רבי שמלאי

Rabbi Simlai (sometimes rendered Samlai) was an amora active in Lod and Nehardea. He is best known as a master of aggadah and derush, and his teachings are preserved across a wide range of midrashic and later derashah literature, including the books of Midrash Rabbah (on the Torah, Eichah, and Ruth), the Tanchuma-style midrashim.

Several of his most-quoted statements concern the structure and ethical thrust of the Torah: his famous derashah that 613 commandments were given to Moshe Rabbeinu at Sinai—365 negative corresponding to the days of the solar year and 248 positive corresponding to the limbs of the human body—and his teaching that the Torah begins and ends with acts of lovingkindness (gemilut chasadim).

He is also repeatedly recorded responding to minim (sectarians) who pressed scriptural verses suggesting multiple divine powers—to which he answers by demonstrating from the text the absolute unity of Hashem. Other cited passages show him addressing matters of ritual purity, the tribes’ roles in the sale of Joseph, and the nature of reward and human mortality.