Editing 613 commandments (section)

==Dissent and difficulties==
Rabbinic support for the number of commandments being 613 is not without dissent. For example, [[Ben Azzai]] held that there exist 300 positive {{Lang|he|mitzvot}}.<ref>[[Sifre]] Deuteronomy 76: אמר רבי שמעון בן עזיי והלא שלש מאות מצות עשה בתורה כיוצא בזה לומר מה הדם שאין בכל המצות קל ממנו הזהירך הכתוב עליו שאר כל המצות על אחת כמה וכמה</ref> Also, even as the number gained acceptance, difficulties arose in elucidating the list. Some rabbis declared that this count was not an authentic tradition, or that it was not logically possible to come up with a systematic count. No early work of [[Jewish law]] or Biblical commentary depended on the 613 system, and no early systems of [[Jewish principles of faith]] made acceptance of this [[Aggadah]] (non-legal Talmudic statement) normative. A number of classical authorities denied that it was normative:
*Rabbi [[Abraham ibn Ezra]] denied that this was an authentic rabbinic tradition. Ibn Ezra writes "Some sages enumerate 613 {{Lang|he|mitzvot|italic=no}} in many diverse ways [...] but in truth there is no end to the number of {{Lang|he|mitzvot|italic=no}} [...] and if we were to count only the root principles [...] the number of {{Lang|he|mitzvot|italic=no}} would not reach 613".<ref>Yesod Mora, Chapter 2</ref>
* [[Nahmanides]] held that this particular counting was a matter of rabbinic [[controversy]], and that rabbinic opinion on this is not unanimous. Nonetheless, he concedes that "this total has proliferated throughout the aggadic literature... we ought to say that it was a tradition from Moses at [[Mount Sinai]]".<ref>Nahmanides, Commentary to Maimonides' ''Sefer Hamitzvot'', Root Principle 1</ref>
* Rabbi [[Simeon ben Zemah Duran]] likewise rejected the dogma of the 613 as being the sum of the Law, saying that "perhaps the agreement that the number of {{Lang|he|mitzvot|italic=no}} is 613... is just Rabbi Simlai's opinion, following his own explication of the {{Lang|he|mitzvot|italic=no}}. And we need not rely on his explication when we come to determine [and affect] the Law, but rather on the Talmudic discussions".<ref>Zohar Harakia, Lviv, 1858, p.&nbsp;99</ref>
* [[Gersonides]] held that the number 613 was only one rabbi's (Rabbi Simlai's) opinion, and if the conclusion of a Talmudic discussion indicated that the number of commandments was greater or lesser than 613, Rabbi Simlai's opinion would be overruled.<ref name=ohayon/> He argued that the number 613 was only intended as an approximation, and that the comparison to 248 limbs and 365 days was intended homiletically, to motivate Jews to keep the commandments.<ref>{{Alhatorah|Shemot|12:10|Ralbag_Toalot}}</ref> 
* The [[Vilna Gaon]] suggested that there exist many more than 613 commandments (because otherwise large narrative parts of the [[Pentateuch]] would be without commandments, which he considered difficult to accept) and that the count of 613 refers to "roots" ({{Lang|he|shorashim}}) of the other commandments.<ref>See Avraham of Vilna, ''Maalot haTorah'' (printed in [[Nachmanides]], ''Sefer haEmunah vehaBitachon'', [[Warsaw]]: 1877, p.1)</ref>

Even when rabbis attempted to compile a list of the 613 commandments, they were faced with a number of difficulties:
*Which statements were to be included amongst the 613 commandments? Every one of God's commands to any individual or to the entire people of Israel?
*Would an order from God be counted as a commandment, for the purposes of such a list, if it could only be complied with in one place and time? Else, would such an order only count as a commandment if it could be followed at all times? (The latter is the view of [[Maimonides]].){{citation needed|date=October 2018}}
*Does counting a single commandment depend on whether it falls within one verse, even though it may contain multiple prohibitions, or should each prohibition count as a single commandment?{{citation needed|date=October 2018}}

Ultimately, though, the concept of 613 commandments has become accepted as normative amongst practicing Jews and today it is still common practice to refer to the total system of commandments within the Torah as the "613 commandments", even among those who do not literally accept this count as accurate.{{citation needed|date=October 2018}}

However, the 613 {{Lang|he|mitzvot}} do not constitute a formal code of present-day [[halakha]]. Later codes of law such as the [[Shulkhan Arukh]] and the [[Shlomo Ganzfried#Kitzur Shulchan Aruch|Kitzur Shulkhan Arukh]] do not refer to it. However, [[Maimonides]]' [[Mishneh Torah]] is prefaced by a count of the 613 mitzvot.