Precepts and commandments in Judaism
This article is about beliefs in Judaism. For the Jewish rites of passage, see
Bar and Bat Mitzvah
.
In its primary meaning, the
Hebrew
word
mitzvah
(
;
Hebrew
:
???????
,
m??v?
[mit?s?va]
, plural
????????
m??v?t
[mit?s?vot]
; "commandment") refers to a commandment
from God
to be performed as a religious duty. Jewish law (
halakha
) in large part consists of discussion of these commandments. According to religious tradition, there are
613 such commandments
.
In its secondary meaning, the word
mitzvah
refers to a deed performed in order to fulfill such a commandment. As such, the term
mitzvah
has also come to express an individual act of human kindness in keeping with the law. The expression includes a sense of heartfelt sentiment beyond mere legal duty, as "you shall love your neighbor as yourself" (Leviticus 19:18).
[1]
For some
mitzvot
, the purpose is specified in the Torah; though, the opinions of the
Talmudic
rabbis
are divided between those who seek the
purpose
of the
mitzvot
and those who do not question them. The former believe that if people were to understand the reason the purpose for each
mitzvah
, it would help them to observe and perform the
mitzvah
. The latter argue that if the purpose for each
mitzvah
could be determined, people might try to achieve what they see as the purpose of the
mitzvah
, while rejecting the
mitzvah
itself.
Hebrew Bible
[
edit
]
The feminine noun
mitzvah
(
???????
) occurs over 180 times in the
Masoretic Text
of the
Hebrew Bible
. The first use is in
Genesis
26:5
where God says that
Abraham
has "obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments (
?????????
mitzvotai
), my statutes, and my laws". In the
Septuagint
the word is usually translated with
entol?
(
?ντολ?
).
[2]
In
Second Temple period
funeral inscriptions the epithet
phil-entolos
, "lover of the commandments", was sometimes inscribed on Jewish tombs.
[3]
Other words are also used in Hebrew for commands and statutes; the
Ten Commandments
(???? ???????), for example, are the "Ten Words".
[4]
Enumeration
[
edit
]
Jewish tradition states that there exist 613 commandments. This number does not appear in the
Hebrew Bible
. The tradition that the number is 613 is first recorded in the 3rd century CE, when Rabbi
Simlai
claimed it in a sermon, perhaps to make the point that a person should observe the Torah every day with his whole body.
[5]
Rabbi Simlai gave as a sermon (
darash Rabi Simlai
): 613 commandments were communicated to Moses, 365 negative commands, corresponding to the number of solar days [in a year], and 248 positive commands, corresponding to the number of the members [bones covered with flesh] of a man's body.
[6]
However, this opinion was not universally accepted.
Abraham ibn Ezra
observed that there were over a thousand divine commandments in the Bible, but fewer than 300 applied to his time.
[5]
Nachmanides
found that the number was in dispute and uncertain.
[5]
The number 613 is a rabbinical tradition rather than an exact count.
[5]
In
rabbinic literature
there are a number of works, mainly by the
Rishonim
, that attempt to enumerate 613 commandments. Probably the most famous of these is
Sefer Hamitzvot
by
Maimonides
.
Rabbinic mitzvot
[
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]
The Biblical mitzvot are referred to in the Talmud as
mitzvot d'oraita
, translated as
commandments of the Law (Torah)
. In addition, rabbis of later generations decreed a number of additional laws, which are known as rabbinic laws (
mitzvot derabbanan
). Types of rabbinic laws include the
takkanah
and the
gezeirah
.
Medieval rabbis discussed the question of why a Jew should be required to follow rabbinic mitzvot, as they were not commanded by God, but rather by the rabbis. According to
Maimonides
, one who keeps rabbinic mitzvot is in fact following a Biblical commandment to obey the decisions of the Jewish religious authorities (
Deut. 17:11
,
32:7
)
[7]
According to
Nahmanides
, there is no biblical source for the obligation to keep rabbinic mitzvot.
[8]
In addition, many of the specific details of the Biblical mitzvot are only derived via rabbinical application of the
Oral Torah
(Mishna/Gemarah); for example, the
three daily prayers
in any language and the recitation of the Shema (Deuteronomy 6:4-7) twice a day in any language, the binding of the
tefillin
and the fixing of the
mezuzah
(Deuteronomy 6:8-9), and the saying of
Grace After Meals
(Deuteronomy 8:10).
The seven rabbinic mitzvot
[
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]
Seven notable
mitzvot d'rabbanan
are as follows:
[9]
These seven rabbinical commandments are treated like Biblical commandments insofar as, prior to the performance of each, a
benediction
is recited ("Blessed are You, O L
ORD
our God, King of the universe, Who has commanded us ..."). In
gematria
, these seven, added to the
613 Biblical commandments
, form a total of 620, corresponding to the numerical value of the phrase
Keter Torah
("The Crown of the Torah").
[10]
Categories of mitzvot
[
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]
The commandments have been divided also into three general categories: mishpatim; edot; and chukim.
Mishpatim
("laws") include commandments that are deemed to be self-evident, such as not to murder and not to steal. Edot ("testimonies") commemorate important events in Jewish history. For example, the
Shabbat
is said to testify to the story that
Hashem
created the world in six days and rested on the seventh day and declared it holy. Chukim ("decrees") are commandments with no known rationale, and are perceived as pure manifestations of the Divine will.
[11]
The commandments are divided into positive ("thou shalt") and negative ("thou shalt not") commandments. According to Jewish tradition, the 613 commandments contain 365 negative commandments and 248 positive commandments.
