ספר מצוות גדולSefer Mitzvot Gadol
Sefer Mitzvot Gadol (“Great Book of Commandments,” also referred to by its Hebrew acronym, the SeMaG) is a 13th-century work composed in France that enumerates the 613 commandments. Based on Maimonides’ Mishnah Torah, which is quoted on every page, the work marks the penetration of the Sephardic Maimonides into Ashkenazic legal works. The Semag also incorporates sources from Talmud, Midrashim, and early French and German commentators, and includes legal discussions and moral teachings. Its great influence as a legal source and guidebook is evidenced by the large number of manuscripts preserved and the many commentaries that the work inspired. In the era preceding the publication of the Shulchan Arukh, the Semag was the principal legal text studied in Ashkenazic academies.Sefer Mitzvot Gadol (“Great Book of Commandments,” also referred to by its Hebrew acronym, the SeMaG) is a 13th-century work composed in France that enumerates the 613 commandments. Based on Maimonides’ Mishnah Torah, which is quoted on every page, the work marks the penetration of the Sephardic Maimonides into Ashkenazic legal works. The Semag also incorporates sources from Talmud, Midrashim, and early French and German commentators, and includes legal discussions and moral teachings. Its great influence as a legal source and guidebook is evidenced by the large number of manuscripts preserved and the many commentaries that the work inspired. In the era preceding the publication of the Shulchan Arukh, the Semag was the principal legal text studied in Ashkenazic academies.