Mishnah Shabbat 7:2
The primary labors [melakhah forbidden on Shabbat] are forty less one.
1. Sowing, plowing, reaping, binding sheaves, threshing, winnowing, selecting, grinding, sifting, kneading, and baking.
2. Shearing wool, bleaching, hackling, dyeing, spinning, stretching the threads, the making of two meshes, weaving two threads, dividing two threads, tying [knotting] and untying, sewing two stitches, and tearing in order to sew two stitches.
3. Capturing a deer, slaughtering, or flaying, or salting it, curing its hide, scraping it [of its hair], cutting it up, writing two letters, and erasing in order to write two letters [over the erasure].
4. Building, pulling down, extinguishing, kindling, striking with a hammer, and carrying out from one domain to another.
These are the forty primary labors less one.
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The primary labors [melakhah forbidden on Shabbat] are forty less one. |
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1. Sowing, plowing, reaping, binding sheaves, threshing, winnowing, selecting, grinding, sifting, kneading, and baking. |
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2. Shearing wool, bleaching, hackling, dyeing, spinning, stretching the threads, the making of two meshes, weaving two threads, dividing two threads, tying [knotting] and untying, sewing two stitches, and tearing in order to sew two stitches. |
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3. Capturing a deer, slaughtering, or flaying, or salting it, curing its hide, scraping it [of its hair], cutting it up, writing two letters, and erasing in order to write two letters [over the erasure]. |
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4. Building, pulling down, extinguishing, kindling, striking with a hammer, and carrying out from one domain to another. |
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These are the forty primary labors less one. |
讗讘讜转 诪诇讗讻讜转 讗专讘注讬诐 讞住专 讗讞转:
1. 讛讞讜专砖, 讜讛讝讜专注, 讜讛拽讜爪专, 讜讛诪注诪专,
讜讛讚砖, 讜讛讝讜专讛, 讜讛讘讜专专, 讜讛讟讜讞谉, 讜讛诪专拽讚,
讜讛诇砖, 讜讛讗讜驻讛,
2. 讛讙讜讝讝 讗转 讛爪诪专, 讜讛诪诇讘谞讜, 讜讛诪谞驻爪讜, 讜讛爪讜讘注讜, 讜讛讟讜讜讛讜, 讜讛诪住讱, 讜讛注讜砖讛 砖谞讬 讘转讬 谞讬专讬谉, 讜讛讗讜专讙 砖谞讬 讞讜讟讬谉, 讜讛驻讜爪注 砖谞讬 讞讜讟讬谉, 讛拽讜砖专, 讜讛诪转讬专, 讜讛转讜驻专 砖转讬 转驻讬专讜转, 讜讛拽讜专注 注诇 诪谞转 诇转驻讜专 砖转讬 转驻讬专讜转,
3. 讛爪讚 爪讘讬, 讜讛砖讜讞讟讜, 讜讛诪驻砖讬讟讜, 讜讛诪讜诇讞讜, 讜讛诪注讘讚讜, 讜讛诪讜讞拽讜, 讜讛诪讞转讻讜, 讛讻讜转讘 砖转讬 讗讜转讜转, 讜讛诪讜讞拽 注诇 诪谞转 诇讻转讜讘 砖转讬 讗讜转讜转,
4. 讛讘讜谞讛, 讜讛住讜转专, 讛诪讻讘讛, 讜讛诪讘注讬专, 讜讛诪讻讛 讘驻讟讬砖, 讜讛诪讜爪讬讗 诪专砖讜转 诇专砖讜转
–讛专讬 讗诇讜 讗讘讜转 诪诇讗讻讜转 讗专讘注讬诐 讞住专 讗讞转.
We have already seen part of the list of thirty-nine forbidden labors of Shabbat contained here in Mishnah Shabbat 7:2. Here is the list in full. At first it looks as if the list is just a compendium of labors commonly performed in the ancient world. On closer inspection, we see that the list falls nicely into four categories of labor. We have already seen that the Talmud (Shabbat 74b) refers to the first of these groupings as sidura d’pat, the order of making bread. We see here that the mishnah also views the labors leading up to the production of clothing (group two), those used in producing scrolls (group three), and those needed to construct shelter (group four), as prohibited by Torah.
On the one hand, our mishnah might have made these groupings for mnemonic reasons. It is easier to remember a list of thirty-nine items if we can pin them to a narrative: the thirty-nine forbidden labors on Shabbat are all those we do when we make bread, make clothing, make scrolls, and make shelter. Indeed, this can be a very helpful check for us as we go about our own practice of Shabbat-if a labor fits into one of these four groupings, we should be aware that it falls outside the sacred boundaries of Shabbat.
One the other hand, these groupings give us a good description of basic human needs: food, clothing, shelter, and the need for intellectual and spiritual growth (for we do not live by bread alone). The message here seems to be that Shabbat should give us a taste of a world in which we do not have to work to fulfill all our needs. Indeed, our Sages call Shabbat me’ein ‘olam haba: a paradigm of the world to come. In a redeemed world, we would not make our bread by the sweat of our brow. But to make Shabbat work in this way, we must work in advance: our homes must be prepared, our cooking must be done, our clothes made ready, and the Torah must rest in the ark.
The same is true of a redeemed world. May we all use Shabbat as a motivating force to energize us to take steps to fix our broken world. Together, we can do it.
Questions:
- Why do you think the Mishnah put the labors used in constructing shelter last? Wouldn’t it have made more sense to put the making of scrolls last?
- How can we use Shabbat as a key element in our quest to redeem the world?
