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Many Rabbinical Scholars have pointed out that these labors have something in common -- they prohibit any activity that is Creative , or that exercises control or dominion over one's Environment . ORIGINS OF THE 39 CATEGORIES FROM THE TORAH The concluding instructions for the Tabernacle 's construction are stated at the end of the Book Of Exodus , chapter 31 , and in that same chapter, immediately following the words about the Tabernacle, God reminds Moses about the importance of the Jewish Sabbath : :"God told Moses to speak to the Israelites and say to them: You must still keep my sabbaths. It is a sign between me and you for all generations, to make you realize that I, God, am making you holy. Keep the Sabbath as something sacred to you. Anyone doing work shall be cut off spiritually from his people, and therefore, anyone violating it shall be put to death. Do your work during the six week days, but keep Saturday as a Sabbath of sabbaths, holy to God. Whoever does any work on Saturday shall be put to death. The Israelites shall thus keep the Sabbath, making it a day of rest for all generations, as an eternal covenant. It is a sign between me and the Israelites that during the six weekdays God made heaven and earth, but on Saturday, he ceased working and rested." The rabbis of the Mishna derive from this juxtaposition of subject-matter, the fact that the commandment to rest on the Sabbath day, as stated in : "Heaven and earth, and all their components, were completed. With the seventh day, God finished all the work that He had done. He ceased on the seventh day from all the work that he had been doing. God blessed the seventh day, and he declared it to be holy, for it was on this day that God ceased from all the work that he had been creating to function." is not pushed aside by the commandments to construct the Tabernacle. Not only that, but the very definition of what constitutes "work" or "activity" that must not be done, on pain of death (when there was a Sanhedrin ), is defined by the 39 categories of activity needed for the construction of the Tabernacle. WHAT ARE THEY? The 39 melachot are not so much activities as ''categories'' of activity. For example, while "winnowing" usually refers exclusively to the separation of Chaff from Grain , it refers in the Talmudic sense to any separation of intermixed materials which renders edible that which was inedible. Thus, filtering undrinkable Water to make it drinkable falls under this category, as does picking small bones from Fish . ( Gefilte Fish is a traditional Ashkenazi solution to this problem.) GROUPS The 39 categories of activity prohibited on Shabbat can be divided into four groups.
THE 39 ACTIVITIES The 39 activities are based on the Mishna Shabbat 7:2. Planting Hebrew : זורע Just as planting is to cause the plant to grow, so to all activities that promote plant growth is included in this category. This includes watering, fertilizing, planting seeds, or planting grown plants. See further: Orach Chayim 336; Chayei Adam ''Shabbos'' 11 Plow ing Hebrew: חורש Included in this prohibition is any preparation or improvement of land for agricultural use. The Mishna (Shabbat 7:2) lists plowing after planting, although one must plow a field before planting. The Gemara asks why this order occurs and answers that the author of this Mishna was a Tanna living in Israel , where the ground is hard. Since the ground is so hard in Israel, it needed to be plowed both before planting and after planting. The Mishna lists plowing second, teaching that the second plowing (after planting) is {Link without Title} prohibited. (The plowing before the planting is also prohibited, if not by the Torah, certainly Rabbincally). The Rambam lists plowing first, and planting second. See further: ''Shabbos'' 10 Reaping Hebrew: קוצר Removing all or part of a plant from its source of growth is reaping. See further: ''Shabbos'' 12 Binding sheaves Hebrew: מעמר See further: ''Shabbos'' 13 Threshing Hebrew: דש See further: Orach Chayim 319-321; Chayei Adam ''Shabbos'' 14 Winnowing Hebrew: זורה See further: ''Shabbos'' 15 Selecting Hebrew: בורר See further: Orach Chayim 319; Chayei Adam ''Shabbos'' 16 Grinding Hebrew: טוחן See further: Orach Chayim 321; Chayei Adam ''Shabbos'' 17 Sifting Hebrew: מרקד See further: Orach Chayim 321, 324; Chayei Adam ''Shabbos'' 18 Knead ing Hebrew: לש See further: Orach Chayim 321,324; Chayei Adam ''Shabbos'' 19 Baking Hebrew: אופה Baking, cooking, frying, or any method of applying heat to food to prepare for eating is included in this prohibition. See further: Orach Chayim 318; Chayei Adam ''Shabbos'' 22 Shearing wool Hebrew: גוזז צמר See further: ''Shabbos'' 21 Washing wool Hebrew: מלבנו See further: Orach Chayim 