In Judaism, do non-Jews face punishment or retribution for not
believing in the Jewish God or following Jewish law?

Hello modus:

Thank you for the extremely interesting question. 

The larger answer to your question is "no" - however, there are some provisos...

All the research I have done leads to the different flavors of the
same defining statement:

Do non-Jews go to heaven when they die?
"Non-Jews who aren't sinners (i.e., who obey the Noahide laws) go to
heaven when they die (Talmud, Sanhedrin 102b; Maimonides, Repentance
3:5)."
URL: http://www.torah.org/qanda/seequanda.php?id=590

Everyone seems consistent on that message. Some other versions of the
same statement:

Jewish Attitudes Toward Non-Jews 
"While non-Jews are only obligated to obey the seven commandments
given to Noah, Jews are responsible for fulfilling the 613 mitzvot in
the Torah, thus G-d will punish Jews for doing things that would not
be a sin for non-Jews."
URL: http://www.jewfaq.org/gentiles.htm

Olam Ha-Ba: The Afterlife 
"Do non-Jews have a place in Olam Ha-Ba [the afterlife]? Although
there are a few statements to the contrary in the Talmud, the
predominant view of Judaism is that the righteous of all nations have
a share in the Olam Ha-Ba."
URL: http://www.jewfaq.org/olamhaba.htm

So, basically, the Jewish thinking on non-Jews is so long as they obey
the Noahtide laws, they will come to no punishment or retribution.
What are these Noahtide laws? Well, that's where things tend to differ
in "severity". The simplest version of these I've found is:

1) to establish courts of justice; 
2) not to commit blasphemy; 
3) not to commit idolatry; 
4) not to commit incest and adultery; 
5) not to commit bloodshed; 
6) not to commit robbery; and 
7) not to eat flesh cut from a living animal
URL: http://www.jewfaq.org/gentiles.htm

That's a list, that stated in that way, most societies would probably
have little problem with obeying.

However, some other sites list the laws in a much more restrictive way:

1. Not to worship idols ? to recognize one G~d as the creator and
ruler of the universe and to put trust in nothing else.
2. Not to "curse" G~d ? to treat G~d's name with reverence and to
utter nothing nor entertain any thought which is "anti" G~d.
3. Not to kill another human being. 
4. Not to have illicit sexual relations ? the relatives included in
this prohibition are one's mother, paternal aunt, or sister (from the
same mother). Also forbidden is intercourse with another man's wife,
homosexual relations and relations with animals.
5. Not to steal ? any amount of money, no matter how small, from any
man, in any way whatsoever.
6. Not to eat a limb torn from a living animal ? though the non-Jew is
not subject to the other dietary laws of the Jew, this law applies to
all men.
7. To set up courts to deal with violators of the other six
commandments ? and to mete out capital punishment to those who violate
any of them, for this is the only punishment applicable to a non-Jew's
violation of his seven laws.
URL: http://www.jewfaq.org/gentiles.htm

And, of course, if you are a non-Jew who doesn't follow the seven
commandments, you are just as likely to be punished as a Jew who does
the same. However, punishment for Jews who don't follow the seven
commandments (plus a lot of other rules non-Jews don't have to obey)
is much more severe than for non-Jewish non-obeyers.

In fact, there is a movement out there that is specifically for
non-Jews who want to follow the Noahide laws:

"There is a growing movement of non-Jews who have consciously accepted
these seven laws of Noah and chosen to live their lives in accordance
with these laws. This movement is referred to as B'nei Noach (Children
of Noah)."
URL: http://www.jewfaq.org/gentiles.htm

So, in the end, so long as you're a "good", non-sinning person, there
is no punishment in Judaism for being a non-Jew.

Search Strategy (on Google):
* judaism "non-jews" 
* judaism "non-jews" punishment

I hope this has been of help. 

websearcher

---

Request for Answer Clarification by modus-ga on 13 Mar 2005 06:25 PST

Thanks for your quick and informative response.  I have one area that
I would love to have clarified.

What does the sin of idolatry (avodah zarah) mean in a non-Jewish context?

