613 Commandments - Works Enumerating The Commandments

Works Enumerating The Commandments

There is no single definitive list that explicates the 613 commandments. Lists differ, for example, in how they interpret passages in the Torah that may be read as dealing with several cases under a single law or several separate laws. Other "commandments" in the Torah are restricted as one-time acts, and would not be considered as "mitzvot" binding on other persons. In rabbinic literature, Rishonim and later scholars composed to articulate and justify their enumeration of the commandments:

• Sefer ha-Mitzvoth ("Book of Commandments") by Rabbi Saadia Gaon is the earliest extant enumeration of the 613 mitzvot. Written during the period of the Geonim, Saadia's work is a simple list (though it was later expanded by Rabbi Yerucham Fishel Perlow.)
• Sefer Hamitzvot ("Book of Commandments") by Maimonides, with a commentary by Nachmanides. Maimonides employs a set of fourteen rules (shorashim) which determine inclusion into the list. In this work, he supports his specification of each Mitzvah through quotations from the midrash halakha and the Gemara. Nachmanides makes a number of critical points and replaces some items of the list with others.
• Sefer ha-Chinnuch ("Book of Education"). This work generally follows Maimonides' reckoning of the 613 commandments. It is written in the order in which the commandments appear in the Torah rather than an arrangement by category (as in Maimonides' work.) In addition to enumerating the commandments and giving a brief overview of relevant laws, the Sefer ha-Chinuch also tries to explain the philosophical reasons behind the mitzvot. It has been attributed to various authors, most commonly Rabbi Aaron ha-Levi of Barcelona (the Ra'ah), though its true authorship is unknown.
• Sefer ha-Mitzvoth ha-Gadol or SMaG ("Large book of Commandments") by Rabbi Moses ben Jacob of Coucy.
• Sefer ha-Mitzvoth ha-Katan or SMaK ("Small book of Commandments") by Rabbi Isaac of Corbeil. This work was written in the form of a poem, divided into seven sections and intended to be read each week. While Isaac's work is fairly short, most editions contain lengthy commentaries. Like the Chafetz Chaim's enumeration, the SMaK deals only with those mitzvot applicable today.
• Sefer Yere'im ("Book of the fearing") by Rabbi Eliezer of Metz (not a clear enumeration.)
• Sefer ha-Mitzvoth by Rabbi Yisrael Meir Kagan (the "Chafetz Chaim"). The Chafetz Chaim's work follows the reckoning of Maimonides but gives only the commandments relevant today. Notably, this listing omits commandments regarding temple service, ritual purity, sacrifices, and so on. Though the original work included only those commandments relevant in all places and at all times, later editions include agricultural laws relevant today only in the Land of Israel.