(א) וַיַּקְהֵל מֹשֶׁה אֶת כָּל עֲדַת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וַיֹּאמֶר אֲלֵהֶם אֵלֶּה הַדְּבָרִים אֲשֶׁר צִוָּה יקוק לַעֲשֹׂת אֹתָם. (ב) שֵׁשֶׁת יָמִים תֵּעָשֶׂה מְלָאכָה וּבַיּוֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִי יִהְיֶה לָכֶם קֹדֶשׁ שַׁבַּת שַׁבָּתוֹן לַיקוק כָּל הָעֹשֶׂה בוֹ מְלָאכָה יוּמָת. (ג) לֹא תְבַעֲרוּ אֵשׁ בְּכֹל מֹשְׁבֹתֵיכֶם בְּיוֹם הַשַּׁבָּת.
(1) And Moses assembled all the congregation of the children of Israel, and said unto them: ‘These are the words which the LORD hath commanded, that ye should do them. (2) Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day there shall be to you a holy day, a sabbath of solemn rest to the LORD; whosoever doeth any work therein shall be put to death. (3) Ye shall kindle no fire throughout your habitations upon the sabbath day.’
(1) He prefaced the prohibition of Sabbath to the commandment to build the Mishkan, to teach them that its construction does not override the Sabbath
What can we learn from this passage about what work is prohibited on Shabbat?
Could you think of any other parallels between the Mishkan and Shabbat?
Background to the following source: The talmudic sages believed that there are 39 prohibited labors [Melakhot] on the Sabbath. These are 39 categories of actions the rabbis considered prohibited on Shabbat.
If an action is conceptually similar to any of these 39 categories it would be biblically prohibited on Shabbat.
If, on the other hand, an action does not fit any of these categories, it would be allowed on Shabbat according to the Torah.
That being said, many activities not in keeping with the spirit of Shabbat are prohibited rabbinically.
(ב) אבות מלאכות ארבעים חסר אחת הזורע והחורש והקוצר והמעמר הדש והזורה הבורר הטוחן והמרקד והלש והאופה הגוזז את הצמר המלבנו והמנפצו והצובעו והטווה והמיסך והעושה שתי בתי נירין והאורג שני חוטין והפוצע שני חוטין. הקושר והמתיר והתופר שתי תפירות הקורע על מנת לתפור שתי תפירות הצד צבי השוחטו והמפשיטו המולחו והמעבד את עורו והמוחקו והמחתכו. הכותב שתי אותיות והמוחק על מנת לכתוב שתי אותיות הבונה והסותר המכבה והמבעיר המכה בפטיש. המוציא מרשות לרשות הרי אלו אבות מלאכות ארבעים חסר אחת:
(2) The [number of] principal Melakhot is forty minus one. [The forbidden Melakhot are]: Sowing, plowing, reaping, binding sheaves, threshing, winnowing, sorting, grinding, sifting, kneading, baking, shearing wool, whitening it, combing it, dyeing it, spinning, weaving, making two loops, weaving two threads, separating two threads, tying [a knot], untying [a knot], sewing two stitches, tearing for the purpose of sewing two stitches, hunting a deer, slaughtering it, skinning it, salting it, curing its hide, scraping it, cutting it, writing two letters, erasing for the purpose of writing two letters, building, demolishing, extinguishing a flame, lighting a flame, striking with a hammer, carrying from one domain to another. These are the principal Melakhot - [they number] forty minus one.
If you were to break the list up into 3-5 sections, what would they be?
What might one make through these labors?
What do the items on this list have in common (if anything)?
How does this differ from your normal understanding of the concept of "work"?
הא דתנן אבות מלאכות ארבעים חסר אחת כנגד מי אמר להו ר' חנינא בר חמא כנגד עבודות המשכן
Regarding the Mishnah which teaches "There are 39 categories of labor"--to what does it correspond? Rabbi Chanina b. Chama said to them: they correspond to the labors involved in constructing the tabernacle.
Choosing 1 of the labors above, what was it used for in the mishkan?
This text creates a symbolic connection between the mishkan and shabbat. How is Shabbat similar to the mishkan?
What does this say about what one is doing spiritually through observing Shabbat in this way (i.e. observing the 39 melachot)?
To set apart one day a week for freedom, a day on which we would not use the instruments which have been so easily turned into weapons of destruction, a day for being with ourselves, a day of detachment from the vulgar, of independence of external obligations, a day on which we stop worshipping the idols of technical civilization, a day on which we use no money, a day of armistice in the economic struggle with our fellow men and the forces of nature--is there any institution that holds out a greater hope for man's progress than the Sabbath?
The solution of mankind's most vexing problem will not be found in renouncing technical civilization, but in attaining some degree of independence of it.
In regard to external gifts, to outward possessions, there is only one proper attitude--to have them and to be able to do without them. On the Sabbath we live, as it were, independent of technical civilization: we abstain primarily from any activity that aims at remaking or reshaping the things of space. Man's royal privilege to conquer nature is suspended on the seventh day.
What are the kinds of labor not to be done on the Sabbath? They are, according to the ancient rabbis, all those acts which were necessary for the construction and furnishing of the Sanctuary in the desert. The Sabbath itself is a sanctuary which we build, a sanctuary in time.
If you were to create a sanctuary in time, what 5 things might you want inside the sanctuary?
What 5 things might you want to keep out of that sanctuary?
Based on a source sheet by HaGaon Rav David Polsky