Dean's comment below:

Q. Where might I find a concise listing of the 613 Jewish laws? I've never
read them before, but don't want to plow through tons of commentary which
the Jews are so prolific in providing.

Sterling

----- Original Message -----
From: "Dean J Mansfield" <mansfielddj@...>
To: <sterlingda@...>
Cc: <dabar@...>
Sent: Friday, July 27, 2001 10:35 PM
Subject: Laws Of Zion - Working Model


Shalom Sterling,

You invited feedback on your working model of 100 laws for
Zion. In the Book of Malachi chapter 3 (which is quoted in
the Book of Mormon) we read in verse 4: "Remember the
Law of Moses (Torat Moshe) My servant, which I commanded him
in Horeb for ALL ISRAEL, with the statutes and judgments."

The Law has 248 positive commandments, which correspond to
the number of human body parts, and 365 negative commandments,
which correspond to the number of days in a solar year. This
makes a total of 613. The Hebrew letters which total 613 are
TAV,RESH,YOD,GIMEL, so they are called the TaRYaG.

Maimonides wrote a commentary on these that includes 14
books and 83 sections.

Title of Book Number of Commandments

1 Knowledge 75
2 Adoration 11
3 Seasons 35
4 Women 17
5 Holiness 70
6 Specific Utterances 25
7 Seeds 67
8 Divine Service 103
9 Sacrifices 39
10 Purity 20
11 Injuries 36
12 Acquisition 18
13 Judgments 23
14 Judges 74
_____________________________________

613

Some of these commandments are geared towards an agrarian
and pastoral society. It was Hillel who pointed the way to
show how the principle behind each law could be applied to new
circumstances. In other words, the spirit gave life because
the Torah (Law) was a living reality. The School of Shammai
opposed the School of Hillel and opted for a literal interpretation
that often strangled the principle or spirit of the Law. Hillel
was the Nasi (President) of the Sanhedrin the generation just
before that of Jesus. So the controversy between Spirit and
Letter of the Law was going on within the Pharisee party at the
time of Jesus. Jesus was obviously a Pharisee himself. (He is
called "Rabbi" in several places--the Pharisees were the group
that used rabbis and established synagogues. Also, "Pharisee"
comes from a Sifra on Leviticus 19:2--"Ye shall be Perushim"
meaning "holy." "Just as I am Parush, so ye shall be Perushim."
Another way to say this is "saints." "Ye shall be Saints.")

So, much of the seeming vituperation of Jesus against the
Pharisees was from within the same party. He was one of them,
often called "rabbi" or "teacher." And he was decidedly on the
side of Hillel. Even the Golden Rule is a restatement of Hillel's
famous, "That which you would not wish to be done to you, do not
do to your neighbor." Jesus made it more proactive: "Do unto
others as you would have them do unto you." But he also said,
anyone who taught the breaking of the least of the commandments
(the Taryag--613) would be considered the least in the kingdom
of God. And whoever taught obedience to them would be considered
great in the kingdom of God.

As Malachi said, Torat Moshe (Law of Moses) is for all Israel.
If we are talking about Zion, we are talking about Israel. And
if we are talking about the restoration of Israel and the laws
of Zion, then we are talking about the 613. They may take a
different form and apply differently to new circumstances, but
it is not by accident they correspond to the number of human
parts and the number of days in the year.

The Gentiles, according to the Covenant of Noah, are bound to
set up courts and establish laws. If they want to limit it to
100 or any other number, as long as justice prevails, that is
fine. If they want to call this "Zion" then that is fine, too,
but one must realize it is not the same Zion as the one promised
for Israel. The 613 were written by the finger of God for all
Israel. There is no escaping this for anyone who wishes to
enter the covenant of Abraham, which is the covenant of
circumcision, an eternal and everlasting covenant. Dean.