Bnei Noaj significa los hijos de Noé. Todos los seres humanos somos descendientes de Noaj.
Over 3,300 years ago, God chose the family of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—the Jewish people—and gave them the Torah, which consists of 613 commandments for Jews. It also contains a universal message for non-Jews: the seven Noahide Laws.
Maimonides (a great sage of the Jewish people who lived in Spain in the 12th century CE) explains (at the end of chapter 8 of the Laws for Kings in the Mishneh Torah) that any non-Jew who observes these seven precepts is assured of the World to Come, provided they do so because they believe that God transmitted them to Moses on Mount Sinai. If they observe them only because they seem logical or ethical, they are rewarded in this world only.
What are these 7 precepts?:
God gave the first man six commandments: five prohibitions—idolatry, blasphemy, murder, forbidden relations, and theft—and one commandment—to establish a system of judges. Later, God allowed Noah to eat animals after he left the ark and added the commandment prohibiting him from eating any part of a live animal.
Some details:
1. Idolatry. The concept of idolatry consists of believing in other gods. It involves possessing images and praying to other things such as angels, stars, etc. This is completely forbidden for all human beings, including Jews.
2. Blasphemy. The prohibition consists of cursing the name of God with any kind of adjective.
3. Murder. The prohibition includes a fetus in its mother's womb. Jewish law explains that if a fetus is harming its mother, it is permitted to remove it, but one should always consult a rabbi who is an expert in these matters if there is any doubt.
4. Relaciones prohibidas. La prohibición consiste en no tener relaciones con la madre, con la esposa del padre, con otra mujer casada (el matrimonio gentil consiste en que una mujer fue separada por un hombre para convivir con ella, el divorcio consiste en la separación física, es decir en que no convivan más juntos), con la hermana de parte de la madre, con otro hombre y con animales. A su vez, una mujer gentil tiene prohibido tener relaciones con un hombre, sea éste soltero o no.
5. Theft.
6. Consuming a portion of a live animal. It is forbidden to eat any part of an animal that is still alive. The animal must first be slaughtered or butchered, and only then may any part of it be eaten.
7. Appoint judges in each city to judge Gentiles according to the precepts described above. For Nachmanides (who lived approximately 100 years after Maimonides), this precept includes what has already been mentioned and adds that judgments should be made according to the laws of the Torah regarding economic transactions (deception, etc.).
Our sages say that Gentiles are forbidden from crossing two different types of animals or plants, which is a prohibition for Jews, but the punishment for its violation is different from the punishment for Jews.
There is currently a discussion among the Sages in our time as to whether the Jewish people should be concerned with disseminating these seven laws. The opinion of the Chabad Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, of blessed memory, is that they should. The Rebbe mentions that Maimonides himself said that the Jewish people should spread these laws to all nations.
In ancient times this was not done because it meant danger to life due to the constant persecutions that the Jewish people suffered throughout history.
However, in our times, teaching and disseminating the Noahide laws is appropriate and an integral part of preparing the entire world for the coming of the Messiah. Even during Reagan's time, he declared that all inhabitants of the United States should abide by these laws because the country supported their observance.
In the Messianic era, all human beings will serve God shoulder to shoulder, all together (see Zephaniah 3:9), acknowledging God's presence. Through each of us fulfilling our mission—for Jews, observing the 613 laws, and for non-Jews, observing the seven Noahide laws—we will reach fulfillment in our lives, and this will allow us to experience the Messianic presence among us quickly, in our own time.