A List of the 613 Mitzvot

The Book of Knowledge

Its groups of laws are five, and this is their order: Laws of the Foundations of the Torah, Laws of
Personal Dispositions, Laws of Torah Study, Laws of Idolatry and Gentile Customs, Laws of Repentance

Laws of the Foundations of the Torah include ten commandments, six positive commandments and
four negative commandments, which are: (1) to know that there is Elohim; (2) not to entertain the
thought that there is any elohim but YHWH; (3) to acknowledge His Oneness; (4) to love Him; (5) to fear
Him; (6) to sanctify His Name; (7) not to profane His Name; (8) not to destroy things upon which His
Name is called; (9) to obey the prophet who speaks in His Name; (10) not to test Him.

Laws of Personal Dispositions include eleven commandments, five positive commandments and six
negative commandments, which are: (1) to imitate His ways; (2) to cleave to those who know Him; (3) to
love others; (4) to love converts; (5) not to hate others; (6) to rebuke; (7) not to shame others; (8) not to
afflict the unfortunate; (9) not to gossip; (10) not to take revenge; (11) not to bear a grudge.

Laws of Torah Study includes two positive commandments: (1) to learn Torah; (2) to honor those who
teach it and know it.

Laws of Idolatry and Gentile Customs include fifty-one commandments, two positive commandments
and forty-nine negative commandments, which are: (1) not to turn to idolatry; (2) not to stray after
thoughts of the heart and sights of the eyes; (3) not to blaspheme; (4) not to worship an object of idolatry
in its normal way; (5) not to prostrate oneself before it; (6) not to make a graven image for oneself; (7) not
to make a graven image even for others; (8) not to make figures even for decoration; (9) not to proselytize
others after it; (10) to burn a city that has been proselytized over to idolatry; (11) not to rebuild it; (12) not
to benefit from any of its property; (13) not to entice an individual to worship it; (14) not to love the
enticer; (15) not to leave off hating him; (16) not to save him; (17) not to plead for his acquittal; (18) not
to refrain from pleading for his conviction; (19) not to prophesy in its name; (20) not to listen to one who
prophesies in its name; (21) not to prophesy falsely, even in the name of the YHWH; (22) not to fear
killing a false prophet; (23) not to swear in the name of idolatry; (24) not to divine by consulting ghosts;
(25) not to resort to familiar spirits; (26) not to turn over to Molech; (27) not to set up a pillar; (28) not to
prostrate oneself on a figured stone; (29) not to plant a tree for worship; (30) to destroy an object of
idolatry and everything made for it; (31) not to benefit from a object of idolatry or its accessories; (32) not
to benefit from the coverings of anything worshipped; (33) not to make a covenant with idolaters; (34) not
to show them favor; (35) that they must not settle in our land; (36) not to imitate their customs or their
dress; (37) not to practice divination; (38) not to practice black magic; (39) not to practice soothsaying;
(40) not to practice the charmer's art; (41) not to enquire of the dead; (42) not to consult a ghost; (43) not
to consult a familiar spirit; (44) not to practice witchcraft; (45) not to shave the corners of the head; (46)
not to remove the corners of the beard; (47) that a man shall not wear the attire of a woman; (48) that a
woman shall not wear the attire of a man; (49) not to tattoo the body; (50) not to cut oneself; (51) not to
make a bald spot for the dead.

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Laws of Repentance include one positive commandment, which is that the sinner shall repent of his sin
before the YHWH, and confess.

All the commandments included in this book are thus seventy five, sixteen of them positive
commandments and fifty-nine negative commandments.

The Book of Love

Its groups of laws are six, and this is their order: Laws of Reading the Shema`, Laws of Prayer and
Priestly Blessing, Laws of Tefillin, Mezuzah, and Torah Scroll, Laws of Tzitzit, Laws of Blessings, Laws
of Circumcision

Laws of Reading the Shema` include one positive commandment, which is to read the Shema` twice
daily.

Laws of Prayer and Priestly Blessing includes two positive commandments: (1) to serve the YHWH in
prayer daily; (2) for priests to bless Israel daily.

Laws of Tefillin, Mezuzah, and Torah Scroll include five positive commandments, which are: (1) for
there to be tefillin on the head; (2) to bind them on the arm; (3) to fix a mezuzah at entrances; (4) for
every man to write a Torah scroll for himself; (5) for the King to write a second scroll for himself, so that
he will have two Torah scrolls.

Laws of Tzitzit include one positive commandment, which is to make Tzitzit on the corners of garments.

Laws of Blessings include one positive commandment, which is to bless His Name after eating.

Laws of Circumcision include one positive commandment, which is to circumcise males on the eighth
day.

All the commandments included in this book are thus eleven positive commandments.

The Book of Times

Its groups of laws are ten, and this is their order: Laws of the Sabbath, Laws of Eruvin, Laws of Rest on
the Tenth of Tishri, Laws of Rest on the Holidays, Laws of Leaven and Unleavened Bread, Laws of
Shofar, Sukkah, and Lulav, Laws of Shekels, Laws of Sanctification of Months, Laws of Fasts, Laws of
the Scroll of Esther and Hanukkah

Laws of the Sabbath include five commandments, two positive commandments and three negative
commandments, which are: (1) to rest on the seventh day; (2) not to do work on it; (3) not to punish on
the Sabbath; (4) not to leave the limits of one's settlement on the Sabbath; (5) to sanctify the day in
speech.

Laws of Eruvin include one positive commandment, which is rabbinical and not counted among the
Torah commandments.

