613 Mitzvot: The list of all the commandments contained in the Holy Scriptures

Introduction

According to Jewish tradition, the Holy Scriptures list a total of 613 commandments (Hebrew מצוות; transliterated: mitzvot).

Jewish tradition states that there are 613 commandments (Hebrew: תרי״ג מצוות; romanized: taryag mitzvot), or mitzvot, in the Law of Moses. This is first recorded in the third century CE, when Rabbi Simlai spoke of them in a sermon preserved in the Talmud, Makkot 23b.

The 613 commandments include “positive commandments”, the acts a believer must perform (mitzvot aseh), and “negative commandments”, those from which one must abstain (mitzvot lo taaseh). There are 365 negative commandments, corresponding to the number of days in the solar year, and 248 positive commandments, corresponding to the number traditionally attributed to the bones and major organs of the human body (Babylonian Talmud, Makkot 23b–24a).

In practice, however, not all these precepts can be observed today, nor can every precept be observed by everyone. Some require the Temple of Jerusalem, which, according to Rabbinic Tradition, can be rebuilt only when the Messiah comes and gathers all the 10 lost tribes of Israel.

Several great scholars have compiled a complete list of these mitzvot. Although their number is regarded as certain (since it is explicitly stated in the Torah), their identification has always been debated among the leading “halakhic commentators”. The most widely recognized halakhic list is that of Rambam (Moses Maimonides) in the Sefer Ha-Mitzvot, although other lists differ on some points.

(HE)”השלמות הרוחנית של האדם היא להיות יצור אינטליגנטי, שיודע בעיקר ביכולתו ללמוד”

(EN) “Human spiritual perfection consists in becoming an intelligent being who understands, above all, the capacity to learn.”

(Maimonides, Letter to Joseph)