Being Ben Noah: a complete spiritual identity in service to God.

Descubre la función y misión celestial de cada persona según la Torá y el camino Bnei Noaj. Un contenido de Casa Jabad Ecuador para fortalecer identidad, propósito y servicio a Dios.

Since my arrival in South America in 1999, first to Peru as part of the mission of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Messiah King, and since 2004 as a pioneer with my wife in Ecuador, I have received thousands of requests for conversion to Judaism.

Many people, when reading the Bible, feel a deep admiration for the chosen people. This is understandable: the history of Israel, its spiritual mission, and its connection with God inspire love, respect, and a desire for closeness.

However, as a rabbi, my first response to a request for conversion must be one of rejection, in accordance with halakha. This stems not from contempt or distance, but from a fundamental understanding: Judaism is not a proselytizing religion. It does not seek to convert by force, pressure, fleeting emotion, or, much less, through mass, commercial, or superficial processes.

Conversion to Judaism is not a formality

Over the years I've seen people readily commit to a lifestyle they've never truly experienced, or only superficially understand. I've also seen spiritual imposters who change their ideology as easily as changing clothes, depending on their mood, convenience, or circumstances.

True conversion demands much more than mere sympathy for Judaism. It requires accepting all 613 commandments without exception, fully integrating into the Jewish community, undergoing circumcision and immersion before a kosher rabbinical court, and making a profound break with one's previous family and cultural identity when it contradicts the path of the Torah.

Therefore, those who convert correctly are truly called children of Abraham. Their ethnic origin may be completely different from what many imagine as "Jewish," because Judaism is not racist. Maternal lineage does not confer a physical structure or skin color, but rather a spiritual and legal identity.

Commitment to this way of life is the starting point. Comparative arguments like "I practice more than you" are useless. The issue is not one of religious competition, but of existential identity.

To be Jewish, one must be born to a Jewish mother, and that identity cannot be taken away, even if the person denies it. One can also become Jewish through a proper conversion, but this must include full acceptance of the commandments.

The Sinai model

The entire Jewish people were converted at the moment the divine constitution was established on Mount Sinai. All the essential elements were present there: circumcision, immersion, the sacrifice when the Tabernacle was built, and, above all, the acceptance of the Creator's commandments.

That acceptance was not a mere intellectual decision. It was a direct experience of the divine presence, so intense that it left no room for rejection.

Therefore, a true conversion requires an orthodox kosher tribunal, composed of God-fearing rabbis with experience, authority, and recognition from the Chief Rabbinate of Israel and the serious rabbinic world.

Quite different is the case of makeshift or "pirate" conversion tribunals that have sprung up in various countries offering conversion courses. These processes deceive people and harm the Jewish community. They issue certificates without a deep understanding of Judaism, without real-world practice, and often without genuine integration into Jewish community life.

Anyone who tries to acquire in an intensive course what normally requires generations of Jewish education, tradition, and life experience ends up fabricating an artificial identity. And that identity, sooner or later, generates distrust in their surroundings, in the community, and even within their own family.

So, how do we build a true spiritual identity?

The first answer is clear: there is no need to convert to Judaism.

God does not expect that of all humanity, and not everyone is called or capable of embracing that way of life. The Torah does not require everyone to be Jewish. It requires each human being to discover their rightful place in God's service.

Without renouncing your culture or your family, you must separate yourself from idolatry, both ideologically and practically, and declare yourself a child of Noah.

This is a real way out of the generational cycles that have corrupted human behavior. Family, culture, nationalism, inherited customs, and hundreds or thousands of years of bad habits can drag a person into spiritual confusion.

When a society is mired in corruption, political independence is not enough. Natural resources are not enough either. True salvation begins when a person recognizes their loyalty to the one true God as their anchor and their path.

Israel as a light to the nations

The Song of Songs presents a parable of love that portrays the people of Israel as a faithful woman amidst trials, temptations, and suffering. This faithfulness is not merely a national story; it is a spiritual mission.