Is it the worship of a foreign (i.e. non-Jewish) god?

If the worship of foreign god(s) is allowed, would the creation and
use of images of these god(s) be idolatrous?  For example, if one's
religion allowed the creation of images of divine being(s), as
Hinduism does, would it nevertheless be considered idolatry and thus a
violation of the Noahide laws?

---

Clarification of Answer by websearcher-ga on 13 Mar 2005 08:07 PST

Hi modus:

Thanks for the clarification request. 

As far as I can tell, to Jews the definition of "avodah zarah" is the
same regardless of whether you are Jew or Gentile.

"Acknowledge that there is only one G-d who is Infinite and Supreme
above all things. Do not replace that Supreme Being with finite idols,
be it yourself, or other beings. This command includes such acts as
prayer, study and meditation."
URL: http://www.moshiach.com/action/

"According to Torah, idolatry entails a much wider definition than
simply bowing down to a man created image. Idolatry consists not only
of one?s actions, but also of one?s thoughts. This does not limit
idolatry to one believing that a physical object is to be worshipped.
Idolatry is a much wider category that includes an individual?s
spiritual outlook. Idolatry can best be defined as the deification of
any created thing, be it an object, concept, philosophy or individual.
The object of deification, therefore, becomes the focal point of one?s
life and life style. By focusing on the falsely deified thing, one
thus loses focus of the True source of all, the TRUE G-D. This leads
to the most devastating of results."
URL: http://www.koshertorah.com/PDF/avodah-zara.pdf

Some sites list this more strictly as the worship of only the Jew's
God - but I found more that say as long as you worship a single God,
that's OK.

As for whether religions like Hinduism would be considered avodah
zarah or not, that's a trickier question. Many sites I found stated
that Hinduism is considered avodah zarah, even though the Hindus
themselve don't believe they are "idol worshippers". On the other
hand, many sites seemed willing to allow Christians to have icons of
Jesus and yet not be avodah zarah, since they worshipped the same
"god" as Jews.

In short, there is no definitive answer to your follow-up questions,
it all depends on interpretation.

If there is more specific information on avodah zarah you would like,
please let me know. But be aware that we can find justification for
just about any interpretation we want. :-)

websearcher

---

Request for Answer Clarification by modus-ga on 13 Mar 2005 13:18 PST

Great research, great followup.  Thanks for you hard work.

---

Clarification of Answer by websearcher-ga on 13 Mar 2005 14:57 PST

Hi modus:

You are most welcome. Thanks for the generous rating and comments. 

websearcher

Great research, great followup.  Thanks for you hard work.

Your answer can only be found in the scriptures themselves. Any
theories by men is only supposition according to their own
interpretation. Second Peter 2;20,21  "For you know this first that no
prophecy of scripture springs from any private interpretation. 21. for
prophecy was at no time brought by man's will, but men spoke from God,
as they borne along by holy spirit". The Bible must be viewed as a
'whole'. God chose the Jews because of the faithfulness of Abraham,
who was promised that he would be the father of a nation. Abraham's
own father worshipped Babylonish gods. the arrival of Jesus was
prophecied right from Genesis 3;15. Jesus preached only to the Jews
but when they took no notice, Jesus' disciples took the preaching to
'the nations', starting with the Roman Centurion, Cornelius. From that
moment, the Jews were considered equally with all other men in the
earth. They had free will to either worship God or not. How to worship
God, learned from the Bible, is quite specific. Love God and your
neighbour [Matthew 22;37] Do NOT call anyone FATHER apart from God, in
giving worship [Matthew 23;9] Use God's personal name with respect,
just as you would with a friend [ Jehovah=Exodus 6;3] Do NOT worship
any carved image, of anything, and this includes a carved image of
Jesus. Even Jesus himself directed his worship to God. He never
claimed any for himself.[Exodus 20;4,Leviticus 26;1, 2Corinthians
6;16, 1John 5;21] John 4;23 states " True worshippers will worship the
Father[Almighty God] in spirit and truth; that is the kind of
worshipper the Father wants. God is spirit, and those who worship MUST
worship in spirit and truth. Those who rely on images as aids to
worship are not worshipping God in spirit, but are depending on what
they see with their eyes. Acts 17;29 says very clearly " Since we are
the children of God, we have no excuse for thinking that the Deity
looks like anything in gold, silver or stone that has been carved and
designed by a man". As to punishment , 2Peter 3;9. This includes ALL
people.

