Torah how many laws

People can't always judge what, in their upbringing, was Jewish and what was not. They're cutting off an alternative mode of inquiry: thinking about what they have inherited because of Judaism. I'd argue that even if it were trivializing, it wouldn't be less so than simply foregoing the practice entirely and dooming it to die. It's orthopraxy. Judaism roots its values in obligations. You must give tzedakah. You must honor the Sabbath as a day of rest and study. You must be present in the temple on the High Holidays to seek forgiveness for the misdoings of the past year.

You must, for eight days, eat matzah — "the bread of affliction" that is also the bread of freedom. And sure, you can put peanut butter on it. You can spend eight days eating quinoa and rice. As for me, I'd need a better reason to abandon the stricter rules about kitniyot than that following them is hard.

The Torah contains commands: positive ones and negative ones, each of which is associated with a specific part of the body. Believed to have been given to Moses by God, these include the Ten Commandments, which hold a central place in Jewish law, as well as rules on food, hygiene, morality and rituals.

Following them is regarded as an affirmation of their covenant with God. These laws are followed without questioning even if they seem arbitrary or silly.

These laws are regarded as an expression of love: by God as a way of allowing mankind to redeem itself for causing disharmony and trouble, and by mankind as a way of expressing emotion and gratitude to God. And Mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire The ban on graven images means that believers may not worship or bow down to idols or even images that attempt to capture the one true God.

The understanding is that God is so powerful and overwhelming that he can not be conveyed in an image. He can be worshipped as a spirit. Traditionally, Jews have not even used his name at all. The Seventh Commandment forbids adultery extramarital sexual relations not fornication premarital sexual relations. This is because Jews traditionally married very young so fornication was not regarded as a problem while adultery was a community problem because it called into question the legitimacy of children.

Ark of the Covenant The words of the Ten Commandments were written on two stone tablets with the "finger of God. According to one legend it was stolen by the illegitimate son of Solomon and Sheba and taken to Ethiopia in the 10th century B. It was placed first on an island Mesa in Lake Tana, where its was watched over by a band of monks, and then taken to a church in Aksum, where the Ethiopian Orthodox Church became its chosen protector.

At Aksum the ark has been watched over by a single virginal monk who, once chosen for this lifetime appointment can never leave the iron-fenced chapel grounds. If he acts in this way, then everyone will adore and love him, and follow his example. This is a sanctification of God's Name, and concerning this it is written, " This chapter explains that it is forbidden to erase any of the Holy Names, and states which Names mat be erased.

This you shall not do to the Lord your God. Anyone who erases even one letter of any of these Names is liable to flogging. Even though these added letters are holy and may not be erased, anyone who does erase them is not liable to flogging according to the Torah, but is flogged because of a Rabbinical decree. Even if the Name was engraved [and not written] in a metal or glass vessel, then one who melts the vessel is liable to flogging.

To be allowed to use such a vessel one first has to remove that part on which the Name is engraved and relegate it to the archives. Similarly, if one had a Name written on one's flesh, one may not wash or apply ointments or creams [on that place], and one may not stand in a place which is soiled with excrement.

If, for whatever reason by way of a mitzvah, one has to immerse oneself in a ritual bath, one must cover the place on which the Name is written with something that is waterproof before immersing oneself.

If one could not find something that is waterproof, one should wrap a garment round [that part of one's skin] without sticking it, so that it won't act as a barrier between one's skin and the water. The only reason he has to wrap up the Name [in the first place] is that it is forbidden to stand naked in the presence of God's Name.

This you shall not do to the Lord your God"2. It is also forbidden to tear them up, any anyone who does so is flogged because of a Rabbinical decree. This is talking about holy writings written by a Jew in holiness, but if a Jewish heretic wrote a Sefer Torah, it must be burned along with the Names therein, for the reason that the heretic does not believe in the holiness of the Names, and does not write them with the correct intention , but treats them as ordinary literature.

