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Contents 1 Origins of the 39 categories from the Torah 2 What are they? 3 Groups 4 The 39 activities 4.1 Planting 4.2 Plowing 4.3 Reaping 4.4 Binding sheaves 4.5 Threshing 4.6 Winnowing 4.7 Selecting 4.8 Grinding 4.9 Sifting 4.10 Kneading 4.11 Baking 4.12 Shearing wool 4.13 Washing wool 4.14 Beating wool 4.15 Dyeing 4.16 Spinning 4.17 Weaving 4.18 Making two loops 4.19 Weaving at least two threads 4.20 Separating two threads 4.21 Tying 4.22 Untying 4.23 Sewing at least two stitches 4.24 Tearing for the purpose of sewing 4.25 Trapping 4.26 Slaughtering 4.27 Flaying 4.28 Salting meat 4.29 Curing hide 4.30 Scraping hide 4.31 Cutting hide into pieces 4.32 Writing two or more letters 4.33 Erasing 4.34 Building 4.35 Tearing something down 4.36 Extinguishing a fire 4.37 Igniting a fire 4.38 Applying the finishing touch 4.39 Transferring between domains 5 References 6 See also 7 Bibliography 8 External links

The 39 categories of activity prohibited on Shabbat (or 39 melachot, or lamed tet avot melachot), are activities that Orthodox and some Conservative Jews believe Jews are prohibited to do on Shabbat. The Talmud (Tractate Shabbat: Ch7, Mishna 2), using verses from the Torah, lists the 39 distinct categories and clarifies many questions surrounding application of the prohibitions. These activities are also, to a large extent, prohibited on those Jewish holidays which are listed in the Torah.

Many rabbinical scholars have pointed out that these regulations of labor have something in common -- they prohibit any activity that is creative, or that exercises control or dominion over one's environment.

The concluding instructions for the Tabernacle's construction are stated at the end of the Book of Exodus, chapter 31 Exodus 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." Exodus 31:12-17

The rabbis of the Mishna derive from this juxtaposition of subject matter the concept of the commandment to rest on the Sabbath day, as stated in Genesis 2:1-3: "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." Genesis 2 is not pushed aside by the commandments to construct the Tabernacle. The classical rabbinical definition of what constitutes "work" or "activity" that must not be done, on pain of death (when there was a Sanhedrin), is depicted by the 39 categories of activity needed for the construction and use of the Tabernacle.

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.)

The 39 categories of activity prohibited on Shabbat can be divided into four groups.

• The first 11 categories are activities required to bake bread (סידורא דפת).
• The next 13 categories are activities required to make a garment (סידורא דבגד).
• The next 9 categories are activities required to make leather.
• The final 6 categories are activities required to build a house.

The 39 activities are based on the Mishna Shabbat 7:2.

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: Mishneh Torah Shabbos 8:2, 21:5; Shulkhan Arukh Orach Chayim 336; Chayei Adam Shabbos 11

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 [also] 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: Mishneh Torah Shabbos 7:3, 8:1, 21:2-4; Chayei Adam Shabbos 10

Hebrew: קוצר Removing all or part of a plant from its source of growth is reaping.

See further: Mishneh Torah Shabbos 8:3-5, 21:6-10;Chayei Adam Shabbos 12

Hebrew: מעמר

See further: Mishneh Torah Shabbos 8:5, 21:11; Chayei Adam Shabbos 13

Hebrew: דש

See further: Mishneh Torah Shabbos 8:7-10, 21:12-16;Shulkhan Arukh Orach Chayim 319-321; Chayei Adam Shabbos 14

Hebrew: זורה

See further: Shulkhan Arukh Orach Chayim 219:7; Chayei Adam Shabbos 15

Hebrew: בורר

See further: Mishneh Torah Shabbos 8:11-13, 21:17; Shulkhan Arukh Orach Chayim 319; Chayei Adam Shabbos 16 This is one of the most complicated melachot. Many of its details are excepted, if the thing being sorted is going to be used immediatly after the sorting.

