Maimonidean Prescriptions

(1) It is a clear and manifest principle concerning the Torah that as a Law it is permanently established forever and evermore; and that it is not subject to mutibility, nor to diminution, nor to amendment; for it is said: "All this word which I command you, that shall ye observe to do; thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it" (Ibid. 13.1); and it is further said: "But the things that are revealed belong unto us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law" (Ibid. 29.28). Herefrom we learn that according to all the words of the Torah we are commanded to do forever.

So, the essence of the matter is like this: The Laws and the Statutes of the Torah never change. We may not add to them nor detract from them. Anyone who adds to or subtracts from them or reveals some new dimension to the Torah or understands the Commandments differently than their plain meaning is, for sure, an evil person and an Apikoris.

..he who says that the Torah is not God given, even if he says that a single Verse or one word thereof was spoken by Moses on his own authority is, indeed, a traducer of the Torah; (2) he who denies its Oral explanation, that is the Oral Torah, or its exponents, even as Zaduk and Bythos did.

The ninth principle Faithful transmission and that is that this Torah has faithfully been transmitted from the Creator, God - may He be blessed - and not from anyone else. And [so] it cannot be added to and it cannot be taken away from, as it is stated (Deuteronomy 13:1), "you shall not add to it and you shall not take away from it." And we have already elucidated this principle in the introduction to this composition.

You must, however, not expect that everything our Sages say respecting astronomical matters should agree with observation, for mathematics were not fully developed in those days: and their statements were not based on the authority of the Prophets, but on the knowledge which they either themselves possessed or derived from contemporary men of science. But I will not on that account denounce what they say correctly in accordance with real fact, as untrue or accidentally true. On the contrary, whenever the words of a person can be interpreted in such a manner that they agree with fully established facts, it is the duty of every educated and honest man to do so.

(4) If one died and left behind a pregnant wife: If she has a miscarriage, she becomes someone who needs to do yibbum. If she gives birth, and the fetus emerges alive into the world, even should it die in the hour after it was born, its mother is exempt from chalitza and from yibbum. But on a rabbinic level, [we require] that until it is known for certain that it can live out the month, and that it was born after nine full months. Rem"a: Some say that nowadays, even if it only entered the ninth month of pregnancy by just one day, it is considered a viable fetus. And even though we say in the Talmud that a pregnant woman for nine months cannot be a "pieced" pregnancy [i.e. eight months and a day, for it will die], many have already asked about this how empirical evidence contradicts this. Rather we must say that now, the matter has changed, and similarly for many things (Bet Yosef in the name of the Rshbetz). However, the months of pregnancy are each 30 days, and we don't count them like we count the year [some months 30 days, some months 31, some 29] (so implied ibid.).

(1) Seeing that the maintenance of the body in a healthy and sound condition is a God-chosen way, for, lo, it is impossible that one should understand or know aught of the divine knowledge concerning the Creator when he is sick, it is necessary for man to distance himself from things which destroy the body, and accustom himself in things which are healthful and life-imparting. These are: never shall man partake food save when hungry, nor drink save when thirsty; he shall not defer elimination even one minute, but the moment he feels the need to evacuate urine or feces he must rise immediately.

The 187th mitzvah is that we are commanded to kill and destroy the seven nations [of Canaan] because they are the prime worshippers and original source of idolatry.

The source of this commandment is G‑d's statement (exalted be He), "You must wipe them out completely." [Scripture] explains the reason for this commandment is to keep us from learning from their heresy. Many verses encourage and urge that they be killed, and waging war against them is a milchemes mitzvah [mandatory war].

Since these seven nations no longer exist a person could think that this commandment is not noheg l'doros [for all generations]. But only someone who does not understand the concept of noheg l'doros would think such a thing. A command that can be fulfilled without being limited to a certain time is considered noheg l'doros,because if the act would become possible in any generation, the mitzvah would apply. When G‑d will totally destroy the descendants of Amalek and remove them for all time — as will be speedily in our days, as G‑d (exalted be He) promised, "I will wipe out the memory of Amalek" — will we say that the mitzvah to wipe out the memory of Amalek was not noheg l'doros? This is not true, for in any generation when one finds a descendant of Amalek, he must be killed. The same applies to this mitzvah of killing all descendants of the seven nations, which is a milchemes mitzvah.In every generation we are required to uproot them and search after them down to the last individual. We did this until King Daviddestroyed them completely, with the survivors being scattered and assimilated among the nations until they disappeared.

But although they no longer exist, the mitzvah to kill them is still considered noheg l'doros, just as the mitzvah to wage war against Amalek is considered noheg l'doros even after their destruction. This is because it is not dependant on a certain time or place, such as in Egypt or in the desert. The mitzvah is dependant solely upon the object of the mitzvah: whenever they are found, the mitzvah must be fulfilled.

The general rule is that you must understand and contemplate upon the difference between the commandment itself and this that the commandment deals with. There are mitzvos where the object of the commandment has ceased to exist in a certain generation, but this does not render the mitzvah not noheg l'doros, since the commandment itself applies forever.

For a commandment to be considered not noheg l'doros, the opposite would be true. The specific object in the specific state does exist; but the obligation to perform the specific act or follow the certain law only applies at a certain time. Today, even though the object exists, the commandment does not. An example of this would be an elderly Levite, who was not allowed to serve [in the Mishkan] in the desert, but is allowed today, as we explained in the proper place. Be sure you understand this and keep it in mind.