For the first time in history, tens of thousands of non-Jews who have voluntarily embraced the Seven Laws of Noah are no longer scattered and stateless. They have an address: Jerusalem. This November, the Brit Olam Noahide World Center will host the First International Congress of Noahides in the eternal capital, bringing together delegates from six continents to formally establish the World Noahide Movement — complete with a founding charter, a rabbinic court, regional councils, and a financial infrastructure designed to sustain a global religious civilization.
The congress, scheduled from November 2 through 6, will unfold under the formal recognition of the State of Israel. On the final day, six continental representatives will convene at the official residence of Israeli President Isaac Herzog to read the Declaration of the Founding in their own languages and present the signed charter. The moment is being framed by the organizers as nothing less than the launch of a new chapter in the relationship between Israel and the nations.
What Is a Noahide?
The term comes from the Hebrew Bnei Noach — Children of Noah — referring to non-Jews who observe the seven universal moral laws that Jewish tradition holds were given by God to all of humanity. According to the Brit Olam website, “Noahides are a community of non-Jews who follow the righteous Laws of Noah according to the teachings of the Jewish Bible.” The organization is recognized by the Chief Rabbis of Israel and is directly associated with Chabad Judaism.
The Sages derived these seven laws from Scripture.
1. Prohibition against murder – B’reshit / Genesis 4:23-24, 9:6
2. Prohibition against idolatry – B’reshit / Genesis 4:26
3. Prohibition against blasphemy – B’reshit / Genesis 4:26
4. Prohibition of sexual misconduct – B’reshit / Genesis 1:28, 4:22, 6:3, 6:12
5. Prohibition against failure to establish courts – B’reshit / Genesis 1:28, 9:6
6. Prohibition against theft – B’reshit / Genesis 6:11
7. Prohibition against eating live meat (e.g. tearing the limb off of a living animal and eating it) – B’reshit / Genesis 9:4
Noahide laws are in the New Testament Book of Acts 15:19
Together, these seven laws form what the tradition holds to be the minimum moral framework God requires of all human beings, regardless of nationality or background.
The Brit Olam organization makes the path to formal Noahide status explicit. A three-stage process moves from personal intent to self-declaration to an official declaration before a Beit Din — a rabbinic court. Those who complete the process and receive the designation ger toshav, righteous gentile, are considered by halachic tradition to have a share in the World to Come.
A Manifesto and a Movement
In November 2025, the Noahide World Center published an updated manifesto laying out its vision for a restructured global moral order. The document describes what it calls a model of “religious symbiosis” — the coexistence of the Jewish path and the Noahide path on a shared platform of fundamental values, with Israel at the center. “The Way of the Noahide de facto enables true co-existence and global cultural diversity and inclusion,” the manifesto states.
The manifesto draws on sources across Jewish history. It cites the verse from Isaiah: “For my house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations” (Isaiah 56:7). It invokes the ruling of Maimonides — Rabbi Moshe Ben Maimon — that any non-Jew who adheres to the Seven Commandments of the Children of Noah “is regarded as righteous among the nations and is entitled to a share in the world to come.” And it references a passage from the Talmud (Bava Kama, Chapter 4) in which Rabbi Meir declares that even a non-Jew who engages in Torah study holds a status akin to that of a High Priest.
The manifesto also introduces an eighth element beyond the seven laws: solidarity. “One for all and all for one,” the document states, describing a mutual guarantee between Noahide communities worldwide. It presents the re-establishment of the State of Israel as the fulfillment of a divine, national, and universal calling — the turning point at which the ancient promise to Abraham that “all the families of the earth shall be blessed through you” (Genesis 12:3) begins its global expression.
What the Congress Will Build
The November gathering is structured to produce concrete institutions, not declarations alone. By the close of the five-day summit, delegates will have ratified the founding texts of the movement: Brit Shalom, a fourteen-chapter codex available in twenty languages, and the Brit Olam Siddur, a prayer book in six languages. Each delegate will receive a personally signed copy from Rabbi Oury Cherki, the movement’s leading rabbinic authority.
The congress will formally establish the First International Beit Din — a rabbinic court composed of Rabbi Cherki, three Jerusalem dayanim (judges), and six regional dayanim, one from each continent. Twelve pre-identified Noahides will receive ger toshav status in live declarations before the court. Six continental councils will be elected — covering North America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Oceania — each committing to a twelve-month regional plan and a gathering before the following year’s congress.
A three-arm financial model will also be formalized: dedicated donations, member dues set at $36 per year, and government grants. An international Finance Committee will be formally appointed on the first day and will begin operating immediately.
The Broader Context
The congress arrives at a moment when Noahide infrastructure has been accelerating. The movement already has its foundational texts, a siddur, filmed life-cycle ceremonies in three languages, and a unified syllabus combining study, prayer, and community practice. What it has lacked until now is formal, internationally recognized institutional structure.
The Brit Olam website frames the timing in prophetic terms: “For two thousand years, the prophet’s words waited. We waited. The people of Israel returned home. The State of Israel was built. Israeli society developed. And now — quietly, on six continents — tens of thousands of non-Jews on multiple continents are choosing, freely, to live by the universal moral law given at Sinai to all humanity.”
The congress in November will give that movement its first governing body, its first binding charter, and its first formal recognition by the State of Israel — all in Jerusalem, the city the Torah identifies as the place from which the word of God goes forth to the nations.