Since his attitudes are such his writings of [any of] God's Names are not holy, and it is a mitzvah to burn them, so as not to give any credence to heretics or to their actions. Any Names written by a gentile, however, are relegated to the archives, as are any holy writings which have become worn out or which were written by a gentile.

Even where it says, " The Names mentioned with Michah are not holy. All the Names mentioned in connection with Navot are holy. All that Solomon wrote in the Song of Songs is holy and has the same status as the other Attributes, with this exception: "You, O Solomon, may have the thousand.

This chapter discusses prophecy and who warrants it, and explains the difference between the prophecy of Moses and that of the other Prophets. A person who fulfills these criteria, and is of perfect health, will, when studying esoterical philosophy and is attracted by those elevated issues and is of an appropriate temperament to understand and comprehend them , and sanctifies himself by moving away from anybody who concerns himself with ephemeral matters, and encourages himself not to have any thoughts about useless matters and its contrivances, have his thoughts permanently attuned to above, from under God's Throne, to understand the pure and holy forms, and looks upon the wisdom of God [in Creation] in its entirety, from the first form [i.

At the time when prophecy comes to him, his soul will be on the same level as that of the Ishim angels, and he will become a different man, and he will realise that he is not [any more] as he was, but will rise above the level of other wise men, as it is written, " Prophetic insights come only in nocturnal visions in dreams, or by day after falling asleep, as it is written, "I the Lord make Myself known to him in a vision, and speak to him in a dream.

For instance, when Jacob the Patriarch saw the ladder with angels ascending and descending it, it was a parable representing monarchy and its subjection. Similarly, the animals which Ezekiel saw, the boiling pot and almond tree which Jeremiah saw, and all the other objects seen by the other Prophets were also parables. Of the Prophets, some, like those mentioned above, related what they saw in their prophecy and their interpretation of it, whereas some related just their interpretation.

Sometimes they related just the parables [of the prophecy], like Ezekiel and Zachariah sometimes did. All of the Prophets prophesied by way of parables and riddles. Therefore, the sons of prophets would have before them harps, drums and flutes, and would seek prophecy, as it is written, " Even though they attune their thoughts, the Divine Presence may, or may not, inspire them.

In what ways did Moses differ from the other Prophets? Firstly, whereas the other Prophets received their prophecies in a dream or vision, Moses received his while awake and standing, as it is written, "And when Moses was in the Tent of Meeting to speak with Him, he heard the voice speaking to him, et cetera. Therefore, what they saw was by way of parable and riddle. Moses, on the other hand, did not receive his prophecies via an angel, as it is written, "With him I speak mouth to mouth," "And the Lord spoke to Moses face to face," " The Torah said about him, " Thirdly, the other Prophets were scared [of their prophetic visions] and would shy away, but Moses wasn't and didn't.

Scripture says, " Fourthly, none of the Prophets prophesied whenever they wanted to, but whenever God wanted to He would visitate Moses and bestow upon him prophecy. Moses did not have to attune his thoughts or otherwise prepare himself, for the reason that he was always prepared and stood like a ministering angel.

Therefore, he would receive prophecies at any time, as it is written, "Stand still and I will hear what the Lord will command concerning you. But as for you, stand here by Me, and I will speak to you, et cetera. Moses, on the other hand, did not return to his home, and separated himself from his wife, and all that resembled her, for ever. His mind was [always] connected to God, and God's glory never left him at all; light emanated from his face, and he was holy like an angel. It is also possible that he has to deliver the prophecy to one of the nations of the world, or to the people of a [particular] town, or to the citizens of a nation, [in order] to teach them wisdom, and to let them know what to do, or to prevent them from doing [again] any bad deeds.

When a prophet is sent [by God] on such a mission, he is given a sign and proof [to present], so that people will know that God [really] sent him in truth.