301-302; Chayei Adam ''Shabbos'' 22 Beating wool Hebrew: מנפצו See further: ''Shabbos'' 23 Dyeing wool Hebrew: צובע See further: Orach Chayim 320; Chayei Adam ''Shabbos'' 24 Spinning Hebrew: טווה See further: Mishneh Torah ''Shabbos'' 15; Chayei Adam ''Shabbos'' 25 Weaving Hebrew: מיסך See further: Chayei Adam ''Shabbos'' 25 Making two loops Hebrew: עושה שני בתי נירין See further: Chayei Adam ''Shabbos'' 25 Weaving at least two threads Hebrew: אורג שני חוטין See further: Chayei Adam ''Shabbos'' 25 Separating two threads Hebrew: פוצע שני חוטין See further: Chayei Adam ''Shabbos'' 25 Tying Hebrew: קושר See further: ''Shabbos'' 26 Untying Hebrew: מתיר See further: ''Shabbos'' 27 Sewing at least two stitches Hebrew: תופר שתי תפירות See further: Orach Chayim 340; Chayei Adam ''Shabbos'' 28 Tearing for the purpose of sewing Hebrew: קורע על מנת לתפור שתי תפירות See further: Orach Chayim 340; Chayei Adam ''Shabbos'' 29 Trapping Hebrew: צד צבי The Mishna does not just write "trapping"; rather, the Mishna says "trapping deer." This teaches us that to violate the Torah's prohibition of Trapping, two conditions must be met. #The animal being trapped must be a wild animal. This means that one may put a pet in a cage. #The "trapping" action must actually seriously confine the animal. For example, closing the gate to a large yard on Shabbat cannot be trapping, even if there is a wild animal in the yard. This creates questions in practical Halakha such as: "May one trap a fly under a cup on Shabbat?" The ''Meno Netziv'' says that an animal that is normally trapped (e.g. a fly, a bee, or a lizard) is not covered under the Torah prohibition of trapping. It is however, a Rabbinic prohibition, so one is not allowed to trap the animal. However, if one is afraid of the animal, one may trap it. Laying traps violates a Rabbinic prohibition. See further: Orach Chayim 317; Chayei Adam ''Shabbos'' 30 Slaughtering Hebrew: שוחט See further: Orach Chayim 316; Chayei Adam ''Shabbos'' 31 Flaying Hebrew: מפשט See further: Orach Chayim 321, 327; Chayei Adam ''Shabbos'' 32 Salting meat Hebrew: מולח The list of activities in the Mishna includes salting hides and curing as separate categories of activity; the Gemara (Tractate Shabbat 75b) amends this to consider them the same activity and to include "tracing lines", also involved in the production of leather, as the 39th category of activity. {Link without Title} See further: Shulkhan Arukh Orach Chayim 321, 327; Chayei Adam ''Shabbos'' 33 Curing hide Hebrew: מעבד The list of activities in the Mishna includes salting hides and curing as separate categories of activity; the Gemara (Tractate Shabbat 75b) amends this to consider them the same activity and to include "tracing lines", also involved in the production of leather, as the 39th category of activity. {Link without Title} See further: Chayei Adam ''Shabbos'' 32-33 Scraping hide Hebrew: מוחק See further: Chayei Adam ''Shabbos'' 34-35 Cutting hide up Hebrew: מחתך See further: ''Shabbos'' 36 Writing two or more letters Hebrew: כותב שתי אותות See further: Orach Chayim 340; Chayei Adam ''Shabbos'' 36 Erasing in order to write two or more letters Hebrew: מוחק על מנת לכתוב שתי אותות See further: ''Shabbos'' 38 Building Hebrew: בונה See further: ''Shabbos'' 39-44 Tearing something down for a constructive purpose Hebrew: סותר See further: ''Shabbos'' 39, 43 Extinguishing a fire Hebrew: מכבה In the event of any life threatening fire it is permitted (in fact required) to extinguish the flames Shulkhan Arukh Orach Chayim 334. See further: Shulkhan Arukh Orach Chayim 334; Chayei Adam ''Shabbos'' 45 Transferring a fire Hebrew:מבעיר This includes making, transferring or adding fuel to a fire. This is one of the few prohibition mentioned explicitly in the Torah . See further: ''Shabbos'' 46 Putting the finishing touch on an object Hebrew:מכה בפטיש See further: ''Shabbos'' 44 Removing an object from one domain to another Hebrew: מוציא מרשות לרשות This category of work prohibits moving an object from a private domain to a public domain. It is also prohibited to move an object move than 4 cubits in a public domain. The definition of public and private domain is related to its relative amount of enclosures, not on strict ownership. This is one of the few categories of work that is mentioned in the Torah . The verse :"Let no man leave his place on the seventh day" is a reference to the prohibition of carrying according to some commentators see ''Eruven'' 17b Likewise according to some Talmud ''Shabbos'' 96b, the account of the man who was executed to gathering wood in was because he violated this prohibition. Also, Jeremiah explicitly mentions this prohibition . See further: Chayei Adam ''Shabbos'' 47-56 REFERENCES SEE ALSO
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