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Laws of Rest on the Tenth of Tishri include four commandments, two positive commandments and two
negative commandments, which are: (1) to rest on it from work; (2) not to do work on it; (3) to fast on it;
(4) not to eat or drink on it.

Laws of Rest on the Holidays include twelve commandments, six positive commandments and six
negative commandments, which are: (1) to rest on the first day of Pesach; (2) not to do work on it; (3) to
rest on the seventh day of Pesach; (4) not to do work on it; (5) to rest on Shavuot; (6) not to do work on it;
(7) to rest on Rosh Hashanah; (8) not to do work on it; (9) to rest on the first day of the Festival of
Sukkot; (10) not to do work on it; (11) to rest on the eighth day of the Festival; (12) not to do work on it.

Laws of Leaven and Unleavened Bread include eight commandments, three positive commandments
and five negative commandments, which are: (1) not to eat leavened food on the Fourteenth of Nisan,
from noon onwards; (2) to get rid of leaven on the Fourteenth of Nisan; (3) not to eat leavened food
during the seven days; (4) not to eat a mixture that contains leaven during the seven days; (5) that no
leavened food is to be seen in one's possession during the seven days; (6) that no leavened food is to be
found in one's possession during the seven days; (7) to eat unleavened bread on the night of Pesach; (8) to
tell the story of the Exodus from Egypt on that night.

Laws of Shofar, Sukkah, and Lulav include three positive commandments, which are: (1) to hear the
sound of the shofar on the first of Tishri; (2) to dwell in a sukkah seven days of the Festival; (3) to take up
a Lulav in the Temple all seven days of the Festival.

Laws of Shekels include one positive commandment, which is for every man to give half a Sheqel every
year.

Laws of Sanctification of Months include one positive commandment, which is to calculate, know, and
fix which day is to be the beginning of each and every month in the year.

Laws of Fasts include one positive commandment, which is to fast and cry out before the YHWH
whenever a great calamity comes upon the public.

Laws of the Scroll of Esther and Hanukkah includes two positive rabbinical commandments, not
counted among the Torah commandments.

All the Torah commandments included in this book are thus thirty five, nineteen of them positive
commandments and sixteen negative commandments; there are also three rabbinical commandments.

The Book of Women

Its groups of laws are five, and this is their order: Laws of Marriage, Laws of Divorce, Laws of Levirate
Marriage and Release, Laws of the Virgin Maiden, Laws of a Woman Suspected of Adultery

Laws of Marriage include four commandments, two positive commandments and two negative
commandments, which are: (1) to take a wife by marriage contract and sanctification ceremony; (2) for a
woman not to have sexual relations without a marriage contract and sanctification ceremony; (3) not to
withhold food, clothing, and conjugal rights; (4) to be fruitful and multiply from one's wife.

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Laws of Divorce include two commandments: (1) a positive commandment, which is that one shall
divorce with a written document; (2) that one shall not take back a former wife after her being married to
another.

Laws of Levirate Marriage and Release include three commandments, two positive commandments and
one negative commandment, which are: (1) to marry the widow of a brother who died childless; (2) to
release the widow, if one does not marry her; (3) that such a widow not be married to another man until
the levirate obligation has been removed.

Laws of the Virgin Maiden include five commandments, three positive commandments and two
negative commandments, which are: (1) to fine the seducer; (2) that the rapist shall marry his victim; (3)
that the rapist shall not divorce; (4) that the wife of one who defamed her as a non-virgin at marriage may
remain with him forever; (5) that such a defamer shall not divorce his wife.

Laws of a Woman Suspected of Adultery include three commandments, one affirmative commandment
and two negative commandments, which are: (1) to do to a woman suspected of adultery the special
procedure set out in the Torah; (2) not to put oil on her offering; (3) not to put frankincense on it.

All the commandments included in this book are thus seventeen, nine of them positive commandments
and eight negative commandments.

The Book of Holiness

Its groups of laws are three, and this is their order: Laws of Forbidden Sexual Relations, Laws of
Forbidden Foods, and Laws of Slaughter

Laws of Forbidden Sexual Relations include thirty-seven commandments, one positive commandment
and thirty-six negative commandments, which are: (1) not to have sexual relations with one's mother; (2)
not to have sexual relations with one's father's wife; (3) not to have sexual relations with one's sister; (4)
not to have sexual relations with one's father's wife's daughter; (5) not to have sexual relations with one's
son's daughter; (6) not to have sexual relations with one's daughter; (7) not to have sexual relations with
one's daughter's daughter; (8) not to marry a woman and her daughter; (9) not to marry a woman and her
son's daughter; (10) not to marry a woman and her daughter's daughter; (11) not to have sexual relations
with one's father's sister; (12) not to have sexual relations with one's mother's sister; (13) not to have
sexual relations with one's father's brother's wife; (14) not to have sexual relations with one's son's wife;
(15) not to have sexual relations with one's brother's wife; (16) not to have sexual relations with one's
wife's sister; (17) not have sexual relations with a beast; (18) that a woman shall not bring a beast to have
sexual relations with her; (19) not to have sexual relations with another male; (20) not to have sexual
relations with one's father; (21) not to have sexual relations with one's father's brother (22) not to have
sexual relations with another man's wife; (23) not to have sexual relations with a menstruous woman; (24)
not to intermarry with Gentiles; (25) that an Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter the community by
marriage with born Jews; (26) not to keep an Egyptian of the third generation from so entering the
community; (27) not to keep an Edomite of the third generation from so entering the community; (28) that
a mamzer shall not so enter the community; (29) that a eunuch shall not so enter the community; (30) not
to castrate a male, even a domestic animal or wild beast or fowl; (31) that the High Priest shall not marry
a widow; (32) that the High Priest shall not have sexual relations with a widow, even without marriage;
(33) that the High Priest shall marry a virgin in her adolescence; (34) that a priest shall not marry a
divorced woman; (35) that he shall not marry a harlot; (36) that he shall not marry a profaned woman;
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(37) that one shall not be intimate with one with which sexual relations are severely forbidden, even
though he does not have sexual relations.

