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Home > 613 mitzvot


 

The Talmud (tractate Makkoth 23b) states that the Torah contains 613 mitzvot (Mitzvah - מצוה - precept, plural Mitzvot; from צוה, tzavah- command), of which 248 are mitzvot aseh (positive commandments) - equal to the number of bones in the human body - and 365 mitzvot lo taaseh (negative commandments) - equal to the number of days in the solar year.

The singular of "Mitzvot" is Mitzvah. See that article for a general discussion of commandments in Judaism.


1 The significance of 613

The Talmud (tractate Makkoth 23b) and Midrash calculate that the numerical value ( gematria) of the word "Torah" is 611. The Torah itself states that Moses transmitted the Torah from God to the Jewish people: "Moses commanded us the Torah as an inhertitance for the community of Jacob" ( Deuteronomy 33:4). However, there were two commandments which God directed straight at the Jewish people: the first two of the Ten Commandments; these are phrased in the first person. The grand total of 611 + 2 = 613.

Many Jewish philosophical and mystical works ( Baal ha-Turim, the Maharal of Prague and leaders of Hasidic Judaism) find allusions and inspirational calculations relating to the number of commandments.

2 Works enumerating the commandments

In practice there is no one definitive list that explicates the 613 laws. The differences come about because in some places the Torah lists related laws together, so it is difficult to know whether one is dealing with a single law, which lists several cases, or several separate laws; Other "commands" in the Torah are restricted as one-time acts, and would not be considered as "mitzvot". In rabbinic literature there are a number of works, mainly by the Rishonim, that were composed to determine which commandments belong in this enumeration:



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