Responsibility for Bnei Noaj

This article aims to explain the responsibility that each Ben and Bat Noaj has towards the creator and towards the rest of human beings.

We will divide this into three issues:
1. From what moment is one obligated to observe the precepts of Bnei Noaj?.
2. The verse says, "You shall not put a stumbling block before a blind person." Are the Noah people obligated to address this issue? In other words, what is the responsibility of one human being toward another in this regard?
3. The verse says "you must warn your people," that is, what is the responsibility of a human being to ensure that other human beings do not transgress the precepts that correspond to them.

1.
In Judaism there is the concept of Bar Mitzvah (for boys) and Bat Mitzvah (for girls), which is the moment from which a boy and a girl are responsible for fulfilling the positive precepts and taking care of the negative precepts.

Furthermore, there is the concept of education. This refers to the responsibility of parents to educate their children. This applies even before the age at which children become responsible for themselves. The reason for this is so that when the appropriate time arrives, observing the rules is not something new for the child.

The Bar Mitzvah is at age 13. The Bat Mitzvah is at age 12 (girls mature intellectually and emotionally earlier than boys).

The source from which we learned these ages is a discussion among our sages. There are two basic opinions.

TO.
Parashat Vaishlach tells the story of the rape of Dinah, daughter of Jacob. The Torah relates that Shimon and Levi, Dinah's brothers, killed all the inhabitants of the city of Shechem for having covered up and accepted Dinah's rape (Rambam, Ramban).

The Torah refers to both as "ish," which in Hebrew means "man." From this, we learn that a boy becomes a man at the age of 13. Of course, this applies only to his responsibility to observe the precepts of the Torah. The age at which society considers a boy a man varies according to the era and culture of each place.

The idea behind this concept is that, naturally speaking, a 13-year-old boy and a 12-year-old girl already have a more developed conscience to be able to be responsible for their actions before God and their neighbors.

B.
All the measurements, times, and ages that appear in the Torah are classified as "Law given [by God] to Moses on Mount Sinai." Our sages clearly state that this category of laws applies only to the Jews and not to the Noahides.

How do these two opinions apply to Bnei Noaj?
According to the first opinion, the age at which a boy and a girl become responsible is 13 and 12 years old, respectively. This is a natural matter, and therefore also applies to Bnei Noaj. The nature of all human beings is fundamentally the same, regardless of whether they are Jewish or not.

According to the second opinion, the age of responsibility for the Noahides varies according to the intellectual and emotional capacity of each child. There is no fixed or specific age. (According to this second opinion, the verse on which the first opinion bases its claim of 13 years is merely a story in which the law is expressed. But the story is not the source of the law.).

It emerges from several books and writings that the second opinion is the correct one to consider the age from which non-Jewish children are responsible.

2.
The Torah says, "Do not put a stumbling block before a blind person." This verse means that one cannot give bad advice to someone who is unfamiliar with the subject matter.

This matter applies only to Jews and not to Bnei Noaj. In other words, there is no specific obligation to be careful with this idea.

However, in a case where a person directly causes harm to another through their advice, for example, by forcing them to follow their opinion or advice, that is prohibited even for Bnei Noaj.

But if a person simply gave their opinion on a matter, without necessarily forcing that their opinion be fulfilled and without claiming that it is the only true way of doing things or thinking, it is not considered that they transgressed by putting an obstacle in the path of another for Bnei Noaj.

3.
The Torah says: "you must warn your people," meaning that when a person sees that another is acting in opposition to the Torah, he must take care to warn him and turn him away from his error.

The Noah people are also obligated to take care of this matter. It is important to be mindful of the manner, timing, and location in which the warning is given. There are laws regarding this as well.

This obligation is a rational one that is not directly linked to the verse. The verse itself is an indication for the Jewish people. But it is known that rational precepts are also part of the obligations of the Noahides even though there is no written verse that directly states it (Ramban).

It could also be said that this obligation is included within the precept of Bnei Noaj to establish a court of justice. (At least according to Ramban's opinion, not Rambam's).

Through the observance of these precepts we will quickly reach the time of the Messiah, when what is written in Zephaniah 3:9 will be fulfilled: "For then I will return to the nations with a clear tongue, to call all in the name of God, to serve Him shoulder to shoulder.".