09-03-2025, 08:44 AM
(This post was last modified: 09-03-2025, 09:19 AM by Director Michael.)
Question received:
I assume that this is what your question means to ask:
"Within the Noahide commandment of dinim, does the obligation to abide by 'the law of the land' require a person not to overstep the letter of every civil law, or is it sufficient to abide by the degree to which each particular law is generally enforced by the police and the civil courts?"
This isn't a simple question, because it doesn't have one general answer. A person really needs to learn and understand the Noahide Code, to understand where and how it meshes - and where and how it doesn't mesh - with the governmental laws of his own country.
A case in point: the metropolis of Sodom ended up being obliterated by G-d because their "law of the land" which the citizens accepted was so evil.
Please see the preceding posts in this discussion thread.
So, I am going to assume you're giving this example to cover the particular type of laws that you want to know about, which are public safety laws. The reason that police officers generally don't care about drivers going 5% over the speed limit is because their primary function is to guard the safety of individuals, and the public in general. Let's assume that experience shows that going 5% over the speed limit under good driving conditions does not add any appreciable safety risk. So the police officers forego precise enforcement of the speed limit, and focus their time and attention instead on people who are going 15-25% over the speed limit, which does add an appreciable safety risk.
The same would apply to something like safely jaywalking when there are no or very few cars on the street, even though there is a law against jaywalking.
In these types of public safety laws, the obligation to follow the laws of the land is to follow the law as it is generally enforced, with the caveat that the Noahide Code itself forbids a person to put himself or others in appreciably increased risk of injury. On the contrary, a person is expected to take safety precautions (for example, looking both ways before crossing the street, and waiting until it is safe to cross, even if it is at a place where it is legal to cross).
Within the Noahide Code, a person has some liability in G-d's eyes if he acts with deliberate or even just careless negligence in a way that puts himself and/or others in more danger of injury than is considered to be acceptable and normal in the society, or within sensible human logic. For example, just driving at the speed limit in good conditions puts the driver and others at a risk, but by placing the speed limit at a certain level, the legal system is saying that it is an acceptable / legally allowed amount of risk. Nevertheless, a person also needs to judge the situation at hand logically and sensibly.
In The Divine Code, see Part 5, see topics 5.1,2,11.
Sensible precautionary safety laws are also obligatory. Here are some examples:
- The Noahide Code itself obligates a person to keep his dangerous animals fenced in, and to have a fence around his roof if it's used as an area for people to walk in. If someone is harmed through the owner's negligence in those regards, he is liable in G-d's judgment.
- In the same context, if law of the land requires that a person's car must pass a periodic safety inspection in order for him to have permission to drive the car on the public streets, that is the same type of obligation. And even if it's not the law of the land, a person should not put himself and others at risk by driving an unsafe vehicle.
In The Divine Code, Part 5, see topic 7.1.
Quote:When it comes to following the law of the land, is the command to follow dinim based on the letter of the law or based on the way it is generally enforced by the police and courts?
I assume that this is what your question means to ask:
"Within the Noahide commandment of dinim, does the obligation to abide by 'the law of the land' require a person not to overstep the letter of every civil law, or is it sufficient to abide by the degree to which each particular law is generally enforced by the police and the civil courts?"
This isn't a simple question, because it doesn't have one general answer. A person really needs to learn and understand the Noahide Code, to understand where and how it meshes - and where and how it doesn't mesh - with the governmental laws of his own country.
A case in point: the metropolis of Sodom ended up being obliterated by G-d because their "law of the land" which the citizens accepted was so evil.
Please see the preceding posts in this discussion thread.
Quote:A case example would be going 5% over the speed limit, which officers generally don't care about and the like.
So, I am going to assume you're giving this example to cover the particular type of laws that you want to know about, which are public safety laws. The reason that police officers generally don't care about drivers going 5% over the speed limit is because their primary function is to guard the safety of individuals, and the public in general. Let's assume that experience shows that going 5% over the speed limit under good driving conditions does not add any appreciable safety risk. So the police officers forego precise enforcement of the speed limit, and focus their time and attention instead on people who are going 15-25% over the speed limit, which does add an appreciable safety risk.
The same would apply to something like safely jaywalking when there are no or very few cars on the street, even though there is a law against jaywalking.
In these types of public safety laws, the obligation to follow the laws of the land is to follow the law as it is generally enforced, with the caveat that the Noahide Code itself forbids a person to put himself or others in appreciably increased risk of injury. On the contrary, a person is expected to take safety precautions (for example, looking both ways before crossing the street, and waiting until it is safe to cross, even if it is at a place where it is legal to cross).
Within the Noahide Code, a person has some liability in G-d's eyes if he acts with deliberate or even just careless negligence in a way that puts himself and/or others in more danger of injury than is considered to be acceptable and normal in the society, or within sensible human logic. For example, just driving at the speed limit in good conditions puts the driver and others at a risk, but by placing the speed limit at a certain level, the legal system is saying that it is an acceptable / legally allowed amount of risk. Nevertheless, a person also needs to judge the situation at hand logically and sensibly.
In The Divine Code, see Part 5, see topics 5.1,2,11.
Sensible precautionary safety laws are also obligatory. Here are some examples:
- The Noahide Code itself obligates a person to keep his dangerous animals fenced in, and to have a fence around his roof if it's used as an area for people to walk in. If someone is harmed through the owner's negligence in those regards, he is liable in G-d's judgment.
- In the same context, if law of the land requires that a person's car must pass a periodic safety inspection in order for him to have permission to drive the car on the public streets, that is the same type of obligation. And even if it's not the law of the land, a person should not put himself and others at risk by driving an unsafe vehicle.
In The Divine Code, Part 5, see topic 7.1.