The people of Israel carry a message for humanity. They must be “a light unto the nations,” not through imposition, but through personal example and the transmission of the Torah's spirituality through the Seven Commandments of the sons of Noah.

All religions, in one way or another, have taken elements from the absolute truth of the Torah. Jesus was Jewish, but worshipping him constitutes idolatry according to the Torah. Muhammad studied with a Jewish scribe, and many principles of the Torah are reflected in the Quran. Even ancient traditions, such as Greek mythology, contain distorted echoes of original Torah narratives. Some names of idols or figures in Eastern religions may be linked to names of angels or celestial bodies in ancient Hebrew.

But that is not the connection God desires. The key question is not what fragments of truth exist in each religious system, but:

What does God want from me?

What kind of worship does God require of me in the place, culture, and time in which He created me?

God does not depend on me. But I do depend on Him. My connection with Him must be established by choosing to serve His explicit will.

Only when I stop putting myself at the center and place God's will above my own desires can I submit to the destiny He chooses for me in every moment of awareness. That is a true leap of faith: recognizing that God desires my well-being even more than I do myself and that He wants to grant it to me through His commandments and the study of His Torah.

This message must be received from the most authentic source: the people of Israel, who never lost their eternal bond with their God.

Being Ben Noah is not an incomplete identity

The identity of a Ben Noah is neither inferior nor secondary. Just as the Jew, descendant of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, possesses a path, an identity, and a purpose, so too does the son of Noah have a past of values, a present of service, and a redemptive future.

The Ben Noah discovers his mission in daily life through service to God.

In essence, humanity is destined to connect with Israel. The Jewish people, as a kingdom of priests and a holy nation, received the 613 commandments along with a great responsibility and a special privilege: to serve God in a particular way.

That is why Israel was exiled and dispersed among the seventy nations of the world. Its mission from Mount Sinai includes transmitting the Seven Universal Laws to its neighbors, and to all those with whom it comes into contact.

These commandments were given to humanity from Adam and reaffirmed after the flood with Noah. Although they have been forgotten by much of the world, they must be remembered again with awareness, attention, and faithfulness to the divine word.

When the 7 of Noah's sons connects with the 613 of Israel, the crown level is reached: the will of God, according to the wisdom of gematria, the numerical value of the Hebrew letters.

Redemption and the spiritual order of the world

Perfect and eternal redemption, through our true Messiah, will lead all humanity to pray to the Creator of the world in the Temple of Jerusalem, the Holy City.

When each person knows their role in serving God, there is no confusion.

The king is king. Not everyone can be king, because it is a monarchy that represents the kingdom of God in the world. That is why the Messiah King is descended from David and Solomon, and the Torah scroll never leaves his hand, as a symbol of his total devotion to God.

The Sanhedrin, with its seventy wise elders, knowledgeable in the seventy languages and idolatrous practices, will receive authority to judge even in matters of the utmost gravity.

The priests, descendants of Aaron, will participate in the Temple work with meticulous attention to detail. The Levites will sing, play instruments, and oversee its service. The people of Israel will bring their tithes to the house of God. The men will fulfill their duties of tefillin and tallit, and their daily intellectual pursuits in Torah study. The women will embrace their natural role in the education and transmission of Torah values.

And the sons of Noah will be faithful servants of God, working together to accomplish His will in the world and purify it from corruption and idolatry.

A community to fill the world with light

This divine vision is beginning to unfold before our eyes. We must all participate in the process of redemption, each according to our own identity, our own responsibilities, and our rightful place before God.

The community of Noah's children was created for this purpose: to offer direction, clarity, belonging, and spiritual service.

It's not about imitating the Jewish people or fabricating an identity that doesn't belong to you. It's about discovering the place God has assigned to each person within His plan.

To be Ben Noaj is to embrace a complete, dignified, and necessary spiritual identity. It is to live consciously, to separate oneself from idolatry, to serve the Creator, and to contribute to filling the world with light.