Crafting The 613 Commandments [Paperback]

Rabbinic tradition has it that 613 commandments were given to Moses on Mount Sinai, but it does not specify those included in the enumeration. Maimonides methodically and artfully crafts a list of 613 commandments in a work that serves as a prolegemenon to the Mishneh Torah, his monumental code of law. This book explores the surprising way Maimonides put this tradition to use and his possible rationale for using such a tradition. It also explores many of the philosophical and ethical ideas animating the composition of such a list. In the book's second half, Friedberg examines the manner by which Maimonides formulated positive commandments in the Mishneh Torah, leading him to suggest new dimensions in Maimonides' legal theory.With citation index, extensive bibliography, and informative notes, this book is an invaluable discussion of the objectives and motivations behind Maimonides Mishneh Torah. It provides an important contribution to the study of Jewish legal theory. Friedberg's thesis is original and groundbreaking. . . . Students of Maimonides will find the book very worthwhile. Crafting the 613 Commandments is an extraordinary and seminal work that is a critically important and highly recommended contribution to academic library Judaic Studies reference collection and supplemental reading lists.Albert D. Friedberg (PhD University of Toronto) is a scholar of medieval Jewish literature and philosophy and early rabbinic literature. His published articles include A New Clue in the Dating of the Composition of the Book of Esther, and Maimonides Reinterpretation of the Thirteenth Article of Faith: Another Look at his Essay on Resurrection.