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Navigating Identity in Contemporary Noahidism Patrick J Florida International University FIU Digital Commons FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations University Graduate School 3-21-2017 From the Fall to the Flood and Beyond: Navigating Identity in Contemporary Noahidism Patrick J. Villalonga Florida International University, [email protected] DOI: 10.25148/etd.FIDC001820 Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd Part of the Biblical Studies Commons, Comparative Methodologies and Theories Commons, Ethics in Religion Commons, Jewish Studies Commons, New Religious Movements Commons, Other Religion Commons, and the Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons Recommended Citation Villalonga, Patrick J., "From the Fall to the Flood and Beyond: Navigating Identity in Contemporary Noahidism" (2017). FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 3127. https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/3127 This work is brought to you for free and open access by the University Graduate School at FIU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of FIU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY Miami, Florida FROM THE FALL TO THE FLOOD AND BEYOND: NAVIGATING IDENTITY IN CONTEMPORARY NOAHIDISM A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS in RELIGIOUS STUDIES by Patrick Joaquin Villalonga 2017 To: Dean John F. Stack Steven J. Green School of International and Public Affairs This thesis, written by Patrick Joaquin Villalonga, and entitled From the Fall to the Flood and Beyond: Navigating Identity in Contemporary Noahidism, having been approved in respect to style and intellectual content, is referred to you for judgment. We have read this thesis and recommend that it be approved. _____________________________________________ Oren Stier _____________________________________________ Erik Larson _____________________________________________ Tudor Parfitt, Major Professor Date of Defense: March 21, 2017 The thesis of Patrick Joaquin Villalonga is approved. _____________________________________________ Dean John F. Stack _____________________________________________ Andrés G. Gil Vice President for Research and Economic Development and Dean of the University Graduate School Florida International University, 2017 !ii © Copyright 2017 Patrick Joaquin Villalonga All rights reserved. !iii DEDICATION To my parents, Mayra and Eduardo Villalonga, for your tender love, your tough love, your undying support, and for helping to guide me along my way. To my friends, Michael Matos, Ralf Noya, and Solsiree Skarlinsky, for your affection, your insight, and for trusting in my madness. To those who have unknowingly kept me smiling throughout graduate school: Robin Pecknold, Ben Bridwell, Ram Dass, and Katt Williams. To my sisters, Nina and Sofia. Your love and example have been bottomless sources of inspiration; I’ve picked up the Phone. !iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This thesis is an attempt to sketch the contemporary Noahide movement, although not in a comprehensive manner. This is a first attempt at a rigorous and systematic study of this blossoming phenomenon, from the vantage point of English-speaking academia. Limited resources and time have narrowed the scope of my work, which may jeopardize the accuracy of my analysis to some degree. Nevertheless, I remain convinced I have produced an honest analysis of contemporary Noahidism, conducted with the utmost academic integrity. For this, I have to thank various individuals. Rabbi Michael Shelomo Bar-Ron, for his insight and hospitality during a shabbat in Fort Lauderdale. Rabbi Yakov Dovid Cohen, for his hospitality in guiding me around Crown Heights. Mr. Michael Dallen for his insight. Dr. Michael Schulman, for his hospitality on my visit to Pittsburgh and his insight into the blossoming of the online Noahide movement. Mr. Alan Cecil, for sharing his ideas and outlook regarding the Noahide laws. Dr. David Novak, whose research and dialogue helped me understand the theoretical background of Noahidism. Rabbi Levi Friedman of ChabadFIU, whose humor and insight helped me get my work off the ground. Dr. Erik Larson, whose example and knowledge have inspired me to dig deeper into this subject. Dr. Oren Stier, whose wit and encouragement have been ever so helpful during those times when I wasn't quite sure what I was doing. Dr. Tudor Parfitt, whose support and passion have helped offset pangs of procrastination and self-doubt. But, most importantly, I thank him for his example and encouragement which have helped me step !v out of my comfort zone and study something as complex and alive as Noahide identity. It would also be remiss of me not to acknowledge his financial support and the support of the FIU Jonathan Symons Fellowship Program. The Program, its lecture series, and Dr. Parfitt’s seminars have exposed me to a wealth of Jewish culture and history, without which I would have much less of an understanding of Judaism. Lastly, I must thank those who completed the Noahide Individuals Survey. The survey has yielded a great amount of