by LAGoff » Sun May 05, 2013 11:36 pm
Thanks, I didn't know that mitsva was used for both because I have seen a couple books that say "Book of Mitsvot"(Chofets Chayim, Maimonides) and they ONLY deal with things from the Tora. So I assumed that you couldn't produce a book called "Book of Mitsvot" and have included in it rabbinical enactments such as washing hands and saying a blessing before bread; but according to you, one could produce such a book.
So this book "Sefer Mitsvot" from Maimonides that I mentioned should(for me) have been called: 'Sefer Mitsvot min haTora'?(to clear up my confusion).
Therefore, could one call the legal code compilations such as Mishne Tora and Shulkhan Aruch 'sefer mitsvot from the rabbis/sages'?
I assume washing ones hands before bread(and saying a blessing) would be from the latter(mitsva min rabbis/sages), as it only says about blessing God AFTER eating in the Tora.