הלכה על סנהדרין 125:37

Behold it is already been completely explained that it is inappropriate to count every negative or positive commandment that is found in the Torah, for it [may be] a repetition. Indeed it is appropriate to count [only] the content that we are commanded about or prohibited from. And it is impossible to have knowledge of a repeated negative or positive commandment that is coming to give additional content, without a teacher that instructs it. And [these teachers] are those that received the traditional explanation, peace be upon them. And do not err also because the prohibition is repeated with different words - like His, may He be exalted, saying (Leviticus 19:10), "You shall not pick (teollel) your vineyard bare," once He also said (Deuteronomy 24:19), "and overlook a sheaf in the field, do not turn back to get it," and He said (Deuteronomy 24:20), "When you beat down the fruit of your olive trees, do not extract (tefaer) again." For these are not two negative commandments, but rather one prohibition about one matter - and that is that he not take that which he overlooked from the grain or the fruits when he gathers them. And He brought two examples about them - from grapes and from olives. And He called what is left of the grapes ollelot; and of the olives, "pe'erot. And the understanding of tefaer is do not remove that which you have overlooked in some of your pe'erot - and those are the branches. (See the glosses on this book.) And to this principle, it is appropriate to attach that which I will [now] say. And that is that when I say that it is appropriate that they count the content about which we are commanded or from which we are prohibited, it is on condition that the content that we are prohibited is a separate negative commandment for each and every matter; or that the transmitters [present] a proof that separates one matter from another and that each of them requires [its own] prohibition. However when there is one negative commandment that includes many matters, only that negative commandment is counted, and not all of the content that is included in that negative commandment. And this is a general prohibition, for which we do not give lashes - as we will now explain. And that is that they said (Sanhedrin 63a) in explanation of His saying, "You shall not eat upon the blood" (Leviticus 19:26), "From where [do we know] that one who eats from an animal before its soul departs is in [transgression of] a negative commandment? As it is stated, 'You shall not eat upon the blood.' Another matter: From where is it derived that one who eats the meat of an offering before the blood has been sprinkled [on the altar] is in [transgression of] a negative commandment? We learn to say,'You shall not eat upon the blood' - you shall not eat the meat when the blood is still in the bowl. Rabbi Dosa says, 'From where [do we know] that we do not provide a meal for mourners of those executed by the court? We learn to say, "You shall not eat upon the blood."' Rabbi Akiva says, 'From where [do we know] that a Sanhedrin that killed a soul (i.e., that sentenced a person to death) may not taste anything that entire day? We learn to say, "You shall not eat upon the blood."' Rabbi Yochanan says, 'From where [do we know] the prohibition against the behavior of a stubborn and rebellious son? We learn to say, "You shall not eat upon the blood."'" Behold that we are prohibited from all of these five things, but they they are all included under one negative commandment. And they also said (Berakhot 10b), "From where [do we know] that a person should not taste anything until he prays? We learn to say, 'You shall not eat upon the blood' - you may not eat before you pray for your blood." And in explanation, they said in the Gemara (Sanhedrin 63a), "For all of [these specific prohibitions], he is not given lashes - as it is a general negative commandment." And they also explained that a general negative commandment is when two or three prohibitions come from one negative commandment. So it is inappropriate that they should count each and every prohibition it included as a separate negative commandment; but rather only the one negative commandment that includes all of them. And similar to this negative commandment - meaning, "You shall not eat upon the blood," - is His saying, "you shall not place a stumbling block before the blind" (Leviticus 19:14). As it also includes many matters, as will be explained (Sefer HaMitzvot, Negative Commandments 299). And likewise, His saying, "You must not carry a false rumor" (Exodus 23:1) - behold, it too includes many matters, as will be explained (Sefer HaMitzvot, Negative Commandments 281). And this is one of the types of general negative commandments.

