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Generally speaking, whenever the Torah tells us "do not do X," the context is "do not do a specific action" (don't eat non-Kosher, don't do work on Shabbos, etc.). In a select few prohibitions, how...
Question
mitzvah-theory
#2: Post edited
by
DonielF
·
2020-09-16T00:34:23Z (over 3 years ago)
#1: Initial revision
by
DonielF
·
2020-09-10T16:30:07Z (over 3 years ago)
Seeking list of prohibitions which force one to do an action
Generally speaking, whenever the Torah tells us "do not do X," the context is "do not do a specific action" (don't eat non-Kosher, don't do work on Shabbos, etc.). In a select few prohibitions, however, one is forced to do an action in order to avoid being in violation of the prohibition, or at least has the option of actively doing something to avoid the prohibition. Among _that_ subset, most of the relevant prohibitions have a twin positive commandment; when abiding by the prohibition, one will naturally abide by the twin commandment and thereby be forced to perform an action. These include, off the top of my head (with the mitzvah numbers providing reference within the Sefer HaChinuch): - Don't take the children first; send the mother then take the children (Devarim 22:6-7; Mitzvos 544-545) - Return a lost object; don't hide yourself from it (Devarim 22:1-3; Mitzvos 538-539) - Don't leave an animal struggling under a load; help to remove its burden (Devarim 22:4; Mitzvos 540-541) - Build a fence around your roof; don't leave dangerous objects lying around (Devarim 22:8; Mitzvos 546-547) - To appoint a Jewish king; not to appoint a non-Jewish king (Devarim 17:15; Mitzvos 497-498) - Not to be stingy with those in need; to give Tzedakah or charity loans (Devarim 15:7-11, Shemos 22:24; Mitzvos 66, 478-479) - Not to free a Jewish slave empty-handed; to send him with gifts (Devarim 15:13-14; Mitzvos 481-482) The list goes on. What's striking, however, is just how few prohibitions require an action to avoid violating them, without being paired with a positive commandment as well. To my knowledge, the _only_ case of this is that a guarantor or lender on a loan has the prohibition against being involved in lending on interest, and they can get out of it after the fact by ripping up the loan document (Bava Metzia 62a.8). Is this particular case the only example of a prohibition that, without having a twin positive commandment, requires one to do an action? If not, what are the other examples?