Regarding pugwash-ga's comments...

Whereas the first five books of the Torah are the word of G-d, the
books he refers to are all words of men.  Which would I trust more?

Furthermore, note in Deuteronomy 17:8-11: "If a matter of law is too
abstruse for you -- between blood and blood, between decision and
decision, and between leprosy and leprosy matters under dispute in
your city, you shall rise and ascend to the place that Hashem your
G-d, will have chosen. You are to come before the Kohanim - Levium and
the judges officiating during those days; you will inquire and they
will tell you the legal decision. You are to act according to the word
that they tell you from that place that Hashem will have chosen; you
are to be careful to fulfill exactly as they instruct you and upon the
law that they state to you, are you to act; do not deviate from the
word they tell you, neither right nor left."  In other words, we are
to depend upon the word of men to instruct us as to what to do when we
need an interpretation of Jewish Law.

It is common for born agains, which I am almost sure pugwash-ga is, to
totally reject human interpretation of "Scripture" and simply rely on
the literal meaning of the text.  Us Jews have never done that; we
have a vast oral tradition, starting with Moses, that helps to explain
and understand our written texts so we can live properly as Jews.  No
Jew should feel that he has to defend himself, against the ridiculous
statements made by born agains or any other variety of Christians.  We
have a rich, beautiful tradition that has stood us in good stead for
3500 years, far longer than the Christians, who have repeatedly tried
to destroy us from their beginnings when they became apostates and
separated from Judaisim.


In addition, it specifically says in the Torah, 
Your answer can only be found in the scriptures themselves. Any
theories by men is only supposition according to their own
interpretation. Second Peter 2;20,21  "For you know this first that no
prophecy of scripture springs from any private interpretation. 21. for
prophecy was at no time brought by man's will, but men spoke from God,
as they borne along by holy spirit". The Bible must be viewed as a
'whole'. God chose the Jews because of the faithfulness of Abraham,
who was promised that he would be the father of a nation. Abraham's
own father worshipped Babylonish gods. the arrival of Jesus was
prophecied right from Genesis 3;15. Jesus preached only to the Jews
but when they took no notice, Jesus' disciples took the preaching to
'the nations', starting with the Roman Centurion, Cornelius. From that
moment, the Jews were considered equally with all other men in the
earth. They had free will to either worship God or not. How to worship
God, learned from the Bible, is quite specific. Love God and your
neighbour [Matthew 22;37] Do NOT call anyone FATHER apart from God, in
giving worship [Matthew 23;9] Use God's personal name with respect,
just as you would with a friend [ Jehovah=Exodus 6;3] Do NOT worship
any carved image, of anything, and this includes a carved image of
Jesus. Even Jesus himself directed his worship to God. He never
claimed any for himself.[Exodus 20;4,Leviticus 26;1, 2Corinthians
6;16, 1John 5;21] John 4;23 states " True worshippers will worship the
Father[Almighty God] in spirit and truth; that is the kind of
worshipper the Father wants. God is spirit, and those who worship MUST
worship in spirit and truth. Those who rely on images as aids to
worship are not worshipping God in spirit, but are depending on what
they see with their eyes. Acts 17;29 says very clearly " Since we are
the children of God, we have no excuse for thinking that the Deity
looks like anything in gold, silver or stone that has been carved and
designed by a man". As to punishment , 2Peter 3;9. This includes ALL
people.

