Thus, Bnei Noah are required to observe the commandment of respect for parents, but in case of violation they cannot be sentenced to death.

Rav Ouri Cherki