A Short Tribute

“Moses then convoked the whole Israelite community and said to them: These are the things that the LORD has commanded you to do”. The 613 commandments correspond to the body’s 248 organs (evarim – the number of positive commandment) and 365 sinews and ligaments (giddim – the number of negative commandments). Commentators ask how it is possible to fulfill them all… and explain that through unity, each person benefits from those fulfilled by their fellow person, so that together they are considered as having fulfilled them all. The written text, “Moses then convoked the whole Israelite community and said to them”, was meant to suggest that should we be convoked as a whole and become united, with no divisive conflict, so that “These are the things that the LORD has commanded you to do”, meaning that it is possible for you to fulfill them, and that each one of you will be considered as having fulfilled them all. This may be what Scripture refers to by (having the verse) “Moses commanded Torah to us, the inheritance of the congregation of Jacob” (followed by) “when the heads of the people and the tribes of Israel were gathered together”.