• Instructor: Leslie Goldress
• (online participation allowed only if necessary)

Mitzvot are commandments traditionally understood to come from God and to be intended for the Jewish people to observe. For many Jews today, this system is no longer operative. This course will look at the 613 mitzvot as compiled by the Rambam (Maimonides) and explore this system—positive and negative mitzvot and ritual and ethical mitzvot.

Did you know that there are mitzvot about how to treat the poor and unfortunate; how to treat gentiles; what sexual relations are forbidden; how to behave in business; how to treat employees; the role of the court and judicial procedures and laws dealing with wars? We will try to understand the reasons behind the different mitzvot and why we personally choose to observe certain ones and ignore others. Are some mitzvot more important than others? When are we allowed and even required to violate a mitzvah? What should we do when 2 mitzvot seem to conflict?