Behold it is already been completely explained that it is inappropriate to count every negative or positive commandment that is found in the Torah, for it [may be] a repetition. Indeed it is appropriate to count [only] the content that we are commanded about or prohibited from. And it is impossible to have knowledge of a repeated negative or positive commandment that is coming to give additional content, without a teacher that instructs it. And [these teachers] are those that received the traditional explanation, peace be upon them. And do not err also because the prohibition is repeated with different words - like His, may He be exalted, saying (Leviticus 19:10), "You shall not pick (teollel) your vineyard bare," once He also said (Deuteronomy 24:19), "and overlook a sheaf in the field, do not turn back to get it," and He said (Deuteronomy 24:20), "When you beat down the fruit of your olive trees, do not extract (tefaer) again." For these are not two negative commandments, but rather one prohibition about one matter - and that is that he not take that which he overlooked from the grain or the fruits when he gathers them. And He brought two examples about them - from grapes and from olives. And He called what is left of the grapes ollelot; and of the olives, "pe'erot. And the understanding of tefaer is do not remove that which you have overlooked in some of your pe'erot - and those are the branches. (See the glosses on this book.) And to this principle, it is appropriate to attach that which I will [now] say. And that is that when I say that it is appropriate that they count the content about which we are commanded or from which we are prohibited, it is on condition that the content that we are prohibited is a separate negative commandment for each and every matter; or that the transmitters [present] a proof that separates one matter from another and that each of them requires [its own] prohibition. However when there is one negative commandment that includes many matters, only that negative commandment is counted, and not all of the content that is included in that negative commandment. And this is a general prohibition, for which we do not give lashes - as we will now explain. And that is that they said (Sanhedrin 63a) in explanation of His saying, "You shall not eat upon the blood" (Leviticus 19:26), "From where [do we know] that one who eats from an animal before its soul departs is in [transgression of] a negative commandment? As it is stated, 'You shall not eat upon the blood.' Another matter: From where is it derived that one who eats the meat of an offering before the blood has been sprinkled [on the altar] is in [transgression of] a negative commandment? We learn to say,'You shall not eat upon the blood' - you shall not eat the meat when the blood is still in the bowl. Rabbi Dosa says, 'From where [do we know] that we do not provide a meal for mourners of those executed by the court? We learn to say, "You shall not eat upon the blood."' Rabbi Akiva says, 'From where [do we know] that a Sanhedrin that killed a soul (i.e., that sentenced a person to death) may not taste anything that entire day? We learn to say, "You shall not eat upon the blood."' Rabbi Yochanan says, 'From where [do we know] the prohibition against the behavior of a stubborn and rebellious son? We learn to say, "You shall not eat upon the blood."'" Behold that we are prohibited from all of these five things, but they they are all included under one negative commandment. And they also said (Berakhot 10b), "From where [do we know] that a person should not taste anything until he prays? We learn to say, 'You shall not eat upon the blood' - you may not eat before you pray for your blood." And in explanation, they said in the Gemara (Sanhedrin 63a), "For all of [these specific prohibitions], he is not given lashes - as it is a general negative commandment." And they also explained that a general negative commandment is when two or three prohibitions come from one negative commandment. So it is inappropriate that they should count each and every prohibition it included as a separate negative commandment; but rather only the one negative commandment that includes all of them. And similar to this negative commandment - meaning, "You shall not eat upon the blood," - is His saying, "you shall not place a stumbling block before the blind" (Leviticus 19:14). As it also includes many matters, as will be explained (Sefer HaMitzvot, Negative Commandments 299). And likewise, His saying, "You must not carry a false rumor" (Exodus 23:1) - behold, it too includes many matters, as will be explained (Sefer HaMitzvot, Negative Commandments 281). And this is one of the types of general negative commandments.

