Noahide World Center – Brit Olam
We are a group of Religious Zionists headed by Rabbi Ouri Cherki, who seek to promote the universal message of Judaism, that is – to reveal in Judaism the set of universal values that it carries for all of humanity. We are an orthodox religious group and our approach is based primarily on the teachings of Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak Kook and Rabbi Yehuda Leon Ashkenazi (Manitou).
As is known, Judaism in the Diaspora in the period of our people’s exile was focused mainly on issues concerning individual and community life: the laws of Kashrut, the Shabbat, the Holidays, events in the Jewish community, etc. With the restoration of the State of Israel, Judaism is expanding its field of activity and the scope of the issues it deals with. In addition to traditional, Halachic subjects, which of course are still valid, new issues arise – related to the construction and development of the modern state: war and peace, economy and science, systems of government and foreign policy.
Today, we are witnessing this very important stage of development and restoration of the full scope of Judaism as it is currently undergoing. Questions such as the proper relations between religion and state, the Jewish approach to economics, culture and modern spirituality and many more are debated, probed, analyzed and continuously evolved.
However, there is another area for the further development for Judaism, almost untouched and in which very few people are involved at this stage, as the time for has not yet ripened for it. And that is expanding the message of Judaism not only to national questions for the Jews in the Land of Israel, but rather to humanity itself.
We are preparing the foundations for this stage. For Judaism to proclaim that it carries a message to the whole of mankind, it must reawaken its universal values and understanding, fields Judaism was not engaged in during the period of its exile and Diaspora and neither in the period of creation and development of the State of Israel. This includes the Bnei Noah concept, which allows non-Jews to adhere to the Jewish religion; questions regarding the relationship of spirituality with science and art, a deeper understanding of Jewish relations with other religions, the importance of the development of the individual and the society, understanding the Messianic process as universal and applicable to all of humanity, the integration of Jewish ideals with the cultures of other people and more. We are an Orthodox religious group, creating a synthesis of the potential that found originally in Judaism and modern values, one unable to be realized in the Diaspora.
In a sense, our activities can be regarded as the creation of the third stage of Zionism. The first Zionism was a movement of Herzl and Ben-Gurion whose goal was to create a safe haven for the persecuted Jewish people. The second, national stage of the development of Zionism is Gush Emunim, the settler movement, the development of the West Bank as the historic homeland of the Jewish people and national religious revival. This second stage of Zionism today is well underway. We are ideologically are engaged with preparing the foundation for the concept of the third stage of Zionsim, which could usher in a new divine message of all mankind.
We are in contact with 65 communities from more than 80 countries.
Our goals:
- To disseminate the message of the Torah to the universe.
- To act as a focus of activity based in Jerusalem related to Noahides throughout the world.
- To serve as a resource center for information and advice about religious principles and practices.
- To help establish Noahide communities around the world and to provide them with support.
- To establish a link between the Non-Jewish world and Jewish tradition and rabbis, including formal recognition of the Noahides by religious and national institutions of the Jewish people.