The 613 Commandments

By Dr. Robert H. Schram

The author Dr. ROBERT H. SCHRAM has degrees in Political Science (BA) and Personnel/Counseling (MA) with a Doctorate in Public Administration and is Executive Director Emeritus of BARC Developmental Services (1977-2020). The 613 Commandments is his fourteenth published book that puts the Commandments into Thirty-four Categories to make their comprehension more accessible:

Prophecy, Clothing, Prayer and Blessings, Injuries and Damages, The Firstborn, Lepers and Leprosy, Signs and Symbols, Torah, Treatment of Gentiles, Vows Oaths and Swearing, Criminal Laws, Agriculture and Animal Husbandry, The King, God, Nazarites, Property and Property Rights, The Poor and the Unfortunate, Love and Brotherhood, Business Practices, Ritual Purity and Impurity, Wars, The Sabbatical and Jubilee Years, Employees Servants and Slaves, Marriage Divorce and Family, Punishment and Restitution, T'rumah Tithes and Taxes, Forbidden Sexual Relations, Dietary Laws, Kohanim and Levites, The Temple the Sanctuary, Sacred Objects, Times and Seasons, Court Judicial System, Idolatry Idolaters and Idolatrous Practices, Sacrifices and Offerings

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Sep 28, 2020
• ISBN: 9781664131835

Dr. Robert H. Schram

The author Dr. ROBERT H. SCHRAM is a fellow in the American Association for Intellectual Disabilities and Autism for his meritorious service supporting children and adults with Intellectual Disabilities and Autism over forty-two years in Bucks County Pennsylvania. He has degrees in Political Science and Personnel/Counseling with a Doctorate in Public Administration and is Executive Director Emeritus of BARC Developmental Services (1977-2020). His prior published books include the following: Maximize Life by Living for Peace, Harmony, and Joy Oh My God it is all the Same! Zohar - The Book of Radiance Revealed Life is but a Dream! Musings of an Inveterate Traveler Musings of an Inveterate Traveler II Musings of an Inveterate Traveler III Illusafact the Inevitable Advance of our Technologies & Us Musings of an Inveterate Traveler IV Company Management…Policies, Procedures, Practices Mixed Marriage . . .Interreligious, Interracial, Interethnic Worldwide Human Corruption

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Copyright © 2020 by Dr. Robert H. Schram.

ISBN:      Softcover      978-1-6641-3184-2

                eBook            978-1-6641-3183-5

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Rev. date: 09/24/2020

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CONTENTS

I.   The Category of Prophecy through the Category of Agriculture and Animal

Husbandry

II.   The Category of King through the Category of Employees, Servants and Slaves

III.   The Category of Marriage Divorce and Family through the Category of Kohanim and Levites

IV.   The Category of Temple, the Sanctuary and Sacred Objects through the Category of Sacrifices and Offerings

Introduction

Through my weekly Torah study over many years with my Jewish brethren and others utilizing The Torah A Modern Commentary (Edited by W. Gunther Plaut Union of American Hebrew Congregations New York 1981) I was inspired to write and publish Similarities with the Five Books of Moses and other Ancient Beliefs which expanded Plaut’s commentaries and gleanings throughout the Five Books of Moses. The book compares the stories and the 613 mitzvot (commandments, laws) in the Five Books of Moses (Torah) with other ancient stories and beliefs.

Anyone interested in religious history and beliefs should be indebted to rabbi, philosopher, astronomer, arbiter, and polymath Moses Maimonides (1135-1204 CE) whose fourteen-volume Mishneh Torah still carries significant canonical authority as a codification of Talmudic law. His Hebrew name Rabbi Mosheh ben Maimon forms the acronym Rambam. Maimonides also figures very prominently in the history of Islamic and Arab sciences and is mentioned extensively in studies. In the Yeshiva world, he is sometimes called ha Nesher ha Gadol (the great eagle) in recognition of his outstanding status as a bona fide exponent of the Oral Torah. Centuries prior to the invention of the printing press Rambam extracted the 613 commandments in each of the Five Books in Sefer ha-Mitzvot: Genesis (Bereshit – In the beginning); Exodus (Shemot – Names); Leviticus (Vayikra, – And he called); Numbers (Bamidbar – In the desert); Deuteronomy (D’varim – Words) The commandment in Numbers 15:38 help Jews to remember the importance of God’s commands:

Speak to the children of Israel and say to them: They shall make for themselves fringes on the corners of their garments… And this shall be tzitzit for you, and when you see it, you will remember all the commandments of God, and perform them.

The Rabbis made the tzitzit’s strings and knots represent the Torah’s 613 do’s and don’ts and remind all Jews to honor them. Each letter in the Hebrew alphabet has a corresponding numerical value. The numerical values of the five letters in the Hebrew word tzitzit add up to 600. Add the eight strings and five knots of each tassel, and the total is 613. The Babylonian Talmud Makkoth 24a notes that the Hebrew numerical value (gematria) of the word Torah is 611, and combining Moses’s 611 commandments with the first two of the Ten Commandments which were the only ones heard directly from God, adds up to 613. The Laws were combined into various categories; The 34 categories listed here are in ascending order from the categories with the least mitzvot to those with the most mitzvot.

