Prayer under Noahide Law

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Prayer is an active effort to communicate with G-d or either to offer praise, to make a request, seek guidance, confess sins, or simply to express one's thoughts and emotions. The words of the prayer may either be a set hymn or incantation, or a spontaneous utterance in the praying person's own words.

Rabbi Aaron Lichtenstein

Rabbi Aaron Lichtenstein says:

Reuben Margolioth writes: "Justice, Blasphemy, Idolatry…" It is astonishing that there is no mention here of that principal principle, the most fundamental of fundamentals: the belief in the existence of God! For regardless of whether the Ten Commandment phrase "I am the Lord your God," is counted as a separate Positive Command, as Maimonicles maintains, or whether it is not counted as a separate Positive Command, as the author of Halakhoth Gedoloth maintains, in any event it is the belief in God which must serve as the foundation for all the commands and prohibitions .... It would seem, therefore, that it is to be reckoned as part of the law on blasphemy.

Rabbi Aaron Lichtenstein notes two aspects of Margolioth's statement require attention. The first is that he obligates the Noahite to believe in a Divine Being; the second is that this obligation is seen as a concomitant of the Blasphemy law. In the first part of his statement Margolioth is not alone, for various writers ascribe to Noahism an obligation to believe in God. Probably, the earliest explicit mention of this view is found in the introduction to the tractate Berachoth, penned by the Gaon Nisim.

Whatever is a matter of common sense and native intelligence has been incumbent upon mankind from the very day that God placed man on earth .... Concerning the Seven Laws which are exegetically derived, not all of them really required revelation, as for example, the obligation to recognize the Lord, the obligation to obey Him, and the obligation to worship Him, all of which are rooted in native intelligence; and for example, Homicide and Theft which would be prohibited as a matter of native intelligence...

One additional aspect of man's relationship with God that deserves consideration here is prayer. Nisim Gaon mentions the Noahite's "obligation to worship Him," in the quotation recorded under Martyrdom under Noahide Law. The original Hebrew for "to worship Him" is l'avdo, which in precise legal terminology often has reference to worship through prayer. Of course the Gaon may have been using the word in its loose, general sense. Even so, prayer could qualify as one form of worship.

Rabbi Moses Feinstein

Rabbi Aaron Lichtenstein says that there is a responsum devoted to prayer in Noahism, penned by Rabbi Moses Feinstein in the wake of the debate over the desirability and constitutionality of having non-denominational prayers recited in the American public school classroom. The responsum reads:

On the question of whether a Noahite is required to engage in prayer, it is elementary that he is not so required, because prayer is not enumerated among the Noahic commands in Sanhedrin 56, nor is it mentioned by Maimonides...

However, with reference to whether such prayer would be reckoned a mitzvah it seems to me that when a Noahite prays he does accrue reward, for it is stated in the Book of Isaiah, "My abode shall be proclaimed a house of prayer unto all the nations," and Rashi comments there, "Not unto Israel alone."

Thus, while they need not engage in prayer, it is plain that Noahites do accomplish a mitzvah whenever they do pray. For if this were not so, what point would there be to proclaiming His a house of prayer for all peoples...

This freedom from having to engage in prayer is, however, limited to the question of periodic praying, I think, and does not apply for prayer that arises from some need. For when a Noahite is pressed by need, such as when he is injured or forlorn, he definitely is expected to pray. Neither is it strange for this obligation to go unmentioned among the Seven Laws, because such prayer relates to the basic belief in God, that He alone provides, that He heals the sick. For if anyone were to neglect to pray to God, were not to turn to Him, it would indicate that he does not believe in Him, but in other forces. And while the belief in God receives no mention among the Seven Laws, surely it is incumbent on the Noahites. For when the Seven Laws are observed without concern for the fact that God, in the Torah, commands their observance, they are not being properly observed; and their practitioner does not qualify as "one of the pious people of the world," as Maimonides indicates at the conclusion of Chapter Eight ["Laws on Kings"]. Clearly, Noahites must believe in God and, likewise, believe that He bequeathed the Law. Consequently, it is only proper that pleas for health and sustenance be directed to Him alone.

