Mitzvah Mitzvah In its primary meaning, the Hebrew word (; meaning "commandment", , , Biblical: '; plural ' , Biblical: '; from ' "command") refers to precepts and commandments commanded by God, with the additional connotation of one's religious duty. It is used in rabbinical Judaism to refer to the 613 commandments given in the Torah at biblical Mount Sinai and the seven rabbinic commandments instituted later for a total of 620. The 613 commandments are divided into two categories: 365 negative commandments and 248 positive commandments. According to the Talmud, all moral laws are, or are derived from, divine commandments.
Homosexuality and Judaism Rabbi Jonathan Sacks wrote the foreword to Rabbi Chaim Rapoport's book "Judaism and Homosexuality: An Authentic Orthodox View". In the foreword, Rabbi Sacks has written: "Compassion, sympathy, empathy, understanding - these are essential elements of Judaism. They are what homosexual Jews who care about Judaism need from us today." Modern Orthodox leader Rabbi Aharon Lichtenstein is reported to have said that the intensity of Orthodox community's condemnation of homosexuality goes beyond what its status as a religious transgression warrants, and that he feels toward homosexual people "criticism, disapproval, but tempered with an element of sympathy". In both the United States