Laws of Forbidden Foods include twenty-eight commandments, four positive commandments and
twenty-four negative commandments, which are: (1) to examine the identifying signs in animals and
beasts to tell the unclean from the clean; (2) to examine the identifying signs of fowl to tell the unclean
from the clean; (3) to examine the identifying signs of locusts to tell the unclean from the clean; (4) to
examine the identifying signs of fishes to tell the unclean from the clean; (5) not to eat unclean animals
and beasts; (6) not to eat unclean fowl; (7) not to eat unclean fishes; (8) not to eat winged swarming
things; (9) not to eat things that creep upon the earth; (10) not to eat things that swarm upon the earth;
(11) not to eat a worm found in fruit after it has emerged onto the ground; (12) not to eat things that
swarm in water; (13) not to eat an animal that died without slaughtering; (14) not to benefit from an ox
condemned to be stoned; (15) not to eat an animal that is fatally injured; (16) not to eat a limb removed
from a living animal; (17) not to eat blood; (18) not to eat suet of a clean animal; (19) not to eat the sinew
of the thigh; (20) not to eat meat with milk; (21) not to cook it; (22) not to eat bread of the new crop; (23)
not to eat roasted grain of the new crop; (24) not to eat fresh grain of the new crop; (25) not to eat fruit of
a tree in the first three years from planting; (26) not to eat grains or vegetables sown in a vineyard; (27)
not to eat produce from which priestly portions have not yet been removed; (28) not to drink wine of
libation to idolatry.

Laws of Slaughter include five commandments, three positive commandments and two negative
commandments, which are: (1) to slaughter and then eat; (2) not to slaughter an animal and its young on
the same day; (3) to cover the blood of a wild beast or of a fowl; (4) not to take the mother bird with the
young; (5) to set the mother bird free, if one has taken it and its young.

All the commandments included in this book are thus seventy, eight of them positive commandments and
sixty-two negative commandments.

The Book of Promises

Its groups of laws are four, and this is their order: Laws of Oaths, Laws of Vows, and Laws of the
Nazarite, Laws of Appraisals and Devoted Property

Laws of Oaths include five commandments, one positive commandment and four negative
commandments, which are: (1) not to swear by His Name falsely; (2) not to take His Name in vain; (3)
not to falsely deny an article left in trust; (4) not to swear falsely in denial of a claim to property; (5) to
swear by His Name in truth.

Laws of Vows include three commandments, two positive commandments and one negative
commandment, which are: (1) that one shall fulfill whatever he has uttered and do as he has vowed; (2)
not to break one's word; (3) that a vow or oath may be annulled, which is the law of annulment of vows
explicitly mentioned in the Written Law.

Laws of the Nazarite include ten commandments, two positive commandments and eight negative
commandments, which are: (1) that the Nazarite shall let his hair grow long; (2) that he shall not cut his
hair all the days of his Nazariteship; (3) that the Nazarite shall not drink wine nor a mixture with wine, not
even their vinegar; (4) that he shall not eat fresh grapes; (5) that he shall not eat raisins; (6) that he shall
not eat grape seeds; (7) that he shall not eat grape skins;
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 (8) That he shall not enter under any covering where there is a corpse; (9) that he shall not become
unclean from a corpse; (10) that he shall shave off his hair when bringing his sacrifices, when he
completes his Nazariteship or when he becomes unclean.

Laws of Appraisals and Devoted Property include seven commandments, five positive commandments
and two negative commandments, which are: (1) to judge in appraisals of the values of persons as
explicitly set forth in the Torah, which is the law of appraisal of persons; (2) the law of the appraisal of
animals; (3) the law of the appraisal of houses; (4) the law of the appraisal of fields; (5) the law of one
who devotes his property; (6) that what was so devoted shall not be sold; (7) that what was so devoted
shall not be redeemed.

All the commandments included in this book are thus twenty five, ten of them positive commandments
and fifteen negative commandments.

The Book of Seeds

Its groups of laws are seven, and this is their order: Laws of Diverse Varieties, Laws of Gifts to the Poor,
Laws of Heave Offerings, Laws of Tithes, Laws of Second Tithes and the Fruit of the Fourth Year, Laws
of First Fruits and Other Priestly Gifts outside the Sanctuary, Laws of the Sabbatical Year and the Jubilee

Laws of Diverse Varieties include five negative commandments, which are: (1) not to sow diverse seeds
together; (2) not to sow grain or vegetables in a vineyard; (3) not to mate animals of different species; (4)
not to work with animals of different species together; (5) not to wear clothing of both wool and linen.

Laws of Gifts to the Poor include thirteen commandments, seven positive commandments and six
negative commandments, which are: (1) to leave the corner of the field unharvested; (2) not to wholly
reap the corner of the field; (3) to leave the fallen stalks; (4) not to gather the fallen stalks; (5) to leave the
imperfect clusters of the vineyard; (6) not to gather the imperfect clusters of the vineyard; (7) to leave the
individual fallen grapes of the vineyard; (8) not to gather the individual fallen grapes of the vineyard; (9)
to leave the forgotten sheaf; (10) not to go back to take the forgotten sheaf; (11) to set aside a tithe for the
poor; (12) to give charity according to one's ability; (13) not to harden one's heart against the poor.