information. In addition, I have to thank those who emailed me during the course of my research to share their encouragement and excitement about my work. I would like to add a quick autobiographical note before my introduction. From 2011-2013, I seriously considered conversion to Orthodox Judaism, but ultimately turned to Noahidism. I began this project in 2014 as a self-proclaimed Noahide, but I have now recanted my association with Noahidism and see myself as an agnostic who, at most, hopes for the truth of deism and advocates religious pluralism as a practice. This shift occurred in part due to personal factors I need not mention, but also because of the research I conducted and the conclusions I have reached about Noahidism. I do feel it is important to be candid about my religious background and my current affiliations because some readers are bound to wonder for whatever reason—be it sheer curiosity, a commitment to post-modern analysis, etc. If there are mistakes in my analysis (and there are bound to be), I offer my sincere apologies and I would be very happy to make corrections. !vi In this thesis I occasionally flesh out inconsistencies or dilemmas I have found lurking in Noahidism. My contentions with various aspects of contemporary Noahide ideology and practice are not indictments of Noahidism as a conceptual system or way of life, that is, my critique does not aim to invalidate or condemn Noahidism. I place no moral or ethical judgments on Noahide concepts or behaviors. Instead, I aspire to provide some insights into the true nature of the contemporary movement as a living, breathing phenomenon, part of which includes confronting the issues inherent in the movement. I hope the Noahide, Orthodox Jewish, and academic communities accept my work as a humble offering. !vii ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS FROM THE FALL TO THE FLOOD AND BEYOND: NAVIGATING IDENTITY IN CONTEMPORARY NOAHIDISM by Patrick Joaquin Villalonga Florida International University, 2017 Miami, Florida Professor Tudor Parfitt, Major Professor This thesis investigates artifacts and concepts present in the Noahide world and how they affect Noahide identity. Five factors are analyzed, namely Noahide law, religious pluralism, ritual, sectarianism, and conversion. I consult the Hebrew Scriptures as well as early, medieval, and modern rabbinic sources to set the conceptual background of the Noahide movement before moving into the primary, contemporary sources written by Orthodox Jews, Orthodox rabbis, and Noahides. To supplement my literary analysis, I have conducted a survey of self-identifying Noahide practitioners. This survey collects data concerning religious background, religious behavior, demographics, and free responses. I aim to show first and foremost that Noahidism is a new, exclusive religious tradition which comprises the lay order of Orthodox Judaism. This is born out of a theology which requires belief in the Jewish God and Jewish revelation, a strict ritual system based on Orthodox Jewish prescriptions, and a sectarian typology which mirrors !viii Orthodox Jewish sectarianism. Additionally, my analysis of conversion shows Noahidism is not a gateway to Orthodox conversion, but an end in itself. !ix TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE INTRODUCTION 1 What is Noahidism? 2 Objectives 5 Methodology 10 Other 11 CHAPTER 1. LITERATURE REVIEW 13 What are the Noahide Laws? 13 Applications of Noahide Law 20 Understanding the Living Noahide Movement 25 CHAPTER 2. IDENTITY AND THE LAWS OF NOAH 28 The Code as a Body of Negative Law 28 Legislative and Judicial Power 32 Rationality and the Noahide Laws 38 Punishment and the Noahide Laws 50 CHAPTER 3. IDENTITY AND RELIGIOUS PLURALISM 54 The Noahide Laws as a Medium for Pluralism 56 Is Noahidism a Religion? 59 Salvation 71 Noahidism as an Exclusive Religion 73 The Noahide in Jewish Eschatology 84 The Potential for Pluralism in Noahide Rhetoric 85 Noahidism as a Lay Tradition 93 CHAPTER 4. IDENTITY AND NOAHIDE RITUAL 99 The Halakhah on Ritual 100 Ethical Precepts as Ritual 106 Torah and Contemplation 108 Prayer as Ritual 112 Other Philosophical Innovations 113 Kabbalah and Ritual 117 CHAPTER 5. IDENTITY AND CONVERSION 125 Identifying as a Noahide 128 Identity and Conversion to Orthodox Judaism 134 !x CHAPTER 6. IDENTITY AND SECTARIANISM 138 CONCLUSION 152 REFERENCES 157 APPENDICES 163 !xi INTRODUCTION I believe it was Woody Allen who once told a good joke about a Russian Jew—a joke which reminds me of the way in which Jews often approach dilemmas. Yaakov was a Jew in a small Russian town not long after the founding of the Soviet Union. One of the town’s policemen, Captain Petrov, had seen Yaakov acting suspiciously for a few days now. One afternoon, the officer seized Yaakov, sat him down, and confronted him with the issue. “Comrade Yaakov, what is all this suspicious behavior I see? Are you up to some mischief?!” “Well, yes, Captain Petrov,” Yaakov replied bashfully. “In all honesty, I am trying to flee the Soviet Union.” “What?! Why would you try doing such a thing?!” Comrade Petrov was incensed.
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