I. Prophecy 3

II. Clothing 3

III. Prayer and Blessings 4

IV. Injuries and Damages 4

V. The Firstborn 4

VI. Lepers and Leprosy 4

VII. Signs and Symbols 5

VIII. Torah 6

IX. Treatment of Gentiles 6

X. Vows, Oaths and Swearing 7

XI. Criminal Laws 7

XII. Agriculture and Animal Husbandry 7

XIII. The King 7

XIV. God 10

XV. Nazarites 10

XVI. Property and Property Rights 11

XVII. The Poor and the Unfortunate

XVIII. Love and Brotherhood 14

XIX. Business Practices 14

XX. Ritual Purity and Impurity 16

XXI. Wars 16

XXII. The Sabbatical and Jubilee Years 17

XXIII. Employees, Servants and Slaves 19

XXIV. Marriage, Divorce and Family 23

XXV. Punishment and Restitution 24

XXVI. T’rumah, Tithes and Taxes 24

XXVII. Forbidden Sexual Relations 25

XXVIII. Dietary Laws 27

XXIX. Kohanim and Levites 30

XXX. The Temple, the Sanctuary and Sacred Objects 33

XXXI. Times and Seasons 36

XXXII. Court and Judicial System

XXXIII. Idolatry, Idolaters and Idolatrous Practices 46

XXXIV. Sacrifices and Offerings 102

The Babylonian Talmud Tractate Makkoth 23b explains that there are 613 commandments (mitzvot) in the Torah; 248 Positive Commandments (do’s) and 365 Negative Commandments (do not’s) first mentioned in a sermon in the 3rd century CE by Rabbi Simlai. Rabbi Simeon ben Azzai and Rabbi Eleazar ben Yose the Galilean also hold Rabbi Simlai’s view as quoted in Midrash Shemot Rabbah 33:7, Bamidbar Rabbah 13:15–16; 18:21 and Talmud Yevamot 47b. 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 as explained in the Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin 74a. There are three general categories of the 613: 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 e.g., the Sabbath testifies to the creation story and rest on the seventh day. Chukim (decrees) are commandments with no known rationale and are perceived as pure manifestations of the Divine will. Since the destruction of the Second Jerusalem Temple by the Romans in 70 CE many of the mitzvot cannot be observed today, although they still have religious significance. According to some reviewers of the text there are 77 positive and 194 negative commandments that can be observed today and of those 26 commands apply only within the Land of Israel. According to the Babylonian Talmud Kiddushin 29 there are some time-related commandments from which women are exempt (e.g., shofar, sukkah, lulav, tzitzit and tefillin). Some depend on the special status of a person in Judaism (such as Kohanim), while others apply only to men or only to women.¹

According to the Babylonian Talmud Makkoth 23b, Deuteronomy 33:04 is to be interpreted to mean that Moses transmitted the Torah from God to the Israelites: Moses commanded us the Torah as an inheritance for the community of Jacob. At Mount Sinai God offered the Israelites the opportunity to become a kingdom of priests and a holy nation (Exod.19:6). The root of Hebrew word for ‘holy’ is kadosh (literally ‘separate’) ergo by observing the commandments the Israelites would become a unique nation, God’s most beloved treasure among all the peoples (Exod. 19:5).

Gunther Plaut’s General Introduction to the Torah xxii thru xxiv concluded the following:

The Torah is written in different literary styles with discrepancies in certain accounts and figures. The Documentary Hypothesis says there are four major sources of the book (J, E, P, and D). The combination of these four sources resulted in the creation of a single book, the Torah and was considered a sacred text canonized about 400 BCE. J is the author who used the divine name YHWH and probably lived in the Southern Kingdom sometime after the death of King Solomon (931 BCE); he was responsible for most of Genesis. E uses the divine name Elohim and authored the binding of Isaac (Gen 22) and other Genesis passages as well as much of Exodus and Numbers; he most likely was a northern contemporary of J. D is the author of Deuteronomy claimed to be the book discovered by King Josiah in 621 BCE. P is the author of the first chapter of Genesis, the book of Leviticus and other sections interested in genealogies and priesthood. P is considered the latest part of the Torah composed during or after the Babylonian exile (597-516 BCE). Some theorized that P was the framework into which J/E and D were fitted in the fifth century BCE while others theorize it was the earliest not the latest book to be incorporated. There appeared translations over the centuries in Aramaic (Targum), Greek (Septuagint), Latin (Vulgate), Syriac (Peshitta), and today in just about every written language.

Each chapter will each explore portions of all the 34 mitzvot categories in ascending order (least to most mitzvot) with commentaries, interpretations, and historical precedent.

As revealed in the Five Books of Moses the stories, issues, and mitzvot categories are also found in other Middle Eastern ancient civilizations. The historic and archeological evidence supports the fact that many very similar Torah stories and laws predated it by many centuries: Egyptian; Babylonian and Mesopotamian; Sumerian; Akkadian and Hittite; Amorites, Ammonites, and Moabites; King Ur-Nammu’s Laws; King Lipit-Ishtar’s Laws; King Hammurabi’s Laws; the Enuma Elish Seven Tablets of Creation. The punishments and restitutions in the laws of the ancient civilizations and cultures and the laws of the Torah are very similar: fines, equal punishment for the injuries caused (an eye for an eye), death, lashings, and exile, or removal from one’s family and tribe. It is posited by historians of the Middle Eastern ancient civilizations and cultures that the creation story in Enuma Elish (Babylonian-Mesopotamia) became the inspiration for the Hebrew authors who created the Book of Genesis. There is physical evidence from Mesopotamian excavations that corroborate biblical