Letters/Discussion Forums
What’s work (on Shabbat) & what isn’tt
We secular Jews often feel strongly about religious tolerance, yet when it comes to our ancient traditions we sometimes lose that tolerance.
Martin Zagnoev
Similarly, a recent writer to the SAJR queried how some of the activities not permitted on Shabbos could be seen as “work”.
Historically, before Jews started attending universities, most of the greatest Jewish minds devoted their energies to the study of Torah. They nevertheless accepted this way of understanding “work”.
Actually it is “melachot” which are not allowed on Shabbat. There is no English translation for this word and it is usually translated as work.
According to our tradition, there were 39 creative actions required to build the Mishkan, which symbolised the world. These melachot reflect the types of activities employed by G-d to create the world. Remember that a project as big as Creation required more than just manual labour.
And so it is from these creative actions that rest is required on Shabbat.
Sunningdale, Johannesburg