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Shabbos: Thirty-Nine Catagories
Submitted by on November 4, 2005 – 1:43 amNo Comment | 2,905 views
Shabbos Prohibitions
It would be far beyond the scope of this essay to do justice to the intricate details of the Shabbos prohibitions. However, we will attempt provide a general overview of the categories of Melacha (work) that is prohibited on Shabbos.
The written Torah does not clearly delineate the individual types of work that are forbidden on Shabbos. The Torah simply admonishes us not to work on this day and commands us to sanctify and remember this day.
However, in the oral Torah G-d clearly defined the nature of the thirty-nine Melachos (catagories of work) that are forbidden on Shabbos. These Melachos are clearly delineated in the Mishna (the first authoritative and authentic documentary of the Oral Torah).
The following is a listing of the Thirty nine categories of Melachos (types of work) that are biblically prohibited on Shabbos:
- Plowing
- Sowing
- Reaping
- Sheaf-making
- Threshing
- Winnowing
- Selecting
- Sifting
- Grinding
- Kneading
- Baking
- Sheep-shearing
- Bleaching
- Combing raw materials
- Dyeing
- Spinning
- Weaving operations #1
- Weaving operations #2
- Weaving operations #3
- Separating into threads
- Tying a knot
- Untying a knot
- Sewing
- Tearing
- Trapping or Hunting
- Slaughtering
- Skinning
- Tanning
- Scraping pelts
- Marking out
- Cutting to shape
- Writing
- Erasing
- Building
- Demolishing
- Kindling a fire
- Extinguishing
- The final hammer blow (Putting the Finishing touch to a newly manufactured article
- Carrying from the private to the public domain (and vice versa)
These thirty-nine Melachos are not limited to the actual description of the Melacha itself. They are meant to be used as examples that include all types of Melachos that are similar to them. The Talmud calls the primary thirty-nine Melachos, Avos (Parent) and the sub-Melachos, Tuldos (offspring) of the original thirty-nine.
For example, the Melacha of grinding includes slicing vegetables into very thin slices. The Melacha of plowing includes activities such as digging, fertilizing the soil, etc.
Modern Day Applications
One of the only Melachos that is clearly specified in the written Torah is the Melacha of building a fire. Although we no longer build fires in the regular routine of our lives we do, however, use automobiles and electricity on a regular and daily basis. These are prohibited on Shabbos as well.
In his book “To Be A Jew”, Rabbi Hayim Dunin makes the following remarks:
The mere development of modern technology with its new instruments, machines and methods, which were unknown when the Torah was given or when the Sages lived, does not automatically make the Shabbos laws obsolete.
On the contrary, a law that is alive, and Jewish law has always been and continues to be “a living law”, has within itself the built-in power and creativity that enables the “judges of the law” to continually keep applying the law to new conditions. New conditions and circumstances are continually being judged on the basis of the legal principles and concepts upon which the law rests.
New developments are thus continually brought into the framework of the Torah’s commandments. If that had not been the case, Judaism would have perished long ago. The theoretical concepts and points of law that enables a rabbi to render judgment as to whether some new development is permitted or forbidden according to the Torah – be it questions pertaining to Shabbos or any other area – obviously require great study. Suffice it to say that their authority in such matters is based on the passage in Deut. 19; 9-11 “And you shall do according…to the judge that shall be in those days… And you shall do according to the tenor of the sentence…You shall observe to do according to all that they shall teach you…”
It is important to note that the prohibition against lighting a fire (or in our case the electric light) does not mean that we must sit in the dark, or cold, throughout Shabbos. It is permissible to set a timer that would activate your light or heating appliance at a time of your choosing. The timer must, however, be set the timer before the onset of Shabbos.
Likewise, the prohibition against cooking does not mean that we are permitted to eat only cold foods on Shabbos. It is permissable to eat warm foods on Shabbos in the following manner:
Cook the food before Shabbos and make sure that it is at least three-quarters cooked before the onset of Shabbos. Now cover your stove with a sheet of tin or aluminum and put your pot over the tin on a reduced flame. Your food will remain warm and ready to eat.
