In a minute
Judaism is a way of life built on mitzvot, commandments. By rabbinic count the Torah contains 613: 248 "do" commandments and 365 "do not" commandments. Some are between a person and God (prayer, Shabbat, kosher food); many are between a person and other people (honesty, charity, kindness, justice in court and in business). Jews believe that ethics and holiness are one thing: "Ye shall be holy; for I the LORD your God am holy" comes in the same chapter as "thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself". In everyday speech, a mitzvah has also come to mean simply a good deed.
What it is and how it's lived
613
Rabbi Simlai taught that 613 commandments were given to Moses: 365 negative, like the days of the solar year, and 248 positive, which he linked to the parts of the human body, so that every day and every limb can serve God (paraphrased; Babylonian Talmud, Makkot 23b). Many of the 613 applied only to the Temple, to priests or to the land of Israel, so a Jew today is directly able to keep fewer than 300 (commonly cited approximate figure). Maimonides and others made lists of all 613.
The Talmud goes on to say that later teachers summed up the commandments in fewer and fewer principles: David in eleven (Psalm 15), Isaiah in six, Micah in three, and the prophet Habakkuk in one: "the righteous shall live by his faith" (paraphrased; Makkot 24a). Micah's three are among the best-known words in the Hebrew Bible:
"It hath been told thee, O man, what is good, And what the LORD doth require of thee: Only to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God." (Micah 6:8, JPS 1917)
Love your neighbour
"Thou shalt not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD." (Leviticus 19:18, JPS 1917)
Rabbi Akiva called this a great principle of the Torah. His colleague Ben Azzai answered that an even greater principle is the verse "This is the book of the generations of Adam … in the likeness of God made He him" (Genesis 5:1): because every human being, not only one's neighbour, carries God's image. (Paraphrased; Sifra, Kedoshim 4:12; Jerusalem Talmud, Nedarim 9:4.) Hillel put the same commandment in its negative form: what is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour (paraphrased; Babylonian Talmud, Shabbat 31a).
The same chapter, Leviticus 19, the "holiness code", reads like a portrait of a just society: leave the corners of your field for the poor; do not steal or lie; pay a worker on the same day; do not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block before the blind; judge fairly; do not spread gossip; honour the elderly; use honest weights; and love the stranger.
"The stranger that sojourneth with you shall be unto you as the home-born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God." (Leviticus 19:34, JPS 1917)
Justice
"Justice, justice shalt thou follow, that thou mayest live" (Deuteronomy 16:20, JPS 1917)
Hebrew:
צֶדֶק צֶדֶק תִּרְדֹּף
Commentators asked why "justice" is said twice. One answer: pursue justice by just means; the goal never excuses an unjust method (attributed to several commentators, e.g. R. Simcha Bunim of Peshischa).
Saving life comes first
Almost every commandment is set aside to save a human life (pikuach nefesh). The rabbis read the Torah's words "which if a man do, he shall live by them" (Leviticus 18:5) to mean live by them, not die by them (paraphrased; Babylonian Talmud, Yoma 85b). So a doctor works on Shabbat, a sick person eats on Yom Kippur, and medicine is taken even if it is not kosher. The only exceptions, which a person must refuse even at the cost of their life, are idolatry, murder and forbidden sexual relations (paraphrased; Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin 74a).
Its inner meaning
The rabbis noticed that many commandments, like "be holy", seem to describe God's own ways. They taught that to follow God means to imitate God's kindness: as God clothed the naked (Adam and Eve), visited the sick (Abraham), comforted mourners (Isaac) and buried the dead (Moses), so should we (paraphrased; Babylonian Talmud, Sotah 14a).
A mitzvah also carries a sense of connection: some link the word to the Aramaic tzavta, "togetherness". A commandment done with love becomes a meeting with God.
The Mishnah's tractate Pirkei Avot ("Ethics of the Fathers"), read on summer Shabbat afternoons, gathers the rabbis' moral wisdom, for example: - In a place where there are no people of integrity, strive to be a person of integrity (Hillel) (paraphrased; Mishnah, Avot 2:5). - It is not your duty to finish the work, but neither are you free to stop doing it (Rabbi Tarfon) (paraphrased; Mishnah, Avot 2:16; 2:21 in some editions). - Who is wise? One who learns from every person (Ben Zoma) (paraphrased; Mishnah, Avot 4:1).
Key texts
"Speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say unto them: Ye shall be holy; for I the LORD your God am holy." (Leviticus 19:2, JPS 1917)
"I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that I have set before thee life and death, the blessing and the curse; therefore choose life, that thou mayest live, thou and thy seed" (Deuteronomy 30:19, JPS 1917)
"Love ye therefore the stranger; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt." (Deuteronomy 10:19, JPS 1917)
Common misunderstandings, answered gently
- "Judaism is about rules, Christianity about love." "Love thy neighbour as thyself" is a Torah commandment (Leviticus 19:18) and so is "thou shalt love the LORD thy God" (Deuteronomy 6:5). Jews experience the commandments as the way love takes shape in daily life.
- "An eye for an eye means revenge." The rabbis ruled that this verse (Exodus 21:24) always meant fair monetary compensation, never physical injury, and that the principle limits punishment to what is proportionate (paraphrased; Babylonian Talmud, Bava Kamma 83b–84a).
- "The commandments only apply to Jews." Jews believe the 613 are Israel's covenant duties; all people are asked to keep the seven Noahide laws, a universal ethic.
Across the movements
Orthodox Jews hold all applicable commandments as binding law. Masorti Jews also see halakhah as binding, while allowing it to develop. Reform and Liberal Judaism emphasise the ethical commandments above all and treat ritual commandments as meaningful choices. All movements share the ethics of Leviticus 19 and the prophets.
Reflection
Ben Azzai said the greatest verse is the one that reminds us every person carries God's image. Who is the hardest person for you to see that way, and why?
In the other traditions
- Christianity: Jesus called "love the Lord your God" and "love your neighbour as yourself" the two greatest commandments: "The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments." (Matthew 22:40, WEB). His Golden Rule, "whatever you desire for men to do to you, you shall also do to them" (Matthew 7:12, WEB), echoes Hillel's teaching.
- Islam: Muslims follow the shari'ah, God's path of life, covering worship and ethics together; Ihsan, "doing what is beautiful", is its heart, and the Qur'an commands justice and kindness to parents, kin, orphans and the needy (Qur'an 2:83).
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