Farewell to the Pope
Growing up in the 50's I went to a small cheder, a Jewish school. Almost all of my classmates were children of refugees.
My first teacher at the cheder was an old Hungarian refugee. We called him Rebbe, as all cheder teachers are called Rebbe. This Rebbe had little patience for me, as I was very different from his European students. I was an American - a Yankee boy.
Once, during the school year, Rebbe told us to pray for the Pope. That night, the Vatican would be choosing a new Pope. The old one, Pope Pius XII, had died. I asked, “Rebbe, why should Jews pray for the Pope?” He told me that the last one was good for the Jews and who knows what the new one will be like. So, he thought it right to pray for the Pope. I wasn't sure if he was really serious or kidding but pray we did.
Moses Maimonides, famous physician, rabbi and philosopher who lived 860 years ago, wrote a Jewish law Book called Mishna Torah. His work is a Renaissance codification of Jewish law. In Book 14, Judges: chapter 8, law 10 he writes, “Moses, our Teacher, was commanded by God to compel all human beings to accept the commandments enjoined upon the descendants of Noah. A gentile who accepts the seven commandments and observes them scrupulously is a “righteous gentile,” and will have a portion in the world to come. Six precepts were given to Adam: prohibition of idolatry, of blasphemy, of murder, of adultery, of robbery, and the command to establish courts of justice. An additional commandment was given to Noah: prohibition of cruelty to animals.”
At the end of chapter 11 he states, “But it is beyond the human mind to fathom the designs of the Creator; for our ways are not His ways, neither are our thoughts His thoughts. All these matters relating to Jesus of Nazareth and the Ishmaelite Mohammed who came after him, only served to clear the way for King Messiah, to prepare the whole world to worship God with one accord, as it is written, ‘For then will I return the people to a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of the Lord to serve Him with one consent’” (Zephaniah 3:9 – a Biblical prophet of the 7th century).
The recent passing of Pope John Paul II reminds me of mankind’s responsibility to obey the Noahidic laws, I pray that the next Pope will follow some examples set by Pope John Paul II. Making this world a kinder, safer and a more spiritual place.
Yes, my Rebbe was correct.