Laws of Heave Offerings include eight commandments, two positive commandments and six negative
commandments, which are: (1) to set aside a great heave offering; (2) to set aside a heave offering of the
tithes; (3) not to set aside heave offerings and tithes out of order, but to set them aside in the right order;
(4) that an unauthorized person shall not eat a heave offering; (5) that even a tenant or hired worker of a
priest shall not eat a heave offering; (6) that the uncircumcised shall not eat a heave offering; (7) that an
unclean priest shall not eat a heave offering; (8) that a profaned woman shall not eat a heave offering nor
a gift from consecrated animals.

Laws of Tithes include one commandment, which is to set apart the first tithe of produce each and every
year the fields are sown and give it to the Levites.

Laws of Second Tithes and the Fruit of the Fourth Year include nine commandments, three positive
commandments and six negative commandments, which are: (1) to set apart the second tithe; (2) not to
spend its redemption money for any necessities but eating, drinking, and anointing; (3) not to eat it while
unclean; (4) not to eat it while mourning; (5) not to eat the second tithe of grain outside Jerusalem; (6) not
to eat the second tithe of wine outside Jerusalem;
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(7) not to eat the second tithe of olive oil outside Jerusalem; (8) that all the fruit of trees in the fourth year
after planting shall be holy, and that it is to be eaten by its owner in Jerusalem like the second tithe; (9) to
make the tithe declaration.

Laws of First Fruits and Other Priestly Gifts Outside the Sanctuary include nine commandments,
eight positive commandments and one negative commandment, which are: (1) to set apart first fruits and
bring them to the Sanctuary; (2) that the priest shall not eat the first fruits outside Jerusalem; (3) to recite
the declaration on them; (4) to set apart a portion of dough for the priest; (5) to give the foreleg, the jaw,
and the stomach to the priest; (6) to give him the first fleece; (7) to redeem the first-born son, and to give
the redemption gift to the priest; (8) to redeem the first-born of an ass, and give the redemption gift to the
priest; (9) to decapitate the first-born of an ass, if one does not want to redeem it.

Laws of the Sabbatical Year and the Jubilee include twenty-two commandments, nine positive
commandments and thirteen negative commandments, which are: (1) that the land shall rest unworked in
the Sabbatical year; (2) that one shall not work the ground in that year; (3) that one shall not work the
trees in that year; (4) that one shall not harvest what grows by itself in the manner of harvesters; (5) that
one shall not harvest a vineyard in the manner of harvesters; (6) that one shall renounce ownership in
what the land produces; (7) that one shall release all his loans; (8) that one shall not oppress nor demand a
debt; (9) that one shall not refrain from making loans before the Sabbatical year, so as not to lose his
money; (10) to count the years by sevens; (11) to sanctify the fiftieth year; (12) to sound the shofar on the
Tenth of Tishri so that slaves go out free; (13) that the land shall not be worked in that year; (14) that one
shall not harvest what grows by itself in manner of harvesters; (15) not to harvest the vineyards in the
manner of harvesters; (16) to grant redemption to the land in this year, which is the rule for inherited
fields or purchased fields; (17) that the land shall not be sold in perpetuity; (18) the rule for houses in
walled cities; (19) that none of the Tribe of Levi shall receive a heritage in the Land of Israel, but cities to
dwell in shall be given to them as a gift; (20) that the Tribe of Levi shall not take a share in the spoils of
war; (21) to give to the Levites cities to dwell in and open land round about the cities; (22) that the open
land round about their cities shall never be sold, but they may redeem it at any time whether before the
Jubilee or after the Jubilee.

All the commandments included in this book are thus sixty seven, thirty of them positive commandments
and thirty-seven negative commandments.

The Book of Service

Its groups of laws are nine, and this is their order: Laws of the Chosen House, Laws of Vessels of the
Sanctuary and Those Who Serve in It, Laws of Entry into the Sanctuary, Laws of Things Forbidden on
the Altar, Laws of Sacrificial Procedures, Laws of the Daily Offerings and Additional Offerings, Laws of
Sacrifices Become Unfit, Laws of the Service on Yom Kippur, Laws of Benefit from Consecrated Things

Laws of the Chosen House include six commandments, three positive commandments and three negative
commandments, which are: (1) to build a Sanctuary; (2) not to build the Altar of hewn stones; (3) not to
go up by steps onto the Altar; (4) to fear the Sanctuary; (5) to keep a guard around the Sanctuary; (6) not
to stop guarding the Sanctuary.

Laws of Vessels of the Sanctuary and Those Who Serve in It include fourteen commandments, six
positive commandments and eight negative commandments, which are: (1) to prepare the anointing oil;
(2) not to make the like of it; (3) not to anoint oneself with it;
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(4) not to prepare incense in the formula of the incense; (5) not to offer on the Golden Altar anything but
the incense; (6) to bear the Ark on the shoulder; (7) that one shall not remove the staves from it; (8) that
the Levite shall serve in the Sanctuary; (9) that no one shall do the work assigned to another in the
Sanctuary; (10) to sanctify the priest for the service; (11) that all divisions take part equally on the
pilgrimage festivals; (12) to wear priestly clothing for the service; (13) that one shall not rend the priests'
robes; (14) that the breastplate be not loosened from the Ephod.

