Commandments

Commandments (mitzvot, in Hebrew) originate in the Torah and are expanded upon in rabbinic literature. They can be categorized in several ways, such as commandments that require an action or those that prohibit an action, those that are between a person and God or those that are between a person and another person, and those that are tied to the land of Israel and those that apply all over the world; these categories have been used to create different lists enumerating the commandments and to illuminate different aspects of the commandments. The reward for and importance of performing commandments, and the underlying purpose of the commandments, are topics of discussion throughout the Jewish textual tradition.