Booknote - Taryag

One of the many books that I stole off the good Rabbi is called "Taryag" by Rabbi A.H. Rabinowitz (which is going for $70 on Amazon!. Who says crime doesn't pay? Though I see Aronson have put out a slightly less extortionately priced version.)

The concept "Taryag" is the numerical equivalent of the magic number 613. R' Simlai stated in the Talmud that 613 mitzvot were revealed to Moses at sinai, 365 positive ones to match the days of the solar year, and 248 negative ones to correspond with the limbs in the body. Many of the medieval Rabbis compiled varying lists enumerating these 613, Maimonides himself being the most famous of them, and he also formulated the rules for calculating them.

I used to believe, like Shechter and others, that the Taryag dictum was merely for educational purposes, rabbinic hyperbole, midrashic flights of fancy. Rabinowitz claims that this concept was known during Tannaitic times and during the Amoraic era it was accepted Rabbinic tradition.

The author brings various hypotheses concerning the list of 613, including the conjecture that there was in existence a complete list during temple times that was taught to and memorized by schoolchildren. He does seem to argue convincingly that some sort of tradition or list(s) existed pre-Geonic times.

The Rabbis viewed Taryag as important in clarifying the essence of the mitzvot, as opposed to the details surrounding them. It also serves a purpose in understanding the analysis of Halachah, and classification thereof.

Is there a difference between a Taryag Mitzvah and others? A long standing historical debate has been waged concerning the Maimonidean view of the laws derived by the hermeneutical rules and the meaning of Divrey Sofrim, which I shan't go into here (Ein Kan Makom Lehaarich). According to Maimonides, a rule derived by the rules can be repealed by a later Bet Din Hagadol, and there are other Halachic ramifications (Zaken Mamre, Par Heelam Davar and others). There is also a major distinction as to the punishment meted out to those laws which are Taryag and those which aren't.

The author has a long and interesting discussion about the Azharot, the poetic formulations of the Taryag, as well as a close technical examination of the Maimonidean formulation for the enumeration of the Mitzvot.

To sum up, an interesting work that has certainly opened my eyes and broadened my horizons concerning this interesting and under-understood concept.

More to come in the booknote series. Stay tuned.

TRK