Mitzvah

A mitzvah (Hebrew מצוה; (singular and plural); pronunciation: Sephardic: Mitzvah, plural: mitzvot; Ashkenazi: Mitzwe; plural: Mitzwauss or Mitzwojss ) is a commandment in Judaism, which is appointed by the Talmudic literature in the Torah or could have been also dictated by rabbis. In contrast to the Halacha, which means the entire " religious law " system of Judaism, mitzvah represents a " single duty" from.

In the Talmud, the number of mitzvot contained in the Torah is estimated at 613, without enumerating them in more detail. It was only later scholars have fixed the 613 mitzvot in their works ( the Ten Commandments are part of it ). The mitzvot are divided into 365 prohibitions and 248 bids. Among the mitzvot is equivalence, although slight ( Kalot ) and heavy ( chamurot ) Bid violations be distinguished.

One of the best known lists and explanations of the 613 mitzvot is that - resulting in the Middle Ages - Sefer HaMitzwot the Jewish legal scholar Maimonides. In his major philosophical work Guide of the Perplexed, Maimonides posits that all mitzvot based on divine wisdom, though he distinguishes between easily understandable Commandments (Hebrew Mishpatim ) and difficult to understand Commandments (Hebrew chukkim ) and explains that some special commandments are not required to justify rationally and based solely on God's will.

According to Jewish law, all bids must be broken in danger of death to within three (murder, idolatry, fornication ) of the Torah. In particular, for the observance of the Sabbath rest, the rule is: " Danger to life overrides the Sabbath. "