Seven Laws of Noah

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1. Tanakh and Literature of the Ancient Near East

   Part 1 - The Torah and Legal Systems of the Ancient Near East

   Rabbi Amnon Bazak

   The discoveries in the study of the Ancient Near East, that included certain similarities between the laws of the Torah and other legal systems among the nations of the Ancient Near East, produced two opposite reactions. Some viewed these data as confirmation of the validity of the biblical account and a blow to Biblical Criticism. Others claimed that if the laws of the Torah were in fact based on these other laws, it offers support for the view that the Torah laws are of human origin. However, the existence of systems of law that preceded the Torah is a fact that the Torah itself mentions explicitly. Moreover, the formulation of some of the commandments of the Torah indicates that these laws are based on previous knowledge assumed to be familiar to those receiving the Torah. The Torah is not formulated as a book that builds an entire system of laws and judgments from the very foundations up; rather, it is a book that adds layers onto an existing basis.

2. What Mitzvot Did the Avot Keep?

   Rabbi Menachem Leibtag

   There are those who claim that the Avot kept the entire Torah - even the Oral Law and later Rabbinic prohibitions! Yet many students, when hearing this opinion, find it difficult to accept. In the following shiur, we discuss the pasuk that forms the source for this opinion; the debate among the commentators in regard to its interpretation; and an important lesson we can learn from this entire controversy.

3. Shekhem and Dina: Canaanite Conduct

   Rabbi David Silverberg

4. Noah and Moses

   Rabbanit Dr. Michal Tikochinsky