ABSTRACT
According to tradition, God revealed 613 commandments (mitzvot) to Moses on Mount Sinai; they are recorded in the Five Books of Moses. These prescriptions, which are to be observed as part of God’s covenant with Israel, are classified in two major categories: (l) statutes concerned with ritual performances characterized as obligations between human beings
and God; and (2) judgements consisting of ritual laws that would have been adopted by society even if they had not been decreed by God (such as laws regarding murder and theft). These 613 commandments consist of 365 negative (prohibited) and 248 positive (duties to be performed) prescriptions.