Laws of Entry into the Sanctuary include fifteen commandments, two positive commandments and
thirteen negative commandments, which are: (1) that a drunken priest shall not enter the Sanctuary; (2)
that a priest whose hair is disheveled shall not enter it; (3) that a priest whose garment is torn shall not
enter it; (4) that a priest shall not enter the Temple at all times; (5) that a priest shall not leave the
Sanctuary during the service; (6) to send the unclean out of the Sanctuary; (7) that one who is unclean
shall not enter the Sanctuary; (8) that one who is unclean shall not enter the Temple Mount; (9) that one
who is unclean shall not serve; (10) that who took a purifying ritual bath shall not serve in the Sanctuary
before the stars come out on the following evening; (11) that one who serves shall wash his hands and
feet; (12) that one with a disqualifying blemish shall not enter the Temple nor approach the Altar; (13)
that one with a disqualifying blemish shall not serve; (14) that one with a temporary disqualifying blemish
shall not serve; (15) that a non-priest shall not serve.

Laws of Things Forbidden on the Altar include fourteen commandments, four positive commandments
and ten negative commandments, which are: (1) to sacrifice only unblemished animals; (2) not to set
apart a blemished animal for the Altar; (3) not to slaughter one; (4) not to sprinkle its blood; (5) not to
burn its suet; (6) not to sacrifice one with a temporary blemish; (7) not to sacrifice one with a blemish,
even in sacrifices of Gentiles; (8) not to inflict a blemish in consecrated animals; (9) to redeem
consecrated animals that have become unfit; (10) to sacrifice only from eight days old and onward, for
before then it is called underage and is not to be sacrificed; (11) not to sacrifice animals taken in exchange
for services of a prostitute or in exchange for a dog; (12) not to burn on the Altar leaven or honey; (13) to
salt all sacrifices; (14) not to omit salting of sacrifices.

Laws of Sacrificial Procedures include twenty-three commandments, ten positive commandments and
thirteen negative commandments, which are: (1) to do the burnt offering according to the procedures in
its prescribed order; (2) not to eat the flesh of the burnt offering; (3) the order of the sin offering; (4) not
to eat the flesh of a sin offering brought inside; (5) not to sever the head a sin offering of fowl; (6) the
order of the guilt offering; (7) that the priests shall eat the flesh of the most holy sacrifices within the
Sanctuary; (8) that they shall not eat them outside the Courtyard; (9) that a non-priest shall not eat of the
most holy sacrifices; (10) the order of the peace offerings; (11) not to eat the flesh of the minor holy
sacrifices before the sprinkling of their blood; (12) to do each of the meal offerings according to the order
of its procedures prescribed in the Torah; (13) that one not put oil on the meal offering of a sinner; (14)
that one not put frankincense upon it; (15) that a priest's meal offering shall not be eaten; (16) that a meal
offering shall not be baked leavened; (17) that the priests shall eat the remainders of meal offerings; (18)
that one shall bring all his vowed offerings and his free-will offerings on the first pilgrimage festival that
comes; (19) that one shall not delay vowed offerings or free-will offerings or other things one is obligated
to do; (20) to offer all sacrifices in the Chosen House; (21) to bring things consecrated outside Israel to
the Chosen House; (22) not to slaughter sacrifices outside the Courtyard; (23) not to offer a sacrifice
outside the Courtyard.

Laws of the Daily Offerings and Additional Offerings include nineteen commandments, eighteen
positive commandments and one negative commandment, which are: (1) to sacrifice daily two lambs as
burnt offerings; (2) to light a fire upon the Altar daily; (3) not to extinguish it; (4) to remove the ashes
daily; (5) to burn incense daily; (6) to light lamps daily;
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 (7) that the High Priest shall bring a meal offering daily, which is called Chavittin; (8) to add on the
Sabbath two lambs as burnt offerings; (9) to do the showbread; (10) the additional offering of New
Moons; (11) the additional offering of Pesach; (12) to offer the Omer as a wave offering; (13) that each
and every man shall count seven weeks from the day the Omer is offered; (14) the additional offering of
Shavuot; (15) to bring the two loaves of bread with the sacrifices brought because of them on Shavuot;
(16) the additional offering of Rosh Hashanah; (17) the additional offering of the Day of the Fast; (18) the
additional offering of the Festival of Sukkot; (19) the additional offering of the Festival of Shemini
`Atzeret.

Laws of Sacrifices Become Unfit include eight commandments, two positive commandments and six
negative commandments, which are: (1) not to eat consecrated animals that have become unfit or have
been blemished; (2) not to eat the abomination of intended delay; (3) that one shall not leave the offerings
until after their time; (4) that one shall not eat what is left over beyond its time; (5) that one shall not eat
sacrifices that have become unclean; (6) that one who has become unclean shall not eat sacrifices; (7) to
burn what is left over beyond its time; (8) to burn what has become unclean.

Laws of the Service on Yom Kippur are one positive commandment, which is to do the service of the
whole Day of Atonement in the order written in Lev.16--the sacrifices, the confessions, the sending of the
scapegoat, and the rest of the service.

Laws of Benefit from Consecrated Things include three commandments, one positive commandment
and two negative commandments, which are: (1) for one has benefited from consecrated things to pay
what he has benefited with the addition of a fifth and bring an offering, which is the rule for one who
benefits from consecrated things; (2) not to work with consecrated animals; (3) not to shear the fleece of
consecrated animals.

All the commandments included in this book are thus one hundred three, forty seven of them positive
commandments and fifty-six negative commandments.

