How Many Mitzvoth? Really?

Rabbi Edmond H. Weiss, Ph.D.

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The Talismanic 613

So much is written about the 613 commandments, it is easy to overlook that this
number has no firm basis in Torah or Jewish history. The number appears in a few
midrashim, one tractate of the Talmud, but nowhere in the Torah itself. None of the
prophets or kings of the Tanach mention it; Moses never says it; and even the three
places in the Torah that use the expression “all my commandments” do not indicate
how many there are.

֖ ֶ ‫ָל־מ ְצ ֣ ֹות יְ ה ֔ ָוה ַוﬠ ֲִשׂ‬

‫יתם‬ ִ ‫יתם אֹ ֗תוֹ וּ ְזכ ְַרתֶּ ם֙ אֶ ת־כּ‬ ֣ ֶ ‫יצ ֒ת ְוּר ִא‬ ִ ‫וְ הָ יָ ֣ה ָלכֶם֮ לְ ִצ‬
‫יהם׃‬ ֽ ֶ ‫אֹ ָ ֑תם וְ ֽל ֹא־תָ תֻ֜ רוּ אַ ח ֵ ֲ֤רי לְ בַ בְ כֶם֙ וְ אַ ח ֵ ֲ֣רי ֵ ֽﬠינֵי ֶ֔כם אֲשֶׁ ר־אַ ֶ ֥תּם זֹ ִנ֖ים אַ ח ֲֵר‬

To illustrate, parashah V’Etchanan includes the v’ahavtah prayer, which begins “You
shall love God with all your heart soul and might.” Later in the prayer we are told to
wear fringes on our garments to remind us of the commandments and fend off the evil
inclination. The Hebrew word for fringes (in this passage) is zitzit. And, our sages tell us
the gematria of zitzit is 600, which, together with 8 (the strings) and 5 (the ties) of the
Tallit gives 613! A less arcane gematria points out that the numerical value of Torah is
611, which, when added to the two commandments heard by all Israel at Sinai, totals
613.

We are also taught, without warrant or proof text, that there are 365 “negative”
commandments, corresponding to the days of the year (Didn’t ancient Israel follow a
lunar calendar?) and 248 “positive” corresponding to the parts of the human body—a
claim that makes no sense at all.

All in all, it’s safe to conclude that the number 613 is a meinse, a story that popped up
somewhere and gained authenticity and magical power with repetition. We know this
because the rationales require far-fetched numerological games, because the greatest
minds do not agree on what the 613 are, and because anyone who studies the Torah
carefully will see that the choice of which verses constitute commandments is rather
arbitrary. (That is, a patient person could derive a very different list of the 613—or a
thousand--with just as much Torah authority.) 1

1 Maimonides, for example, finds 14 mitzvoth in the 10 Commandments

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But Wait….

Do orthodox American Jews observe anywhere near 613 commandments? Of course,

not. At least 300 of the official mitzvoth apply to Temple worship and priestly affairs.
The gap between 613 and reality is so vast that, in his final book (1930), the Chafetz
Chayim compiled a Concise Book of Mitzvoth: The Commandments which can be Observed
Today. Understand that this revered scholar was not “picking and choosing,” as the
liberal Jew is often characterized, but rather applying the most sensible of practicable
observations.

In this compilation, removing the inapplicable commandments leaves:

• Positive Commandments: 77 (down from 248)

• Negative Commandments: 194 (down from 365)
• Total Commandments: 271!

Because this 1930 work was published before the arrival of Eretz Israel, a 1990 edition,
revised in part by the grandson of the Chafetz Chayim, adds an additional 26 mitzvoth
incumbent upon those who live in Israel, raising the total to 297 for Israelis.

But Wait Again…

If one studies even this reduced list of commandments carefully, one finds considerable
repetition and redundancy. There are five commandments, for example, regarding the
removal of chametz before and during Pesach, not one. There are nineteen
commandments prohibiting any activity involving idols, not one. There are twenty-one
forbidden kinds of eating, including several items that no sane person would choose to
eat, when two or three clearly worded injunctions would cover all the affected classes.
And it’s quite difficult to count how many separate times where are enjoined to treat
God like God.

Further, there are many commandments in the “concise” list that would prove
impossible, absurd, or illegal. There are several rules for interacting with Kohens as
though they were actually priests. We are, supposedly, expected to engage in Levirate
marriage (though polygamy is illegal) and, of course, we should be exposing and
destroying Amalekites wherever we find them!

To Illustrate…

According to Maimonides, there are 12 of the 613 mitzvoth in Parashah V’Etchanan,

several of them (highlighted) derived from the Sh’ma itself:
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416 Not to covet another's possessions
417 To know that there is only one God the eternal, to believe in His unity or
oneness, and that He alone is the creator....
418 To love God the Eternal, and to observe his laws
419 To study and teach the Law
420 To recite the Sh’ma daily
421 To wear the Tephillim on the arm
422 To wear the Tephillim on the forehead
423 To fix a Mezuzah on the doorpost
424 Not to provoke the prophet or teacher who righteously corrects the people and
instructs them to do what is right
425 To rid utterly the Holy Land of the pagans
426 Not to show pity or compassion in ridding the Holy Land of the pagans
427 Not to intermarry with pagans

All these commandments are retained in the concise list (425 and 426 for Israelites only)
and, in themselves, provide a good lesson on the nature of the mitzvoth.

First, not to covet another’s possessions (from the Ten Commandments) is impossible.
We cannot control what we want or covet, only how we manage the stress it causes.

