Harikrish observes: the divine canon gave the Jews 613 commandments except the one that would make them 'likeable'? It is not hard to figure that being likeable reduces tension between peoples. But to be disliked, Persecuted, Expulsion and antisemitism for 3000 years would have got any Rabbi questioning the 613 other commandments that failed to achieve the goal to make Jews likeable.
A Rabbi responds.
Rosends wrote:
In Jewish thinking, There are what we call 613 commandments (the "Taryag mitzvot"). However, It is important to note that even in biblical/temple times, There was no expectation that every person observed every commandment. If you take even a cursory look at the list
http://www.Jewfaq.Org/m/613.Htm
you will see that some are observed by the average person passively, Some are easily done during the course of daily life, And some are for specialized times, Places and/or people so they are simply not incumbent upon the average person.
It is also essential to understand that each of these 613 serves as a foundation for other "rules" which govern daily life. There are codes of law which are just as binding, And provide the detail about how to live, But which are not explicitly listed as divine commandment. So while the list of textual mitzvot says simply to sanctify the sabbath, We have an entire corpus of law about exactly HOW one does that. The oral law clarifies and explains the process and method by which one can follow the written law. The one without the other is useless.
So if someone says that the expectation was that every person "keep" all 613, That is inevitably in error.
There are a lot of dos and don'ts in the 613 commandments. But I could not find any commandment that tells Jews to be 'likeable'. With 3000 years of persecution, Expulsion and antisemitism, One would think a commandment to be 'likeable' might have help Jews overcome the burden of 613 commandments that still left them undeserving of proper recognition throughout their history.
I don't mean to be disparaging. But would adding one more commandment to be likeable to the existing 613 be so difficult?
A Rabbi responds.
Rosends wrote:
In Jewish thinking, There are what we call 613 commandments (the "Taryag mitzvot"). However, It is important to note that even in biblical/temple times, There was no expectation that every person observed every commandment. If you take even a cursory look at the list
http://www.Jewfaq.Org/m/613.Htm
you will see that some are observed by the average person passively, Some are easily done during the course of daily life, And some are for specialized times, Places and/or people so they are simply not incumbent upon the average person.
It is also essential to understand that each of these 613 serves as a foundation for other "rules" which govern daily life. There are codes of law which are just as binding, And provide the detail about how to live, But which are not explicitly listed as divine commandment. So while the list of textual mitzvot says simply to sanctify the sabbath, We have an entire corpus of law about exactly HOW one does that. The oral law clarifies and explains the process and method by which one can follow the written law. The one without the other is useless.
So if someone says that the expectation was that every person "keep" all 613, That is inevitably in error.
There are a lot of dos and don'ts in the 613 commandments. But I could not find any commandment that tells Jews to be 'likeable'. With 3000 years of persecution, Expulsion and antisemitism, One would think a commandment to be 'likeable' might have help Jews overcome the burden of 613 commandments that still left them undeserving of proper recognition throughout their history.
I don't mean to be disparaging. But would adding one more commandment to be likeable to the existing 613 be so difficult?
