613 Commandments
According to Jewish tradition , the Torah has 613 mitzvot (singular: or - - command, requirement, precept of , - prescribe, order).
In his introduction to Sefer Hamitzvot , the principal regulator for computation requirements, Maimonides wrote: "The Jews have received 613 commandments, according to the Talmud , which include: 248 (prescriptions positive) and 365 (requirements negative). The number of positive prescriptions is that of human body parts and the number of mitzvot is the negative of days in a solar year.
Some courses have mitzvoth in Eretz Israel , they include laws relating to land and its culture ( chemitta , orla) and linked to the cult temple (the korbanot ).
Summary |
The tradition of the 613 mitzvot was developed by Rabbi Simla :
Rabbi Simla says:
613 commandments were given to Moses, 365 thou "shalt not" equal to the number of days in the solar year, and 248 "thou shalt", corresponding to members of the body ...
David came and reduced them to 11, as is said:Isaiah came and reduced them to six, as is said:
- Lord, who shall abide in Thy tent? Which will remain on Your holy hill? - He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness that says the truth in his heart. It does not slander with his tongue point, it does no evil to his neighbor, and he taketh up a reproach upon his prochain.Il look with disdain that which is contemptible, but he honors those who fear the LORD, does not retract, he made an oath to his prejudice. It does point of interest with his money, and it does point reward against the innocent. "(Psalm 15:1-5)
Micah came and reduced them to three, as is said:
- He who walks righteously and speaks with justice, who despises gain of oppressions, who shakes hands for not accepting a bribe, who stops his ears to avoid hearing about the infamous, and that band eyes not to see evil ... (Isaiah 33:15)
Isaiah came again and reduced to two, as is said:
- And what does the Lord require of thee, O mortal, but to do justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. "(Micah 6:8)
Amos came and reduced them to one, and he says: For thus saith the LORD unto the house of Israel: Seek me and you will live (or live). (Amos 5:4) ( Talmud , Treatise Makkot 23b)
- Thus saith the LORD: Observe what is right, and practice what is right. (Isaiah 56:1)
The figure of 613 comes from the following reasoning: according to the Torah ( Deuteronomy 33:4), Moses transmitted the Torah he had received from God the son of Jacob (the text is well "Jacob" and not "Israel"). The numerical value of the word "Torah" () is 611 ( is 400, is 6 , is worth 200 and 5). Then there are the first two commandments of the Decalogue , that the people of Israel heard of God Himself, as evidenced the use of the first one. Others say beTorah "in the Torah" is 613.
A lesson to be taken literally ...
This view was followed by Rabbi Simeon ben Azai (Sifre on Deuteronomy 7:6) and Rabbi Yossi the Galilean Eleazar ben ( Midrash Haggadah on Genesis 15:1).
It is also mentioned in the Midrash Shemot Rabbah 33:7, Bamidbar Rabbah 13:15-16; 6:21 p.m. ET Talmud Yevamot 47b.
Many philosophers and Jewish mystics ( Yaakov ben Asher , "said the Baal HaTourim, the Maharal of Prague, some leaders of Hasidism ) find hints or other guematriot leading to the number of commandments. Others argue that there is "really" 613 mitzvot listed as such in the Torah.
The tzitzit (fringes) of the tallit (prayer shawl) are also linked to 613 mitzvot by a calculation of this kind: the great Biblical commentator, Rashi notes that the gematria of the word tzitzit in Hebrew (such as spelling the Mishna) is 600, combined, when the Tzitzit are handled (which has the effect of the collapse on themselves), 8 and son 5 knots of the fringes (at each corner), gives 613. Therefore, he said, he is said to have "the look" because they remind the faithful of the 613 commandments of the Torah.
Moreover, the number 613 (requirements) is associated in gematria the number 10 (words of the Decalogue). Indeed:
- counts of 613, added together, make 6 +1 +3 = 10
- counts of 248 (number of positive prescriptions), added together, give 2 +4 +8 = 14
- counts of 365 (number of prescriptions negative), added up, give 3 +6 +5 = 14
Or whether by adding these two numbers (14 +14 = 28, which also gives 2 +8 = 10) or figures of this number (1 +4 +1 +4 = it goes back to 10
PS: This reasoning is not authentic and new age for not working with numbers and not with the modern Hebrew count (but see page isopsphie )
... or in the mind?
Despite the general consensus, this view was never fully shared.
In the Talmud itself, some argue that this is only a Haggadah , a value certainly, but not the level of an authentic tradition, or, if it is not possible, logically speaking, to achieve a systematic computation.
That may be why no ancient work of Jewish law or biblical commentary does not rely on this system, and no set of principles of Jewish faith never says.
The great biblical exegete Abraham ibn Ezra denied even the character of authenticity to the rabbinic tradition, "some wise list 613 mitzvot, many different ways, In conclusion
Despite these objections, the idea of 613 commandments became accepted as normative in the Jewish community. Nowadays, even those who do not accept this idea literally commonly refer to all laws of the Torah as being 613.
Works enumerating the commandments
In practice, no definitive list explaining the 613 laws have been established:
- one hand, the Torah contains sets of laws, and it is unclear whether one is dealing with a statute lists several scenarios, or more laws.
- secondly, certain requirements apply only to a time period or era. Can we consider them as "mitzvot"?
The rabbinic literature contains a number of Sifrei Hamitzvot , works dating mostly from the eleventh century to the thirteenth century , which were composed to determine which commandments belong in this list.
The most important of these is that of Moses Maimonides. Maimonides does not hesitate to get into lengthy arguments to determine exactly those requirements mentioned in the Torah written which can be regarded as having been finalized, versus many "commandments" punctuating the Torah that God requires that for a time limited. It uses a system of fourteen rules (shorashim) for determining the inclusion or exclusion from the list. He then presses his categorization of each mitzvah through numerous citations from the Midrash Halacha and Gemara.
Ramban wrote a critical review , and replaces some items on the list by others. Notably, Maimonides does not mention the mitzvah of living on the land of Israel , while Nahmanides includes it, and considers his failure as a big mistake.
Source
- This article incorporates text from the Jewish Encyclopedia of 1901-1906, article "Commandments, The 613" by Kaufmann Kohler & Isaac Broyd, a publication now in the public domain.
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