RYNJ eighth graders have been studying hilchot Shabbat and learning about the 39 Avot Melacha. From their survey of the concept of Shabbat as described in the Torah through an examination of Melechet Hamishkan and the commandment to refrain from Mishkan construction on Shabbat, RYNJ students are well versed in the 39 categories of forbidden labor and the various derivatives (Toladot) that comprise the d’orayta prohibitions of Shabbat.

To help the students better understand and truly appreciate what the original forms of work were, is a job for Melacha Man, Josh Rossman, of Torat Chayim Institute. Rabbi Rossman showed all the tools and demonstrated the equipment that was organized according to the four general series of Mishkan projects (bread/dye, curtains, leather, building construction). The eighth graders were then able to try them. The graduates threshed and winnowed, spun thread and wove cloth, ground wheat kernels, stomped grapes, etched leather and posed for some photo ops with the guest sheep and deer.

In this industrialized age, it can be difficult for modern-day students to understand and appreciate many basic processes and material preparations of the melachot and how the 39 Avot Melacha apply to their lives. They are now better informed with the help of a good dose of “hands on halacha.”