Adult Education Blog

On Leil Shavuot, we will discuss around the campfire the topics of Reform Judaism's relationship with mitzvot. Here are some links and talking points to prepare you for our communal discourse.

• We often hear that there are "613 commandments." That's not quite true: https://www.thetorah.com/article/the-origins-and-use-of-the-613-mitzvot

  • There is perhaps no idea that is simultaneously as widely accepted, yet with so little basis in rabbinic literature, as the supposition that it is “unambiguous” that Jewish law consists of precisely 613 commandments.

  • Manuscripts of these passages [which are often translated in modern books as "the 613 commandments"] almost invariably read “all of the commandments” or similar phrases.

  • The only place where talmudic and midrashic manuscripts uniformly preserve the idea that God gave Israel exactly 613 commandments is the famous passage in Bavli Makkot 23b-24a.[4] This aggadic text reads (translation by Dr. Marc Herman):

    • Rabbi Simlai expounded: “613 commandments were said to Moses, 365 negative commandments, like the days of the year, and 248 positive commandments, corresponding to a person’s limbs.” Said Rav Hamnuna: “What is the verse? ‘Moses commanded us a Torah’ (Deut. 33:4) – torah in gemaṭria (numerical value of letters) is 611.[6] ‘I am [the Lord your God who brought you out of the Land of Egypt’ and ‘You shall have no other [gods before me]’ (Exod. 20:2-3) we heard from the Almighty.

  • The same Talmudic passage goes on to state that there is really only one mitzvah, based on the verse “the righteous shall live by his faith.”

  • Maimonides’ 613: https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/the-613-mitzvot-commandments

• Reforming Reform: 

  • https://reformjudaism.org/blog/reforming-reform-1-debate-over-reasons-mitzvot 

  • https://reformjudaism.org/blog/reforming-reform-2-platform-principles-and-cafeteria-judaism 

  • There are three aspects to the intellectual foundations of Reform Judaism: 1.) our concept of God, 2.) the practices, both ethical and ritual, that we think are important to perform as Reform Jews, and 3.) the link between God and religious practice. 

  • The traditional link between God and practice in Judaism is the concept of ‘mitzvot,’ God’s commandments as to how we are to live. 

  • The Torah itself gives reasons for a number of Mitzvot. An ethical example is “Do not take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the wise and perverts the words of the righteous.”(Ex. 23:8) And a ritual example is the commandment to observe the Sabbath because “in six days God made heaven and earth,, the sea, and all that is in them, and He rested on the seventh day,” (Ex. 20:11) And there is a general reason given for all the God’s statutes: “for our lasting good and our survival.”(Ex. 6:24) Rabbinic literature, the Talmud and Midrash, support the idea that the mitzvot were given “solely to refine humanity.”(Gen. Rab 44:1) However, the rabbinic literature also adds a note of caution. It warns that overt mention of a reason for a mitzvah may tempt a person to violate the mitzvah while taking measures to avoid the predicted consequence. Medieval sage Saadia Gaon separated mitzvot into those that could be rationally derived and those that were simply revealed in the Torah. However, in a decisive turn in the story, the great rationalist Maimonides argued that all the mitzvot had a rational purpose benefiting humanity. For those few, such as the prohibition on wearing a weave of linen and wool, he argued that the reason for the mitzvah has been lost, but it must exist. This led to a strong reaction against Maimonides by traditionalists who argued that in fact there were not rational reasons for the mitzvot, but rather mystical reasons. Most of the works of Jewish mysticism were written after Maimonides, and partly in reaction against his rationalism, and the reforming tendencies his view of ta’amei hamitzvot had unleashed. The mystics in fact won out for many centuries over the rationalists. In the 19th century Jews again took up a rationalist approach to the reasons for the mitzvot, and this time were willing to sustain advocacy for a Reform approach against traditionalists. 

• In 1885, a group of distinguished Reform rabbis adopted the famous Pittsburgh Platform. It contained the statement: "We hold that all such Mosaic and rabbinical laws as regulate diet, priestly purity, and dress originated in ages and under the influence of ideas entirely foreign to our present mental and spiritual state. They fail to impress the modern Jew with a spirit of priestly holiness; their observance in our days is apt rather to obstruct rather than to further modern spiritual elevation."

• The next big step in American Reform practice was the Columbus Platform in 1937:

  • Judaism as a way of life requires in addition to its moral and spiritual demands, the preservation of the Sabbath, festivals, Holy Days, the retention and development of such customs, symbols and ceremonies as possess inspirational value, the cultivation of distinctive forms of religious art and music, and the use of Hebrew, together with the vernacular, in our worship and instruction.

• Reform Judaism: A Centenary Perspective Adopted at San Francisco, 1976

  • ...The past century has taught us that the claims made upon us may begin with our ethical obligations but they extend to many other aspects of Jewish living, including: creating a Jewish home centered on family devotion; lifelong study; private prayer and public worship; daily religious observance; keeping the Sabbath and the holy days; celebrating the major events of life; involvement with the synagogues and community; and other activities which promote the survival of the Jewish people and enhance its existence. Within each area of Jewish observance, Reform Jews are called upon to confront the claims of Jewish tradition, however differently perceived, and to exercise their individual autonomy, choosing and creating on the basis of commitment and knowledge.

• A New Pitsburgh Platform, 1999

  • We are committed to the ongoing study of the whole array of מצות (mitzvot) and to the fulfillment of those that address us as individuals and as a community. Some of these מצות (mitzvot), sacred obligations, have long been observed by Reform Jews; others; both ancient and modern, demand renewed attention as the result of the unique context of our own times.

• An Example of how to redefine halakha for Reform practice: Zocher Shabbat

• Notes from A Life of Meaning: Embracing Reform Judaism's Sacred Path, edited by Rabbi Dana Evan Kaplan