Many commandments concern only special classes of people – such as kings,
Kohanim
(the priesthood),
Levites
, or
Nazarites
– or are conditioned by local or temporary circumstances of the Jewish nation, as, for instance, the agricultural, sacrificial, and Levitical laws. Some are sex-dependent: for example, women are exempt from certain time-related commandments (such as
shofar
,
sukkah
,
lulav
,
tzitzit
and
tefillin
).
[12]
Three types of negative commandments fall under the self-sacrificial principle
yehareg ve'al ya'avor
, meaning "One should let oneself be killed rather than violate it". These are
murder
,
idolatry
, and
forbidden sexual relations
.
[13]
For all other commandments, one must violate the commandment if the only alternative is to be killed.
According to
Rabbi Ishmael
, only the principal commandments were given on
Mount Sinai
, the remainder having been given in the
Tent of Meeting
.
Rabbi Akiva
, on the other hand, was of the opinion that they were all given on Mount Sinai, repeated in the Tent of Meeting, and declared a third time by Moses before his death.
[
citation needed
]
According to the
Midrash
, all divine commandments were given on Mount Sinai, and no prophet could add any new ones.
[14]
Six constant mitzvot
[
edit
]
Out of the 613 Mitzvot mentioned in the Torah, there are six mitzvot which the
Sefer Hachinuch
calls "constant mitzvot": "We have six mitzvot which are perpetual and constant, applicable at all times, all the days of our lives".
[15]
- To know
God
, and that God created all things.
- Not to have any
god(s)
beside God
- To know God's Oneness.
- To fear God.
- To love God.
- Not to pursue the passions of your heart and stray after your eyes.
Mitzvot and Jewish law
[
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]
In rabbinic thought, the commandments are usually divided into two major groups, positive commandments (obligations) ?
mitzvot aseh
[
???? ???
] and negative commandments (prohibitions) ?
mitzvot lo ta'aseh
[
???? ?? ????
].
The system describing the practical application of the commandments is known as
Halakha
.
Halakha
is the development of the
mitzvot
as contained in the Written Law (Torah), via discussion and debate in the
Oral Law
, as recorded in the
rabbinic literature
of the classical era, especially the
Mishnah
and the
Talmud
. The
halakha
dictates and influences a wide variety of behavior of
traditionalist Jews
.
Applicability in the messianic age
[
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]
The majority view of classical rabbis was that the commandments will still be applicable and in force during the
Messianic Age
. However, a significant minority of rabbis held that most of the commandments will be nullified by, or in, the messianic era. Examples of such rabbinic views include:
[
citation needed
]
- that the grain-
offering
of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to God as in the days of old, and as in ancient years (
Malachi
3:4)
- that today we should observe the commandments (Babylonian Talmud, Tractate
Avodah Zarah
3a, 4b); because we will not observe them in the world to come (Rashi)
- that in the future all
sacrifices
, with the exception of the Thanksgiving-sacrifice, will be discontinued (Midrash
Vayikra Rabbah
9:7)
- that all sacrifices will be annulled in the future (
Tanchuma
Emor 19, Vayikra Rabbah 9:7)
- that God will permit what is now forbidden (
Midrash Tehillim
, Mizmor 146:5)
- that most mitzvot will no longer be in force (Babylonian Talmud,
Niddah
61b and
Shabbat
151b).
There is no accepted authoritative answer within Judaism as to which
mitzvot
, if any, would be annulled in the Messianic era. This is a subject of theoretical debate and, not being viewed as an immediately practical question, is usually passed over in favor of answering questions of the practical
halakha
.
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Definition of MITZVAH"
.
www.merriam-webster.com
. Retrieved
2019-12-17
.
- ^
Philip Leroy Culbertson,
A word fitly spoken
, 1995, p. 73. "See also Lieberman, Texts and Studies, 212, where he shows that the Greek
entol?
is parallel to
mitzvah,
both coming to suggest a particular emphasis on charitable alms."
- ^
The Journal of Jewish studies
Volume 51, 2000 "Note, however, by way of example, the funerary epithet philentolos (lover of the commandments), coined from the stock
LXX
word for commandment,
entole
(Heb.
mitzvah
), and the LXX allusions in that most favoured of all Romano-Jewish ..."
- ^
Mark Rooker,
The Ten Commandments: Ethics for the Twenty-First Century
, 2010, p. 3. "The Significance of the Ten Commandments in the Old Testament" The Ten Commandments are literally the “Ten Words” (aseret haddebarem) in Hebrew. The use of the term dabar, “word”, in this phrase distinguishes these laws from the rest of ..."
- ^
a
b
c
d
Drazin, Israel (2009).
"Chapter 31: Are There 613 Biblical Commandments?"
.
Maimonides and the Biblical Prophets
. Gefen Publishing House Ltd.
ISBN
9789652294302
.
- ^
Babylonian Talmud,
Makkoth
23b
- ^
Sefer HaMitzvot, Shoresh 1; see also Shabbat 23a
- ^
Nahmanides, Hasagot to Sefer HaMitzvot
- ^
This list is first mentioned in
Keter Torah
by R' David Vital, and later in the
Tanya
.
- ^
Vital, Dovid bar Shlomo (1536).
??? ????
[Keser Torah] (in Hebrew).
Istanbul
. Retrieved
January 15,
2013
.
- ^
"Mitzvot"
.
NSW Board of Jewish Education
. New South Wales Board of Jewish Education. Archived from
the original
on 16 August 2010
. Retrieved
29 September
2014
.
- ^
Talmud
Kiddushin 29a
- ^
Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin 74a
- ^
Midrash
Sifra
to Leviticus 27:34
- ^
Sefer Hachinuch
, introduction