417-423 are derived from the v’ahavta, but note some interesting applications. The Torah
requires to keep the laws as a sign “between thine eyes,” but Halakha requires the
tephillim of the head to be warn at the hairline, well-above the eyes. Although such
small differences hardly matter to a sensible person, they nevertheless emphasize that
the rabbinic tradition often nullifies the clear meaning of the Torah text to adapt it to
modern and practical considerations. (The Torah says to stay in your dwelling on
Shabbat; the Rabbis interpret your dwelling to be the area surrounded by the eruv.)
Indeed, the main motivation of the ancient rabbis was to adapt the Torah to present
realities, very much like today’s liberal Jews. 2

Further, except among the most fanatically radical, no serious person would suggest
expelling “pagans” from Eretz Israel (two mitzvoth). As to marrying “pagans” … That’s
a serious question worthy of debate.

2A facile rabbi can show that these contradictions and nullifications are no such thing. Indeed, the Jewish
cultural heritage of manipulating language so as to obscure obvious truths explains why we are so over-
represented in the legal professions.
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What’s Jewish about a Commandment?

Clearly, then, if we start with the concise list, eliminate commandments that are still
part of the priestly cult, eliminate commandments that are incompatible with civil law,
and consolidate the redundant commandments… we’re closer to 150 than 613.

Now, let us consider “commandments” that constitute nothing more than common
sense and good manners, that is, are not peculiar to, or province of, the Jews. What is
Jewish about:

• Eliminating possible accident sites from one’s house and grounds?

• Returning stolen goods?
• Washing one’s hands?
• Not committing fraud?
• Not committing perjury?
• Not getting tattooed?

All the Ibrahimic religions impose commandments on their followers. Those having to
do with basic decency are not unique to Judaism: not murdering, not stealing, even not
lying. Shall orthodox Jews who observe these universal ethical principles feel Jewishly
superior because of it? 3

What, then, do the orthodox do to distinguish themselves and establish their more
authentic Judaism? As I search the list of mitzvoth, the only things I find are:

• A more robust schedule of prayers and services

• A more ardent, even zealous application of dietary laws
• A more expansive celebration of ALL holidays
• A comprehensive set of Sabbath regulations, adhered to with great fidelity

So, although they wear kippot (not a mitzvah), and though they often project an air of
smug superiority, there is little else to distinguish their religious life from that of the less
observant. Indeed, most of the “observant” Jews I’ve met are incurious about the
origins and rationales for their Jewish practices; they do mitzvoth simply because they

3I was once in a cab in Jerusalem. When my friend said that the proposed fare for our trip was too high,
the driver pointed to his Kippah, as if to say that he was a good Jew and incapable of cheating us.
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are mitzvoth and that’s what they do! In effect, most care little about the history of
Jewish ideas.

Of course, there is nothing to prevent any Jew, of any denomination or movement, from
adhering to the principles just above, nor to any other mitzvah. If a Reform Jew, for
example, elects to walk to synagogue on Saturday, he may certainly do so. But he is not
entitled to feel religiously superior to the orthodox Jew who parks his car a few blocks
from the synagogue and walks the remaining distance.

Nor should I make snide observations about the observant Jews who buy ovens with
“Sabbath settings” or who ride Shabbat elevators or who wear their housekey on a tie
clip—all ways of circumventing the spirit of the sabbath prohibitions while observing
the letter. 4

Nor will I criticize a Jewish physician who will not see patients on Saturday or even a
doctor named Cohen who won’t be in the same room with a dead person.

My point is, from the time of King David to today, Judaism has been heterogeneous,
with various schools and communities bringing their own interpretations to the
mitzvoth. It has never been monolithic—and the ones who should know that best are
the practitioners of rabbinic orthodoxy, itself a radical re-thinking of priestly Judaism
made necessary by historical circumstances.

Post-Halachic Judaism

Modern (or centrist) orthodox Jews also seem to have forgotten that about 100 years
ago, the traditionally observant Jew considered the Chassidic and Haredi Jews
something of an embarrassment: superstitious, ignorant, crazy even. The profound
religious differences between these two Judaisms were eventually overlooked so that
the Modern and Chassidic could exert a combined political power strong enough to
withstand the tide of liberal Judaism. 5

Judaism is not now, and never has been, monolithic or homogeneous with respect to
religious practice or official belief. The Zealots advocated violence; the Essenes skipped
the first commandment and remained celibate; the Priests worshipped God at a giant

4These workarounds are called dres, Yiddish for circle.

5 Would they be surprised to know how much neo-Chassidism and neo-Kabbalism are nowadays
practiced in the liberal streams of Judaism’s attempts to be more postmodern?
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barbeque pit; the Karaites disputed the provenance of the “oral law”; the Sephardim
pronounced Hebrew differently from the Ashkenazim and had different rules for what
may be eaten during Passover; the rabbis were once Pharisees (from the Hebrew word
for outsiders)—regarded with suspicion by the Priests, who were known to toss fruit at
them; the Temple-era Jews believed in eternal death, the rabbis in an afterlife, and the
Medieval sages in reincarnation; Ezra and Nehemiah believed that Jewishness was in
one’s blood, while eventually the rabbis instituted conversion...

Orthodox belief systems, of many kinds, tend to be ahistorical. That is, they believe that
the important things never change, that adaptation and amendment are sinful and
weak. But the inescapable truth is that rabbinic Judaism was a sharp break from the
cultic religion that bore the same name. And that the Talmud and Midrash were
brilliant revisions and amendments to the original Tanach, necessary for the survival of
a powerless people in exile, but scorned by those who remembered the “true” religion
of their fathers—much as the liberal Jew is often scorned by the self-righteous descendants of
the Pharisees.

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