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== Commandments (mitzvot) ==
{{Main|Mitzvah#Mitzvot and Jewish law|613 commandments}}
According to the Talmud (''Tractate Makot''), 613 ''mitzvot'' are in the Torah, 248 positive ("thou shalt") ''mitzvot'' and 365 negative ("thou shalt not") ''mitzvot'', supplemented by seven ''mitzvot'' [[Mitzvah#Rabbinic mitzvot|legislated by the rabbis]] of antiquity.<ref>Hecht, Mendy. [https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/756399/jewish/The-613-Commandments-Mitzvot.htm "The 613 Commandments (Mitzvot)."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190420205313/https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/756399/jewish/The-613-Commandments-Mitzvot.htm |date=2019-04-20 }} ''Chabad.org''. 9 April 2019.</ref> Currently, many of the 613 commandments cannot be performed until the building of the [[The Third Temple|Temple in Jerusalem]] and the universal resettlement of the Jewish people in [[Land of Israel|the Land of Israel]] by the [[Messiah in Judaism|Messiah.]] According to one count, only 369 can be kept, meaning that 40% of mitzvot are not possible to perform. Of these 369, 126 of these are positive ''mitzvot'' and 243 are negative.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Danzinger |first1=Eliezer |title=How Many of the Torah's Commandments Still Apply? |url=https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/541686/jewish/How-Many-of-the-Torahs-Commandments-Still-Apply.htm |website=chabad |access-date=3 March 2021}}</ref>

[[Rabbinic Judaism]] divides laws into categories:<ref name="Sinclair">Sinclair, Julian. [https://www.thejc.com/judaism/jewish-words/d-oraita-1.5958 "D'Oraita."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190702195241/https://www.thejc.com/judaism/jewish-words/d-oraita-1.5958 |date=2019-07-02 }} ''The JC''. 5 November 2008. 9 April 2019.</ref><ref>Tauber, Yanki. [https://www.chabad.org/therebbe/article_cdo/aid/2625327/jewish/5-The-Written-Torah-and-the-Oral-Torah.htm "5. The 'Written Torah' and the 'Oral Torah.'”] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190702195238/https://www.chabad.org/therebbe/article_cdo/aid/2625327/jewish/5-The-Written-Torah-and-the-Oral-Torah.htm |date=2019-07-02 }} ''Chabad.org''. 9 April 2019.</ref>
[[File:Köln-Tora-und-Innenansicht-Synagoge-Glockengasse-040.JPG|thumb|[[Sefer Torah]] at [[Glockengasse Synagogue]] (museum exhibits), [[Cologne]]]]
* The [[Law of Moses]] which are believed to have been revealed by God to the Israelites at [[biblical Mount Sinai]]. These laws are composed of the following:
** The [[Written Torah]], laws written in the [[Hebrew Bible]].
** The [[Oral Torah]], laws believed to have been transmitted orally prior to their later compilation in texts such as the Mishnah, Talmud, and rabbinic codes.
* Laws of human origin, including rabbinic decrees, interpretations, customs, etc.

This division between revealed and rabbinic commandments may influence the importance of a rule, its enforcement and the nature of its ongoing interpretation.<ref name="Sinclair" /> Halakhic authorities may disagree on which laws fall into which categories or the circumstances (if any) under which prior rabbinic rulings can be re-examined by contemporary rabbis, but all Halakhic Jews hold that both categories exist{{citation needed|date=May 2020}} and that the first category is immutable, with exceptions only for life-saving and similar emergency circumstances.

A second classical distinction is between the Written Law, laws written in the [[Hebrew Bible]], and the Oral Law, laws which are believed to have been transmitted orally prior to their later compilation in texts such as the Mishnah, Talmud, and rabbinic codes.

Commandments are divided into positive and negative commands, which are treated differently in terms of divine and human punishment. Positive commandments ''require'' an action to be performed and are considered to bring the performer closer to God. Negative commandments (traditionally 365 in number) ''forbid'' a specific action, and violations create a distance from God.

A further division is made between ''chukim'' ("decrees" – laws without obvious explanation, such as ''[[shatnez]]'', the law prohibiting wearing clothing made of mixtures of linen and wool), ''mishpatim'' ("judgements" – laws with obvious social implications) and ''eduyot'' ("testimonies" or "commemorations", such as the [[Shabbat]] and holidays). Through the ages, various rabbinical authorities have classified some of the 613 commandments in many ways.

A different approach divides the laws into a different set of categories:<ref>{{Cite web |last=Tauber |first=Yanki |title=The Two-Way Mirror |url=https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/110333/jewish/The-Two-Way-Mirror.htm |access-date=2025-10-01 |website=www.chabad.org |language=en}}</ref>
* Laws in relation to God (''bein adam laMakom'', {{abbr|lit.|literally}} "between a person and the Place"), and
* Laws about relations with other people (''bein adam le-chavero'', "between a person and his friend").