Living by the commandments
By Moshe Kohn

What does it mean to be a Jew living according to Torah?

Traditionally, it is said that a Torah-observant Jew is one who observes all the 613 mitzvot (commandments).

If you were to sit down and count all the commands in the Torah, you would find rather more than just 613, perhaps less; and different people might arrive at different totals depending on what they counted as a separate command.

Furthermore, not all of the "official" 613 mitzvot are stated as imperatives. A classical one in this category, over which there is some discussion among the commentators, but which is listed as an imperative in the "official" enumeration of the mitzvot - that of Rambam (Maimonides) - is the one to establish a monarchical government in sovereign Eretz Yisrael. The Torah itself only lists this as a voluntary option. We read (Deuteronomy 17:14): "If, when you have entered the land that God, your god, has given you...and you decide: 'I will set a king over me as do all the nations about me,' [then] you shall set a king over yourself..." Rambam lists this as Action Commandment 173.

Most important of all, no single person can observe all 613 mitzvot, and in our time not even the entire Jewish people together can do so. This is because some mitzvot apply only when the Temple is standing and the Temple service is conducted; some obligate only women and some obligate only men; some mitzvot apply only to kohanim (priests) and Levites, and some only to the Yisrael category; and some apply only to particular circumstances that do not occur to everyone.

Be that as it may, the number 613 was determined by the talmudic Sage Rabbi Simla'i, who did not explain how he arrived at that number and did not specify what the mitzvot are as Rambam did. We read (Makkot 23b- 24a; Pesikta d'Rav Kahana XII; Midrash Shoher Tov 17).

The Torah commands 613 mitzvot: 365 prohibitions - one for each day of the year, and 248 prohibitions - one for each limb and organ of the human body. Each limb and organ says: Use me to perform the holy act commanded by God; each day tells us: Do not commit that transgression during my tenure.

David compressed the essence of those 613 commands to eleven, as we read (Psalms 15:1-5): "A Psalm of David: God, who shall dwell in Your tabernacle; who shall sit on your holy mountain? He who conducts himself uprightly, does what is right, and speaks truth from his heart; who does not use his tongue for slander, does no evil to his fellow, nor tells against his neighbor; who despises vile people and honors those who are Godfearing; who swears to his own hurt and does not retract; does not lend his money at interest, and does not take bribes against the innocent..."

Isaiah (33:15) compressed it to six, as written: "...He who walks righteously and speaks uprightly, despises the gains of exploitation, recoils from taking bribes, shuts his ears to murderous talk, and avoids gaping at evil..."

Micah (6:8) compressed it to three: "You have been told, Man, what is good and what God wishes of you: Only to act justly, to cherish hessed (loving kindness), and conduct yourself humbly before your God."

Isaiah (56:1), again, compressed it to two: "...Be sure to render justice and to act righteously..."

Amos (5:4) and Habakkuk (2:4) compressed the 613 Mitzvot to one single command: Amos: "Seek God and live," and Habakkuk: "A tzaddik (righteous person) [is one who] lives according to his [professed] faith."

Then, of course, there is the Sage Hillel's reply to the heathen who asked him to teach the whole Torah "on one foot" - i.e. by summing it up in a single principle. Hillel told the man (Shabbat 31a): "Don't do to others what you hate to have done to you. This is the sum of the Torah - the rest is elaboration."

Hillel added a vital admonition that is usually ignored by those who reject the Torah but like to quote Hillel. He concluded the statement to the heathen with the words: "Go and learn it."