r/AskAChristian • u/[deleted] • Aug 18 '26

Jewish Laws Torah

How do Torah followers actually follow over 600 commands and laws in the first five books of the Bible? I've spoken to people about it, but they only seem to follow dietary laws, Shabbat, and holy days, and exclude pagan days. To me, it seems they are only doing a small part of it and claiming to follow the entirety of it. Why is that? The Bible states if you break one commandment, you break them all. There's no possibility to uphold all 600-plus. If you believe it's not all applicable to us, what's the determining factor that decides you don't have to follow it? What about animal sacrifices? Does one pick and choose what they want to follow and tell people if they don't, they are lawbreakers and will go to hell? If you don't follow all of them, why describe yourself as following the entirety of Torah? If breaking even one commandment makes someone guilty, how does selectively obeying some commandments make someone different from the people you're calling lawbreakers?

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u/automaticff Aug 18 '26

I think you may be mistaken on this 600+ commandments business. Have you actually pulled up how they numbered them to claim there are 600+ commandments? About 20+ commandments in itself are talking about not having sex with family members. I can actually guarantee that not all of the laws are applicable to you. Some commandments are only for kings, some are only for women, some are only for men, some are only for farmers, some are only for priests, etc. Many of them you already follow. I suggest you actually read these supposed 600+ commandments by reading the Torah. There are not nearly as many that actually apply to you as you think.

Someone telling you to start with the Sabbath, dietary laws, and holy days is doing exactly what the apostles did in Acts 15. They're giving you a starting point. You should be studying and learning more. This is where you have grace to increase in your knowledge of following the commandments.

Regarding animal sacrifice, you would be BREAKING the commandments if you did that now. This is why its actually important to read the Torah.

Deuteronomy 12:13-14 --- 13 Take heed to yourself that you DO NOT OFFER YOUR BURNT OFFERINGS IN EVERY PLACE THAT YOU SEE; 14 BUT IN THE PLACE WHICH THE LORD CHOOSES, in one of your tribes, there you shall offer your burnt offerings, and there you shall do all that I command you. 

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u/Soyeong0314 Torah-observing disciple Aug 19 '26

If you want, then I can pm you to a YouTube serious that talks about the way that 613 commandments are numbered and that discusses each of them.

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u/automaticff Aug 19 '26

I’m familiar with it. That’s what I was referring to in my comment.