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Daily Mitzvah (Rambam)

Day 258: Positive Commandment 236; Negative Commandment 289, 295; Note About Varying Customs

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Important Message Regarding This Lesson

The Daily Mitzvah schedule runs parallel to the daily study of 3 chapters of Maimonides' 14-volume code. There are instances when the Mitzvah is repeated a few days consecutively while the exploration of the same Mitzvah continues in the in-depth track.

Positive Commandment 236 (Digest)
Personal Injury

"If men quarrel, and one strikes the other..."Exodus 21:18.

The courts are commanded to adjudicate cases that involve personal injury caused by one person to another. [Monetary penalties are assessed to compensate for devaluation of the injured individual, pain sustained, medical bills, unemployment due to the injury, and shame incurred.]

Only an ordained court in the Land of Israel can adjudicate such cases [with the exception of medical bills and unemployment, that can be adjudicated by all rabbinical courts no matter the location].

Negative Commandment 289 (Digest)
Murder

"You shall not murder"Exodus 20:13.

It is forbidden to murder a fellow human.

Negative Commandment 295 (Digest)
Accepting a Ransom from an Intentional Murderer

"You shall take no ransom for the life of a murderer who is guilty of death"Numbers 35:31.

It is forbidden to take a monetary payment from a person guilty of murder to exempt him from capital punishment.

Note About Varying Customs

In some editions of the Sefer Hamitzvot Schedule, today's Sefer Hamitzvot (Day 258) has Negative Mitzvah 296 listed instead of Negative Mitzvah 295 (and Day 259 has Negative Mitzvah 295 instead of 296).

From Sefer Hamitzvot, published and copyright by Sichos in English. To purchase the Sefer Hamitzvot two-volume set, please click here.
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Daily Quote
It is written, "You shall love the L-rd your G-d" (Deuteronomy 5:5). That means, G-d's name should be loved through you. That is to say, if a person reads the scripture, studies the Mishnah and attends on Torah scholars, and his dealings with the world are proper, what do people then say of him? Fortunate is his father, who taught him Torah! Fortunate is his teacher, who has taught him Torah! Behold one who has learned Torah, how beautiful are his ways, how just his deeds! ... But if one has learned Torah and served the scholars, but is in his dealings not honest and speaks with people not gently, then what do people say about him? Woe to his father, who has taught him Torah! Woe to his teacher, who has instructed him in Torah! See the one who has learned Torah -- how evil are his ways...
  –Talmud, Yoma 86a
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