The Book of Sacrifices

Its groups of laws are six, and this is their order: Laws of the Pesach Sacrifice, Laws of Pilgrimage
Festival Sacrifices, Laws of the First-Born, Laws of Unintentional Sins, Laws of Those with Incomplete
Atonement, and Laws of Substitution for Consecrated Animals

Laws of the Pesach Sacrifice include sixteen commandments, four positive commandments and twelve
negative commandments, which are: (1) to slaughter the Pesach sacrifice at its appointed time; (2) not to
slaughter it while in possession of leaven; (3) not to let the parts to be burned on the Altar be left
overnight; (4) to slaughter the Second Pesach sacrifice; (5) to eat the flesh of the Pesach sacrifice with
unleavened bread and bitter herbs on the night of the Fifteenth of Nisan; (6) to eat the flesh of the Second
Pesach sacrifice with unleavened bread and bitter herbs on the night of the Fifteenth of the second month;
(7) not to eat it raw or boiled; (8) not to take flesh of the Pesach sacrifice outside the place of the group
appointed to eat it; (9) that an apostate shall not eat it; (10) that an alien tenant or hired worker shall not
eat it; (11) that the uncircumcised shall not eat it; (12) that one shall not break a bone of it; (13) that one
shall not break a bone of the Second Pesach sacrifice; (14) that one shall not leave over any of it until
morning; (15) that one shall not leave over any of the Second Pesach sacrifice until morning; (16) that one
shall not leave over any of the flesh of the pilgrimage festival sacrifice brought on the Fourteenth of Nisan
until the third day.
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Laws of Pilgrimage Festival Sacrifices include six commandments, four positive commandments and
two negative commandments, which are: (1) to appear before the YHWH; (2) to celebrate the three
pilgrimage festivals; (3) to rejoice on the pilgrimage festivals; (4) not to appear empty-handed; (5) not to
neglect to make the Levite rejoice and to give him gifts on the pilgrimage festivals; (6) to assemble the
people on Sukkot after the end of the Sabbatical year.

Laws of the First-Born include five commandments, two positive commandments and three negative
commandments, which are: (1) to set apart the first-born; (2) not to eat an unblemished first-born outside
Jerusalem; (3) not to redeem the first-born; (4) to set apart a tithe of animals; (5) not to redeem the tithe of
animals. I have included Laws of the tithe of animals with those of the first-born because the procedure is
the same in both, and the Written Torah includes the one with the other, as it is written "and dash their
blood" (see Numbers 18, 17, which according to the oral tradition is both the blood of the tithe of animals
and the blood of the first-born.

Laws of Unintentional Sins include five positive commandments, which are: (1) that an individual shall
bring a fixed sin offering for his error; (2) that one who does not know whether he sinned or not shall
bring a guilt offering until he knows for certain and brings his sin offering, and this is called the
conditional guilt offering; (3) that the sinner in specific sins brings a guilt offering, and this is called the
unconditional guilt offering; (4) that the sinner in specific sins brings, if wealthy an animal and if poor a
fowl or a tenth of an ephah of meal, and this is called the offering according to means; (5) that the
Sanhedrin shall bring an offering, if they have erred and instructed not according to the law in one of
certain grave matters.

Laws of Those with Incomplete Atonement include four positive commandments, which are: (1) that a
woman with an unclean issue shall bring an offering, when she becomes clean; (2) that a woman after
childbirth shall bring an offering, when she becomes clean; (3) that a man with an unclean issue shall
bring an offering, when he becomes clean; (4) that a leper shall bring an offering, when he becomes
clean. After they have brought their offerings, their purification is complete.

Laws of Substitution for Consecrated Animals include three commandments, one positive
commandment and two negative commandments, which are: (1) not to substitute for consecrated
animals; (2) that a substituted animal shall become consecrated, if a substitution was made; (3) not to
change consecrated animals from one category of holiness to another.

All the commandments included in this book are thus thirty nine, twenty of them positive commandments
and nineteen negative commandments.

The Book of Ritual Purity

Its groups of laws are eight, and this is their order: Laws of the Uncleanness from a Corpse, Laws of the
Red Heifer, Laws of Uncleanness from Leprosy, Laws of Uncleanness of a Bed or Seat, Laws of Other
Sources of Uncleanness, Laws of Uncleanness of Foods, Laws of Vessels, Laws of Ritual Baths

Laws of the Uncleanness from a Corpse includes one positive commandment, which is the rule for
uncleanness from a corpse.

Laws of the Red Heifer includes two positive commandments: (1) the rule for the red heifer; (2) the rule
for the uncleanness of the waters of sprinkling and of their purification.
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Laws of Uncleanness from Leprosy include eight commandments, six positive commandments and two
negative commandments, which are: (1) to give judgments on leprosy in persons according to the rules
written in the Torah; (2) not to cut off the identifying signs of uncleanness; (3) not to shave the scull; (4)
that the leper shall be recognizable by wearing torn garments, letting the hair go unkempt, and covering
the head down to the lips; (5) the cleansing of leprosy; (6) that the leper shall shave all his hair when he
becomes clean; (7) the rule for leprosy of a garment; (8) the rule for leprosy of a house.

Laws of Uncleanness of a Bed or Seat include four positive commandments, which are: (1) the rule for
uncleanness from a menstruous woman; (2) the rule for uncleanness from a woman after childbirth; (3)
the rule for uncleanness from a woman with an unclean issue; (4) the rule for uncleanness from a man
with an unclean issue.

Laws of Other Sources of Uncleanness includes three positive commandments, which are: (1) the rule
for uncleanness from an animal that died without slaughtering; (2) the rule for uncleanness from the eight
creeping things; (3) the rule for uncleanness from semen. An idol defiles like a creeping thing, and this
uncleanness is rabbinical.

Laws of Uncleanness of Foods are one commandment, which is the rule for the uncleanness of liquids,
and foods, and the conditions that cause foods to be susceptible to becoming unclean.

Laws of Vessels are on the subject of knowing which vessels contract uncleanness of any of the sorts
given above, which vessels do not contract them, and how vessels become unclean and cause uncleanness.

