Crafting the 613 commandments : : Maimonides on the enumeration, classification, and formulation of the scriptural commandments / / Albert D. Friedberg.

• Superior document: Holocaust: History and Literature, Ethics and Philosophy
• Author: Friedberg, Albert D.
• Place / Publishing House: Boston : : Academic Studies Press,, 2013.
• Year of Publication: 2014; 2013
• Language: English
• Series: Holocaust (Boston, Mass.)
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (400 p.)
• Notes: Description based upon print version of record.

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.

Table of Contents

Front matter -- Contents -- Abbreviations, citations, translations, and transliterations -- Editions Used -- English Translations and Transliterations -- Acknowledgments -- CHAPTER I. Introduction -- CHAPTER II. Important Definitions and Concepts -- CHAPTER III. Typology of Mitsvot -- CHAPTER IV. Logically Inconclusive Individuations -- CHAPTER V. Innovative Commandments -- CHAPTER VI. Revisiting the Term Mitsvat 'Aseh -- CHAPTER VII. Peshateh Di-Qera -- CHAPTER VIII. The Participial Form and Other Peculiarities -- CHAPTER IX. When Mitsvah Stands Alone -- CHAPTER X. Summary and Conclusion -- Excursus -- Postscript -- Bibliography -- Citations Index -- Index of Names