Hebrew: טוחן

See further: Mishneh Torah Shabbos 8:15, 21:18-31; Shulkhan Arukh Orach Chayim 321; Chayei Adam Shabbos 17

Hebrew: מרקד

See further: Mishneh Torah Shabbos 8:14, 21:32; Shulkhan Arukh Orach Chayim 321, 324; Chayei Adam Shabbos 18

Hebrew: לש

See further: Mishneh Torah Shabbos 8:16, 21:33-36; Shulkhan Arukh Orach Chayim 321,324; Chayei Adam Shabbos 19

Hebrew: אופה Baking, cooking, frying, or any method of applying heat to food to prepare for eating is included in this prohibition.

See further: Mishneh Torah Shabbos 22:1-10; Shulkhan Arukh Orach Chayim 318; Chayei Adam Shabbos 22

Hebrew: גוזז צמר

See further: Mishneh Torah Shabbos 9:179, 22:13-14; Chayei Adam Shabbos 21

Hebrew: מלבנו

See further: Mishneh Torah Shabbos 0:10-11 22:15-20; Shulkhan Arukh Orach Chayim 301-302; Chayei Adam Shabbos 22

Hebrew: מנפצו

See further: Mishneh Torah Shabbos 9:12; Chayei Adam Shabbos 23

Hebrew: צובע

See further: Mishneh Torah Shabbos 9:13-14, 22:23; Shulkhan Arukh Orach Chayim 320; Chayei Adam Shabbos 24

Hebrew: טווה

See further: Mishneh Torah Shabbos 15; Chayei Adam Shabbos 25

Hebrew: מיסך

See further: Chayei Adam Shabbos 25

Hebrew: עושה שני בתי נירין

See further: Chayei Adam Shabbos 25

Hebrew: אורג שני חוטין

See further: Chayei Adam Shabbos 25

Hebrew: פוצע שני חוטין

See further: Chayei Adam Shabbos 25

Hebrew: קושר

See further: Mishneh Torah Shabbos 10:1-6; Chayei Adam Shabbos 26

Hebrew: מתיר

See further: Mishneh Torah Shabbos 10:1-6; Chayei Adam Shabbos 27

Hebrew: תופר שתי תפירות

See further: Mishneh Torah Shabbos 10:9, 11; Shulkhan Arukh Orach Chayim 340; Chayei Adam Shabbos 28

Hebrew: קורע על מנת לתפור שתי תפירות

See further: Mishneh Torah Shabbos 10:10; Shulkhan Arukh Orach Chayim 340; Chayei Adam Shabbos 29

Hebrew: צד צבי

The Mishna does not just write "trapping"; rather, the Mishna says "trapping deer." According to at least one interpretation^{[citation needed]}, this teaches that to violate the Torah's prohibition of Trapping, two conditions must be met.

1. The animal being trapped must be a wild animal. This means that one may put a pet in a cage.
2. The "trapping" action must 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 not 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: Mishneh Torah Shabbos 10:15; Shulkhan Arukh Orach Chayim 317; Chayei Adam Shabbos 30

Hebrew: שוחט

See further: Mishneh Torah Shabbos 11:1-4; Shulkhan Arukh Orach Chayim 316; Chayei Adam Shabbos 31

Hebrew: מפשט

See further: Mishneh Torah Shabbos 11:5-6, 22:1-10; Shulkhan Arukh Orach Chayim 321, 327; Chayei Adam Shabbos 32

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. [1]

See further: Shulkhan Arukh Orach Chayim 321, 327; Chayei Adam Shabbos 33

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. [2]

