By COLlive reporter
What does Torah have to say about the issues dividing America today, and what role can the Seven Noahide Laws play in shaping the country’s future?
Those questions are at the heart of One Nation Under G-d: A Jewish Guide to Politics and Patriotism, the new book by Florida Shliach Rabbi Pinchas Taylor, a bestselling author and lecturer, and Director of the American Faith Coalition.
As America celebrates its 250th year and elections approach in November, this 600-page book examines some of the most debated issues in American life through the lens of Torah. Among them are abortion, racism, income inequality, capitalism and communism, gun control, immigration, marriage and gender identity issues, environmental responsibility, and free speech.
Despite the subject matter, Rabbi Taylor emphasizes that this is not a political book in the partisan sense. It does not endorse a party or candidate. Instead, it asks a more fundamental question: What does Torah teach about how a moral society should be built?
The book begins by exploring the remarkable influence that Torah literature and rabbinic ideas had on the founding of the United States.
Rabbi Taylor, fascinated by American history and collecting historical relics and memorabilia since his teenage years, was particularly struck by how extensively Biblical literature, and specifically Jewish wisdom, influenced early American history and thought.
The book also examines the political history of American Jewry before turning to contemporary issues, drawing on the full spectrum of Torah literature.
Renowned lecturer Rabbi Yitzchak Breitowitz of Jerusalem writes: “Rabbi Taylor translates the Torah into the language of contemporary political discourse without sacrificing the integrity and authenticity of the sacred message.”
Rabbi Taylor says the book builds toward what he sees as its central message: the Seven Noahide Laws and the Rebbe’s vision for a world governed by Torah’s universal principles.
The final section explores the philosophy and mysticism behind the Seven Noahide Laws in depth, particularly through the Rebbe’s teachings, showing they are far more than seven prohibitions. Together, they provide a Divine framework for civilization, establishing belief in G-d, respect for life and property, the sanctity of the family, justice, and the human being’s moral responsibility.
This is also the idea at the core of Taylor’s work with the American Faith Coalition, which seeks to strengthen faith in America and bring the Torah’s universal teachings to non-Jews.
One Nation Under G-d offers both a detailed examination of Torah’s relevance to contemporary American life and a practical exploration of an aspect of the Rebbe’s shlichus that has enormous implications for the world beyond the Jewish community.
Mosaica Press published the book, and Feldheim Publishers is distributing it worldwide. Ultimately, it asks not simply what Torah says about American politics, but a much larger question: How can we help build the kind of society the Torah wants the world to become?
The book is available in Jewish bookstores and online at https://pinchastaylor.com/one-nation-under-god