Now, on the question of whether a Jew should pray with a non. Jew and use the same text, on the order of, "May it please You, Lord of the Universe, to grant me the bounties of life," where the non-Jew may mentally be addressing his Faith, and the Jew addressing God. I can see no prohibition here, as long as the prayer was composed by the laity...

On the question of the short prayer which the children recite in the public schools: This prayer seems purposefully to contain no allusion to the religion of the majority, inasmuch as the schools also serve Jews and other groups residing in our vast country.

Those governing our land are men of good will who do not seek to force their beliefs on the minorities, and the text of the prayer reflects this ....

On the question of whether the Noahite may pray mentally, and still merit his reward: We know that the Israelite may not pray mentally, as stated in Magen Avraham 101:2. We conclude similarly for the Noahite, that he would not be rewarded for such prayer since it is not executed in the proper manner. And although anyone who is disabled is supposed to pray mentally, just to make the best of a bad situation, but he does not fulfill the requirement with such prayer, as indicated by the fact that according to most authorities he would have to repeat his prayers upon suddenly returning to normalcy. See Mishnah Berurah 62:7 and Biur Halacha. Therefore, those who are suggesting silent devotion in lieu of the school prayer are in error.

In Rabbis Clorfene and Rogalsky's work "The Path of the Righteous Gentile" they adds few more quotes from the same work by Rabbi Moses Feinstein:

When a Noahide prays he certainly obtains reward as we learn from the Prophet Isaiah, "My abode shall be declared a house of prayer unto all the nations of the world" (Isa. 56:7).

Even though they are not commanded to engage in prayer, it is evident that a Noahide does fulfill a commandment whenever he prays. (Note: In the preface, it was stated that commandment is a translation of the Hebrew word, mitzvah, which also means connection with God.)

When a Noahide is pressed by personal emergency, he is definitely expected to pray to God. Such prayer demonstrates a basic belief in God, exhibiting trust that He alone gives sustenance, that He alone heals. One who does not pray to God in time of dire need demonstrates that he does not believe in Him but in other forces.

The question arises, if a Noahide prays merely in his thoughts will he merit reward or must he pray verbally? We must conclude that he would not be rewarded for mental prayer as it is not prayer performed in the proper manner. Since prayer is a bond between the physical being and a personal God, one must use physicality to create this bond, which means verbal prayer.

The Noahide's prayer should not consist solely of suppli­cations but should also include praises to God.

The act and experience of praying to God (and it should be obvious that it is forbidden to pray to any being other than God) has limitless levels. Whether one supplicates God for his needs and wants, or for help in times of danger or stress, or engages in deep meditational prayer in order to elevate oneself spiritually, prayer is always a mystical experience, a communion with the infinite Creator of one's own soul. Through prayer, man can strip his consciousness from all materialism and physicality, divorcing himself from his animal nature, and become a totally spiritual being. Through prayer, one can attain a level close to that of prophecy.

And King David wrote, "Praise the Lord, all nations, extol Him all the peoples" (Ps. 117:1). This verse from Psalms refers specifically to the prayers of the Children of Noah.

"And the dove came to him at the time of evening and, behold, an olive leaf plucked in her mouth, so Noah knew that the waters had abated from upon the face of the earth. And he waited yet another seven days, and he sent forth the dove and she did not continue to return to him again" (Gen. 8:10‑12).

This dove with the olive branch in her beak is the universal symbol of peace. The Talmud teaches that the dove said, "Rather my food be bitter as the olive branch in the hand of the Holy One, blessed be He, than sweet as honey in the hand of flesh and blood" (Eruvin 18).

"Behold I will send you Elijah the Prophet before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord. And he will turn the heart of the fathers to the children and the heart of the children to the fathers" (Mal. 3:23,24).