See further: Chayei Adam Shabbos 32-33

Hebrew: ממחק

See further: Chayei Adam Shabbos 34-35

Hebrew: מחתך

See further: Mishneh Torah Shabbos 11:7; Chayei Adam Shabbos 36

Hebrew: כותב שתי אותות

See further: Mishneh Torah Shabbos 11:9-17, 23:12-19; Shulkhan Arukh 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: Mishneh Torah Shabbos 11:17; Chayei Adam Shabbos 38

Hebrew: בונה

See further: Mishneh Torah Shabbos 10:12-14 22:25-33; Chayei Adam Shabbos 39-44

Building was the action of actually joining the different pieces together to make the mishcan. Inserting the handle of an axe into the socket is a derived form this Melacha. It is held by some that the act of Halakhic "building" is not actually performed (and therefore, the prohibition not violated) if the construction is not completed. From this, some authorities derive that it is prohibited to use electricity since, by turning on a switch, a circuit is completed and thus "built." (See "igniting a fire" below.)

Hebrew: סותר

See further: Mishneh Torah Shabbos 10:15; Chayei Adam Shabbos 39, 43

Hebrew: מכבה

While extinguishing a fire is forbidden even when great property damage will result, in the event of any life-threatening fire one is required to extinguish the flames^[1].

See further: Shulkhan Arukh Orach Chayim 334; Chayei Adam Shabbos 45

Hebrew: מבעיר

This includes making, transferring or adding fuel to a fire. (Note, however, that transferring fire is permitted on Jewish holidays. It is one of the exceptions to the rule that activities prohibited on Shabbat are likewise prohibited on Yom Tov.) This is one of the few Shabbat prohibitions mentioned explicitly in the Torah Exodus 35:3. Many poskim ground their prohibition of operating electrical appliances in this melacha.

Note that Judaism requires that at least one light (ordinarily candle or oil) be lit in honor of Shabbat immediately before its start.

This prohibition also was (and in many circles, still is) commonly understood to disallow operating electrical switches. When actuating electromechanical switches that carry a live current, there is always the possibility that a small electric spark will be generated. This spark is classified as a kind of fire. However, as science became more advanced, and the properties of fire and electricity became better understood, this reasoning broke down: fire is a chemical reaction involving the release of energy; the flow of an electric current is a physical reaction. Therefore, some hold that the proper reason it is forbidden to complete electric circuits is because it involves construction or building (i.e., the building and completion of an electric circuit -- see above). Some Conservative authorities, on the other hand, reject these arguments and permit the use of electricity.^[2][3][4]

See further: Mishneh Torah Shabbos 12:1; Chayei Adam Shabbos 46

Hebrew: מכה בפטיש (literally, striking with a hammer).

This melacha refers to an act of completing an object and bringing it into its final useful form. For example, if the pages of a newspaper were poorly separated, slicing them open would constitute "applying the finishing touch". Ribiat, infra. Using a stapler involves transgressing "applying the finishing touch" in regard to the staple, which is brought into its final useful form by the act. Ribiat, infra.

See further: Mishneh Torah Shabbos 10:16-18, 23:4-9; Chayei Adam Shabbos 44

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 more than 4 cubits (~1.7 m) 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 ^[5] "Let no man leave his place on the seventh day" is a reference to the prohibition of carrying according to traditional Jewish Orthodox commentators.^[6]

Likewise according to the Talmud^[7], the account of the man who was executed for gathering wood in Numbers 15:32 was because he violated this prohibition.

Also, Jeremiah explicitly mentions this prohibition Jeremiah 17:21-22.

See further: Chayei Adam Shabbos 47-56. See also: Eruv for carrying.

• Jewish holiday
• Muktzah
• Shabbos goy

Ribiat, Rabbi Dovid (1999). ספר ל״ט מלאכות The 39 Melochos. Jerusalem: Feldheim Publishers. ISBN 1-58330-368-5. 

• What are the 39 melachot? (Introduction and categories)
• The Thirty-Nine Categories of Sabbath Work. (Detailed links for one)
• Summary

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