Crafting the 613 Commandments ― Maimonides on the Enumeration, Classification, and Formulation of the Scriptural Commandments

The TaRYaG count—the traditional enumeration of the 613 commandments contained in the five Mosaic books (Torah)—holds a prominent place in Jewish thought. The tradition is based on an aggadah found in the Babylonian Talmud and, with some variants, in Midrash Tanhuma. No one did more to see this count achieve its place of importance than Moses Maimonides, who, in his Sefer ha-Mitsvot, methodically crafted a list with the intent of having it serve as an outline for his upcoming Mishneh Torah, the most comprehensive code of law in Jewish history. In the first half of this work, Friedberg investigates Maimonides’ methods and reasoning and arrives at a new and innovative reason for his interest in the TaRYaG count. Friedberg then continues, carefully examining the language used for presenting commandments in the Mishneh Torah, which suggests to him new dimensions in Maimonides’ legal theory.

Albert D. Friedberg (PhD University of Toronto) is a scholar of medieval Jewish literature and philosophy and early rabbinic literature. His published articles include “A New Clue in the Dating of the Composition of the Book of Esther,” and “Maimonides’ Reinterpretation of the Thirteenth Article of Faith: Another Look at his Essay on Resurrection.”