When such people present a sign and proof and say that God sent them, it is a commandment to listen to them, for it is written, " In this we have commanded, just as we have been commanded to decide a verdict according to the testimony of two people who are eligible to bear testimony [together], even though they may be lying; since they have always been honest in the past, we assume that they being honest now as well. About this and similar matters it is written, "The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but those things which are revealed belong to use and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of the Torah," and it is also written, " This chapter discusses the signs that Moses performed and why he performed them, and that he did not do so to make the people believe in him.

All the signs that Moses performed in the wilderness were done so according to the needs of the moment, and not to bring proof to his prophecies. There was a need to sink the Egyptians, so Moses split the sea and drowned them in it; the Children of Israel needed food, so Moses brought down the manna for them; they needed water, so Moses split the rock for them; Korah and his followers rebelled, so Moses opened up the ground and they were swallowed up.

The same principle applies with all the other signs. It is derived from the verse, "Lo, I come to you in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you, and believe you for ever. So it was with Moses our Teacher, that all of the Children of Israel were his witnesses after the assembly at Mount Sinai, and he didn't have to perform for them any signs. This is what God said to him at the time when his prophecy started, when He showed him what signs to perform in Egypt: "And they shall listen to your voice.

This is what Scripture says: " Just as we have been commanded to decide a matter according to the testimony of two witnesses, even though we do not know if his sign is Divine or achieved by spells and witchcraft. The prophecy of Moses was not dependant upon signs, so the signs of this prophet cannot outweigh the signs of Moses, for we saw and heard them, just as he did.

This is similar to two witnesses who bear testimony that a particular person did a particular thing in front of them, but he is not like they say he is, so we do not listen to them and we know for sure that they are false witnesses. Therefore, the Torah said that if a prophet comes with signs and wonders, we do not listen to him, for he is coming to deny that what we saw with our eyes.

Since we believe in wonders only because of a commandment of Moses, how can we accept a sign that is brought to deny the prophecy of Moses which we saw and heard?! This chapter explains that a prophet may not make any changes whatsoever in the Torah and the commandments contained therein. In connection with this it is written, " Therefore, if a man, whether a gentile or a Jew, arises and performs signs and wonders, and says that God sent him to add to, or take away from, a mitzvah, or to institute a new mitzvah which we did not hear from Moses, or says that the commandments with which we have been commanded are not for eternity but are meant only for a temporary period, then he is a false prophet, for he has come to undermine the prophecy of Moses.

His punishment is death by strangulation, which is the punishment for deliberately speaking in the name of God without having been commanded to do so. God told Moses that all the commandments are for eternity, and no man can accuse God of being deceitful.

The prophet in question does not come to start a [new] religion, but to reiterate the commandments of the Torah and to warn the people not to transgress them, as the last Prophet said, "Remember the Torah of Moses My servant. Similarly, if a prophet who is known to be a [true] prophet tells us to transgress one, or many, of the commandments of the Torah, whether of the stringent or of the more lenient ones, but only as a temporary practice, then we are commanded to listen to him.

So we learnt from the first Sages, that we should listen to a prophet whatever the commandments he tells us to transgress are, as with Elijah at Mount Carmel, except if the commandment he tells us to transgress is that of not practising idolatry, and provided that he tells us to transgress only as a temporary practice, like Elijah did at Mount Carmel, when he offered sacrifices outside Jerusalem, which is the city chosen for offering sacrifices in, and anyone who does so outside Jerusalem is liable to karet.

Even so, since Elijah was a prophet, it was a mitzvah to listen to him. The verse, " The most well-known of these laws are the Ten Commandments , but the Torah contains a total of commandments or mitzvah covering many aspects of daily life, including family, personal hygiene and diet. Exodus Moses also received an explanation of the Torah from God, known as the Oral Torah, which is recorded in the Mishnah.

The covenant Moses received assured Jews that if they followed these rules, God would protect them from harm: Do everything the Lord has said Exodus What's Nu? Current Calendar About. A List of the Mitzvot Commandments.