for Paumonok. Your comments are interesting, but I am not a 'born
again' Christian. Those folks get carried away with the emotions of
religion and tend to disregard the actual scriptures. But I am at a
loss to know why you would refer to God almighty as 'g-d'. this seems
disrespectful. God is love itself, but is also perfect in Justice.
Each time the Hebrews went away from worshipping Him, they were
punished, and the best example is when they were exiled to Babylon for
seventy years. The whole 'Old Testament' with its many prophecies,
point towards a Messiah, and Jesus Christ[meaning Messiah] proved to
be that one by fulfilling ALL the prophecies. The whole point of
Jesus' sacrifice is to remove from mankind the imperfection of having
to die, set in place when Adam and Eve believed Satan the Devil, in
the Garden of Eden, that if they disobeyed God, they would not die
[Genesis 3;1-5] The Old Testament is much more than just a history of
the Jews. And why [?] has God permitted the complete Bible to survive
so long if the New Testament is of no consequence, as you claim. And I
did include ALL men.

The answer by websearcher-ga is correct. Just two comments:

1) There's a debate in halakhah (Jewish law) whether Christians have
the status of idolaters or not (the great Rabbi Kook was lenient), but
all agree that their churches have the status of avodah zarah as far
as Jews are concerned. That's why most Jews who follow halakhah will
not enter a church.

2) The broad definition of avodah zarah from koshertorah.com is a nice
homiletic interpretation, but I think even the author would admit it
has no halakhic implication whatsoever.

All The Best,
Ravuri-ga

I have no sources at this time, but I do know that there are two matters of debate:
1) Are non-Jews allowed to believe in "shituf," which means that God
(as if) shares his rule with other gods. In other words, it is clear
that atheists do not have a share; however, those who believe in a
Pantheon of gods, who rule along with God, MIGHT have a share.
Assuming that non-Jews may NOT believe in "shituf," there is a second
matter of debate: Christianity
2) Christians, according to some specific sources which I cannot
remember right now, will "SURLY" have a share in the world to come,
"because they believe in the giving of the Torah and because," oddly
enough, "they have introduced many helpful medicines." There are other
sources which, I have heard but I have never seen, who claim that
Christians do not have a share in the world to come.
Conslusion.
There is a concept known as "sfek-sfayka," which means a doubt of a
doubt - in other words, there are two reasons to doubt whether one is
required to do that action. When there is a sfek-sfayka - in essense a
75% chance that one is obsolved - one may be leinient. Therefore,
christians may be leinient because there are two reasons to assume
that they are allowed to believe in trinity.
Of course, you should consult an ORTHODOX Rabbi before taking my
advise into action.(you have to be very careful, because MOST
non-Orhtodox rabbis and even some "orthodox" do not believe in the
divinity of the Torah, let alone the Talmud)

The above answer, I was told, is "possibly or even probably" false.

I meant to say my above comment (not google's answer, but my comment) is false.

It is well known that Hiduism regards three Gods
1) Brahma
2) Vishnu
3) Mahesh (Shiva)
and also it is well known fact that when we try to write "Brahma" in
hebrew then we end up in writing "Abraham".

Well, in India, if you try to find out how many worship places are
there for Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. You will find most of the temples
of Vishnu (Lakshmi Narayan) are in northern part of India. Shiva
temples are in southern part of India. And most importantly, you will
not find more than one place for Brahma temple. In hinduism, Brahma's
wife name was "Saraswati" whereas in Judaism, Abraham's wife name was
"Sarah". Isn't it interesting?

Northern part of India is Aryan dominent and southern part of India is
Dravidian dominent.

Hiduism doesn't preach to follow with hard and fast rule of worshiping
one God. Whoever you regard most you can worship.

Now in my understanding, ancient Hinduism thinkers paid regard to all
people's sentiments, whether they are worshiping Shiva in South India
or Vishnu in North India or Abraham in far west of Asia, and regarded
all three most worshiped personalities as Gods at that time.

In hinduism, still all three are regarded equal, no one is condered as
superior to other one. Rest of other worship Gods and Godesses,
including Buddha, Mahavir (Jain's God), Rama, Krishna and even Jesus
are considered to be rebirth of these three only.

i.e. Brahma (Abraham), Vishnu and Mahesh (Shiva)