Mitzvah - Rabbinical Enumeration

Rabbinical Enumeration

The Tanakh does not state that there are 613 commandments. The Rabbis came to assume that the Law of the Torah comprised 613 commandments. According to Rabbi Simlai, as quoted in the Talmud, this enumeration of 613 commandments was representative of the following.

Three of the negative commandments fall under the category of self-sacrifice under Jewish Law, meaning "one should be killed rather than transgress the prohibition."

The number 613 can also be obtained by gematria (a traditional method of number substitution). The gematria value for the word "Torah" is 611, which corresponds to the number of commandments given via Moses, with the remaining two being identified as the first two of the Ten Commandments, which tradition holds were the only ones given by the Mouth of God Himself. (Jews are also reminded of the 613 commandments by the Tzitzit, known as 'fringes' or 'strings'.)

According to Rabbi Ishmael, only the principal commandments of these 613 were given on Mount Sinai, the remainder having been given in the Tent of Meeting. Rabbi Akiba, 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. According to the Midrash, all divine commandments were given on Mount Sinai, and no prophet could add any new one.

In rabbinic literature there are a number of works, mainly by the Rishonim, that were composed to determine which commandments belong in this enumeration:

• Maimonides' Sefer Hamitzvot ("Book of Commandments"), on which there is a critical commentary by Nachmanides;
• Sefer ha-Chinuch ("Book of Education"), attributed to Rabbi Aaron ha-Levi of Barcelona (the Ra'ah);
• Sefer ha-Mitzvoth ha-Gadol ("Large book of Commandments") by Rabbi Moses of Coucy;
• Sefer ha-Mitzvoth ha-Katan ("Small book of Commandments") by Rabbi Isaac of Corbeil;
• Sefer Yere'im ("Book of the fearing") by Rabbi Eliezer of Metz (not a clear enumeration);
• Sefer Mitzvot HaShem ("The book of God's Commandments") by Rabbi Boruch Bentshar of Sokol;
• Sefer ha-Mitzvoth by Rabbi Yisrael Meir Kagan (the "Chafetz Chaim") - this work only deals with the commandments that are applicable at the present time.