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• R. Simlai in Makkot 23b expounds that there are 613 mitzvot – 248 positive commandments and 365 negative commandments.
• Rambam tried very hard to calculate the exact 613 mitzvot, and surpassed all his predecessors in this regard, but there are still many issues with what he did.
• The issues with Rambam's counting are not due to any flaw of Rambam's; rather the number 613 was not really precise, and R. Simlai didn't care becacause he wanted to make an exposition with the significance of the number 613.
• Therefore, when counting the mitzvot, we should ignore R. Simlai's statement, and only count based on the actual truth.
• Furthermore, even if R. Simlai was being precise, we don't have to contend with his number because if our analysis of the Talmud results in a higher count then it would simply be a dispute and we would reject R. Simlai as the minority view.

• R. Simlai in Makkot 23b expounds that there are 613 mitzvot – 248 positive commandments and 365 negative commandments.
• Rambam tried very hard to calculate the exact 613 mitzvot, and surpassed all his predecessors in this regard, but there are still many issues with what he did.
• The issues with Rambam's counting are not due to any flaw of Rambam's; rather the number 613 was not really precise, and R. Simlai didn't care because he wanted to make an exposition with the significance of the number 613.
• Therefore, when counting the mitzvot, we should ignore R. Simlai's statement, and only count based on the actual truth.
• Furthermore, even if R. Simlai was being precise, we don't have to contend with his number because if our analysis of the Talmud results in a higher count then it would simply be a dispute and we would reject R. Simlai as the minority view.

This has nothing to do with R. Simlai. Learn through the Torah and Talmud, and if you find mitzvot between Bereishis and Bo then count them, and if you don't find mitzvot then don't count them.

Same as above – learn through each parsha, and if you find mitzvot then count them, and if you don't find mitzvot then don't count them. It is not R. Simlai's fault if the Torah does not say anything that can be construed as a mitzvah in an entire parsha.

This has nothing to do with R. Simlai. We have to learn through the Torah and Talmud, and if we find mitzvot between Bereishis and Bo then we count them, and if we don't find mitzvot then we don't count them.

Same as above – we learn through each parsha, and if we find mitzvot then we count them, and if we don't find mitzvot then we don't count them. It is not R. Simlai's fault if the Torah does not say anything that can be construed as a mitzvah in an entire parsha.

Thus, in sum, the number 613 has very little practical significance. It is useful in teaching us a lesson, but it does not necessarily reflect the true number of mitzvot. There could in actuality be many more than 63 mitzvot (or theoretically many fewer). The only correct way to count mitzvot is to go through the Torah and Talmud and analyze each case individually to determine whether something is a mitzvah or not. Whatever number we have at the end of the entire analysis is the number of mitzvot, and that number can theoretically be anything.

Thus, in sum, the number 613 has very little practical significance. It is useful in teaching us a lesson, but it does not necessarily reflect the true number of mitzvot. There could in actuality be many more than 613 mitzvot (or theoretically many fewer). The only correct way to count mitzvot is to go through the Torah and Talmud and analyze each case individually to determine whether something is a mitzvah or not. Whatever number we have at the end of the entire analysis is the number of mitzvot, and that number can theoretically be anything.