The second type is when one negative commandment comes to forbid several matters that are connected to one another - and that is that He says, "Do not do such and such." And this type is divided into two divisions. For included in it is that about which they said in the Talmud, that he is liable for lashes on each and every one of the connected matters. But [also] included in it is that about which they said that he is only liable once, since it is a general negative commandment. And those negative commandments about which they explained that one is liable for each and every one of them - they are the ones that we count each and every one as a separate commandment; whereas that about which they explained that one is only liable once for all of them is counted as a single commandment. This is according to that which we established in this principle - that under no circumstances is one given two [sets of] lashes for one negative commandment . So when, in the explanation, they made one liable for each and every connected matter - to give lashes for each and every one of them when they were all done at once, to give several [sets of] lashes - we perforce know that they are several categories; and that each one should be counted separately. And I will mention several examples from both divisions until the intended matter becomes totally clear. And that is His, may He be blessed, saying, about the lamb of the Pesach sacrifice, "Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in any way with water" (Exodus 12:9) - a negative commandment, which we count as one commandment. And we don't count, do not eat it raw, as one commandment; and do not eat it boiled, as another commandment. For He did not specify a separate negative commandment for each matter, to say "Do not eat any of it raw; and not boiled in any way" - but rather one negative commandment came to include both matters; and the one matter was appended to the other. And in the second chapter of Pesachim (Pesachim 41b), they said, "Abbaye said, 'If he ate it raw, he is given two [sets of] lashes; raw and boiled, he is given three." And that is because he holds that we give [distinct sets of] lashes for general negative commandments. So when he ate it raw, he transgressed two negative commandments: One of them is, "Do not eat any of it raw"; and the second [set of] lashes is from the general principle - as He is saying, do not eat it when it is not roasted, and he has already eaten it when it is not roasted. And according to his opinion, when he eats it raw and boiled, he gets three [sets of lashes] - one because he ate it raw; the second because he ate it boiled; and the third because he ate it when it was not roasted. And over there, they said about this statement, "But Rava said, 'One does not receive lashes for a general negative commandment.' Some say, at any rate, one [set of] lashes he does receive. And some say he does not receive even one [set of] lashes, as the negative commandment he transgressed is not specific to it, as is the negative commandment against muzzling." That means to say, like that which He, may be exalted, said (Deuteronomy 25:4), "You shall not muzzle an ox while it is threshing" - which is one negative commandment that prohibits one matter. However for this negative commandment, which prohibits two things - raw and boiled - we do not give lashes. And you already know that it was clarified in the Gemara (Sanhedrin 63a), that we do not give lashes for a general negative commandment. And hence the statement of Abbaye is rejected; and the truth is that he is given one [set of] lashes: Whether he ate any of it raw and boiled, [just] raw or [just] boiled, he is only given one [set of] lashes. And so we shall count His, may He be exalted, saying, "Do not eat any of it raw or boiled," as one commandment. And there, it is also stated, "Abbaye said, '[If a nazirite] ate a grape skin, he receives two [sets of lashes]; a grape pit, he receives two; a grape skin and a grape pit, he receives three. But Rava said, 'One does not receive lashes for a general negative commandment'" - meaning to say, "from anything that is obtained from the grapevine" (Numbers 6:4), for which Abbaye thinks we give lashes. And they also said in the fifth chapter of Menachot (Menachot 58b), "One who offers leaven and honey on the altar - Abbaye says, 'He receives lashes on account of leaven; he receives lashes on account of honey; he receives lashes on account of a mixture of leaven; and he receives lashes on account of a mixture of honey'" - meaning to say that His saying (Leviticus 2:11), "any," is including two things: That he not offer it by itself; and that he not offer a mixture of it, whatever the quantity [of what is mixed with it] may be. And this is all according to the principle of his approach - as he holds that we give [distinct sets of] lashes for general negative commandments. And it is stated there, "But Rava said, 'One does not receive lashes for a general negative commandment.' Some say, at any rate, one [set of] lashes he does receive. And some say he does not receive even one set of lashes, as the negative commandment he transgressed is not specific to it, as is the negative commandment against muzzling."

To swear in His name, may He be blessed, truthfully: To swear in His name, blessed be He, at the time that we need to strengthen or establish a thing or to distance it; as with this is there aggrandizement of His statute, may He be blessed, and [of] the Power and the Loftiness. And about this is it stated (Deuteronomy 10:20) "and in His name shall you swear." And in the explanation, they, may their memory be blessed, said (Shevuot 35b), "The Torah stated, 'Swear in His name,' and the Torah said, 'Do not swear in His name'" - meaning to say, [just] like an oath that is not needed [should] be prevented, and that is a negative commandment; so too is an oath at a time that it is needed an obligation, and that is a positive commandment. And therefore we do not ever swear in [the name of] any thing of all the creatures. And they, may their memory be blessed, said (Sanhedrin 63a), "Anyone who combines the name of [God] with something else is uprooted from the world." However this is said about one who intends to swear in that thing of the creatures by itself; but one who swears in the heavens or in the sun or in the moon, with the intention of the Master above them that created them - that is not included in the prohibition at all. And we always see that we swear like this in all of the borders of Israel.