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Prohibition of In-Depth Torah Study Not Related to Noahide Code
#18
The three levels of Torah study are (in ascending order):

(1) Peshat - straightforward meaning of the "Written Torah." This is permitted for Noahides.
The "Written Torah" refers to the 24 Books of the Hebrew Bible, which is the TaNaChTaNaCh is an abbreviation for Torah (the Five Books of Moses), Nevi'im (the Books of the Prophets), and Chesuvim (the Books of Holy Writings).
Study of Peshat encompasses the written text of the Hebrew Bible itself, along with the classic traditional (Oral Torah) explanations of the straightforward meanings of the verses. Some examples are the explanations of the Bible verses by Rashi, Sforno, and Ibn Ezra.

(2) Mishnah - texts of plainly stated Torah laws. This is also permitted for Noahides to read, in parts that are related to Noahide observance.
Examples: The Mishnah itself that was compiled by Rabbi Yehuda HaNassi, the Mishneh Torah and Sefer HaMitzvot by Rambam, the main text of the Shulchan Aruch (Code of Jewish Law) and the Kitzur Shulchan Aruch, and modern Rabbinical texts of plainly stated Torah laws.

(3) Gemara - texts of in-depth analysis, or esoteric texts that require further deeper knowledge in order for the text itself to be correctly understood.
Examples: the Gemara itself (the Talmud), the books of Midrash, books of Kabbalah (e.g. the Zohar), in-depth Chassidic teachings.

See The Divine Code by Rabbi Moshe Weiner of Jerusalem, Part I, ch. 5 ("Torah Study for Gentiles"). This is also available as an e-book:

https://asknoah.org/books/the-divine-code

It is explained there that the Torah study permitted for Noahides encompasses the above categories of Peshat and many parts of Mishnah. With proper guidance from a qualified teacher, Noahides may also study those parts of the category of Gemara that are relevant to the Noahide Code.

Within this permitted Torah study, it is not a problem for a Noahide to mentally reflect on what he reads, and in fact, that is certainly encouraged!

But he should not apply himself with concentrated effort to deeply analyze through in-depth comparative analysis, or to strive to discover inner reasons for Divine commandments, or to innovate new explanations, or to reason out his own rulings of Torah law. Those are all examples of the high-level Torah study and analysis that is reserved for Jewish Torah scholars.
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Messages In This Thread
RE: Prohibition of In-Depth Torah Study Not Related to Noahide Code - by Director Michael - 06-04-2017, 07:19 PM
RE: Noahide Torah Study - by Director Michael - 07-26-2007, 10:32 AM
RE: Noahide Torah Study - by Director Michael - 06-02-2009, 08:02 PM
RE: Noahide Torah Study - by Director Michael - 06-09-2009, 10:03 PM
Delving in the Torah - by Ben_Noach_AZ - 01-22-2010, 11:25 PM
RE: Noahide Torah Study - by Director Michael - 01-29-2010, 02:29 PM
RE: Noahide Torah Study - by C J Tibbits - 06-11-2012, 08:44 AM
RE: Noahide Torah Study - by Director Michael - 06-12-2012, 03:36 PM
RE: Noahide Torah Study - by C J Tibbits - 06-12-2012, 04:25 PM
RE: Noahide Torah Study - by Wendell - 07-09-2014, 02:27 AM

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