Laws of Ritual Baths include one positive commandment, which is that whoever is unclean shall
immerse himself in a ritual bath and then he will become clean.

All the commandments included in this book are thus twenty, eighteen of them positive commandments
and two negative commandments.

The Book of Injuries

Its groups of laws are five, and this is their order: Laws of Injury to Property, Laws of Theft, Laws of
Robbery and Lost Property, Laws of One Who Injures Person or Property, Laws of a Murderer and the
Preservation of Life

Laws of Injury to Property include four positive commandments, which are: (1) the rule for the goring
ox; (2) the rule for the grazing animal; (3) the rule for the uncovered pit; (4) the rule for the spreading fire.

Laws of Theft include seven commandments, two positive commandments and five negative
commandments, which are: (1) not to steal property; (2) the rule for the thief; (3) to maintain just scales
and weights; (4) not to do injustice in measures and weights; (5) not to have in one's possession diverse
weights and measures, even if they are not used in buying and selling; (6) not to move a landmark; (7) not
to steal persons.

Laws of Robbery and Lost Property include seven commandments, two positive commandments and
five negative commandments, which are: (1) not to rob; (2) not to exploit; (3) not to covet; (4) not to
desire what belongs to another; (5) to return what has been robbed; (6) not to ignore lost property; (7) to
return lost property.
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Laws of One Who Injures Person or Property includes one positive commandment, which is the rule
for one who injures another or damages another's property.

Laws of a Murderer and the Preservation of Life include seventeen commandments, seven positive
commandments and ten negative commandments, which are: (1) not to murder; (2) not to take ransom
from a murderer, but rather to execute him; (3) to exile one who killed another accidentally; (4) not to
take ransom from one who is liable for exile; (5) that a murderer shall not be executed when he has
committed murder, before he has been tried; (6) to save the pursued at the cost of the life of the pursuer;
(7) to show no pity for the pursuer; (8) not to stand by idly when life is in danger; (9) to set apart cities of
refuge and prepare the way to them; (10) to decapitate the heifer in a riverbed; (11) not to till its ground
nor sow it; (12) not to endanger human life; (13) to build a parapet; (14) that one not cause the innocent to
err; (15) to help a person unload the burden when fallen on the way; (16) to help him to load it again; (17)
not to leave him alarmed and go on one's way.

All the commandments included in this book are thus thirty six, sixteen of them positive commandments
and twenty negative commandments.

The Book of Acquisition

Its groups of laws are five, and this is their order: Laws of Sales, Laws of Acquisition of Ownerless
Property and Gifts, Laws of Neighbors, Laws of Agents and Partners, Laws of Slaves

Laws of Sales include five commandments, one positive commandment and four negative
commandments, which are: (1) the rule for purchase and sale; (2) not to wrong others in buying and
selling; (3) not to wrong others in speech; (4) not to wrong a righteous convert in his possessions; (5) not
to wrong him in speech.

Laws of Acquisition of Ownerless Property and Gifts are on the subject of knowing the rule for one
who acquires ownerless property and how and by what means he acquires it, and the rule for one who
gives a gift and its recipient and which gift returns to its giver and which does not return.

Laws of Neighbors are on the subject of knowing the rule for partition of land between partners, the
avoidance of damage by each of them to his neighbor or to the owner of adjoining property, and the rule
for the owner of adjoining property.

Laws of Agents and Partners are on the subject of knowing the rule for a person's agent or his partner,
and the laws on their purchases and sales and losses and profits.

Laws of Slaves include thirteen commandments, five positive commandments and eight negative
commandments, which are: (1) the rule for the acquisition of a Hebrew bondman; (2) that he shall not be
sold as a slave is sold; (3) that he shall not be subjugated to do strenuous work; (4) that we shall not allow
a resident alien to subjugate him to strenuous work; (5) that we shall not force him to do the work of a
slave; (6) to give him a gift when he goes free; (7) that he shall not go out empty-handed; (8) to redeem a
Hebrew bondmaid; (9) to espouse her; (10) that she shall not be sold; (11) to use a Canaanite slave
forever, except if the master injured one of certain parts of his body; (12) not to return a slave who fled
from outside the Land of Israel to the Land of Israel; (13) not to wrong such a slave who escaped to us.

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All the commandments included in this book are thus eighteen, six of them positive commandments and
twelve negative commandments.

The Book of Judgments

Its groups of laws are five, and this is their order: Laws of Hiring, Laws of Borrowed and Deposited
Things, Laws of Creditor and Debtor, Laws of Claimant and Respondent, Laws of Inheritances

Laws of Hiring include seven commandments, three positive commandments and four negative
commandments, which are: (1) the rule for the hired worker and the paid depositary; (2) to pay the hired
worker's wage on time; (3) not to delay the payment of the hired worker's wage after it is due; (4) that the
hired worker may eat of the unharvested produce in which he is working; (5) that he may not eat the
unharvested produce other than when he does the finishing work on it; (6) that the hired worker shall not
take anything away other than what he has eaten; (7) that one shall not muzzle an ox in his treading, and
this applies to other animals.

Laws of Borrowed and Deposited Things include two positive commandments: (1) the rule for the
borrower; (2) the rule for an unpaid depositary.

Laws of Creditor and Debtor include twelve commandments, four positive commandments and eight
negative commandments, which are: (1) to lend to the poor and needy; (2) not to press him; (3) to press
the Gentile; (4) that one shall not take a pledge by force; (5) to return the pledge to its owner, when he
needs it; (6) not to delay return of the pledge to a poor owner, when he needs it; (7) not to exact a pledge
from a widow; (8) not to take in pledge utensils used in preparing food; (9) that the lender shall not loan at
interest; (10) that the borrower shall not borrow at interest; (11) that a person shall not provide services
between lender and borrower in a loan at interest, neither to serve as witness between them, nor to write
the loan document, nor to act as a guarantor; (12) to borrow from the Gentile and loan him at interest.

Laws of Claimant and Respondent is one positive commandment, which is the rule for one who makes
a claim and one who admits or denies.

Laws of Inheritances are one positive commandment, which is the rule for the order of inheritances.

All the commandments included in this book are thus twenty three, eleven of them positive
commandments and twelve negative commandments.

The Book of Judges

Its groups of laws are five, and this is their order: Laws of the Sanhedrin and the Penalties under Their
Jurisdiction, Laws of Evidence, Laws of Rebels, Laws of Mourning, Laws of Kings and Wars

Laws of the Sanhedrin and the Penalties Under Their Jurisdiction include thirty commandments, ten
positive commandments and twenty negative commandments, which are: (1) to appoint judges; (2) not to
appoint a judge who does not know the way of judgment; (3) to follow the majority, when the judges
differ in opinion;

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 (4) not to execute the accused if there is only a bare majority for conviction, but rather when there is at
least a majority of two; (5) that one who has argued for acquittal shall not later argue for conviction in
capital cases; (6) to execute by stoning; (7) to execute by burning;

(8) to execute by decapitation with a sword; (9) to execute by strangling; (10) to hang; (11) to bury the
executed on the day of his execution; (12) not to let his body remain overnight; (13) not to allow a
sorcerer to live; (14) to whip the wicked; (15) not to exceed the maximum number of whippings; (16) not
to execute the innocent on circumstantial evidence; (17) not to punish one who committed an offence
under duress; (18) not to show pity for one who kills another person or injures him; (19) not to show
compassion to a poor person in a trial; (20) not to show respect to an important person in a trial; (21) not
to decide against a habitual transgressor, even though he is a sinner; (22) not to do injustice in a judgment;
(23) not to pervert the judgment of a convert or orphan; (24) to judge righteously; (25) not to fear when
judging a violent person; (26) not to take a bribe; (27) not to receive a baseless report; (28) not to curse
judges; (29) not to curse a king or head of Sanhedrin; (30) not to curse any other worthy Israelite.

Laws of Evidence include eight commandments, three positive commandments and five negative
commandments, which are: (1) for one who knows evidence to testify in court; (2) to examine and
thoroughly check witnesses; (3) that a witness shall not give instruction in a case in which he has given
evidence, in capital cases; (4) that nothing shall be on evidence of a single witness; (5) that a habitual
transgressor shall not testify; (6) that a relative shall not testify; (7) not to testify falsely; (8) to do to a
false witness as he had plotted to do to the accused.

Laws of Rebels include nine commandments, three positive commandments and six negative
commandments, which are: (1) to act according to the Torah as the Great Rabbinical Court declares it;
(2) not to deviate from their words; (3) not to add to the Torah either in the commandments of the Written
Law or in the interpretation that we have learned from tradition; (4) not to take away from either of them;
(5) not to curse one's father or mother; (6) not to strike one's father or mother; (7) to honor one's father
and mother; (8) to fear one's father and mother; (9) that a son shall not be stubborn and rebellious against
the voice of his father and mother.

Laws of Mourning include four commandments, one positive commandment and three negative
commandments, which are: (1) to mourn for deceased relatives, and even a priest must become unclean
and mourn for his relatives; but one does not mourn for those who have been executed by a court, and for
this reason I have included these laws in this book, because they are similar to the duty of burying the
executed on the day of his death, which is a positive commandment; (2) that the High Priest shall not
become unclean for deceased relatives; (3) that he shall not enter under a covering where a corpse is; (4)
that an ordinary priest shall not become unclean from the corpse of any person aside from his relatives.

Laws of Kings and Wars include twenty-three commandments, ten positive commandments and thirteen
negative commandments, which are: (1) to appoint a king from among the Israelites; (2) not to appoint
him from the community of converts; (3) that he shall not have many wives; (4) that he shall not have
many horses; (5) that he shall not have much gold and silver; (6) to exterminate the seven Canaanite
peoples; (7) not to let a single one of them live; (8) to wipe out the seed of Amalek; (9) to remember what
Amalek did; (10) not to forget his evil deeds and his ambush on the way; (11) not to dwell in the Land of
Egypt; (12) to offer peace to the inhabitants of a city when besieging it, and to deal with it in the way set
out in the Torah, according as it makes peace or does not; (13) not to seek peace with Ammon and Moab,
when besieging them; (14) not to destroy fruit trees in a siege; (15) to prepare a latrine so that members of
the camp shall go out there to excrete; (16) to prepare a stake to dig with; (17) to anoint a priest to speak
to the men of the army in time of war; (18) for a man who has espoused a wife, built a house, or planted a
vineyard to rejoice in their new acquisitions a full year, and they are sent back home from the war;
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(19) that they shall not be pressed into any service, and not even to go out for the needs of the city, the
needs of the troops, nor the like; (20) not to be frightened nor retreat in time of war; (21) the rule for a
beautiful woman taken captive in war; (22) that she is not to be sold; (23) that one shall not enslave her
after having sexual relations with her.

All the commandments included in this book are thus seventy four, twenty seven of them positive
commandments and forty-seven negative commandments.

And thus all the groups of commandments in these fourteen books are eighty-three groups.

B’nai Avraham PO Box 556 Ottumwa, Ia 52501

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