If someone had told me before I left for Israel that I would start my own shiur, I would think that person was crazy. Now, arriving home after 10 months of learning in Aish Gesher, I am proud to say I did, and it was a truly beneficial experience. I had trouble settling on something to learn at first, but I kept searching until I found “The 39 Melachos” set by Rabbi Dovid Ribiat. Out of all sefarim I studied, I found Rabbi Ribiat’s the most interesting way to study the melachot.
The way to find something one truly has an interest in learning is to think about what he or she doesn’t know but would like to know more about. For me, the 39 melachot (primary restrictions of Shabbat) was something I didn’t really know much about but had followed somewhat blindly, without true comprehension. Through my learning, I discovered that a melacha is any one of the 39 categories of primary labors in the building or functioning of the Mishkan, from which all prohibited activities of Shabbat are derived. Each melacha exists for a specific reason because each one was involved in the building of the Mishkan in some way. Each melacha has its own halachic restrictions, rabbinic restrictions and “loopholes.”
As I started learning, I found some restrictions that I had originally thought were permitted. For example, even though it doesn’t apply to me, women are forbidden to wear certain lipsticks on Shabbat, due to the melacha against memacheik (smoothing) and tzoveya (dyeing). As I continued to learn, I talked with friends about some of the interesting melachot that I learned, and some of them also found out that there are restrictions that they themselves thought were permitted. This got me thinking: How many people can name all 39 melachot? Out of those people, how many of them can name all the melachot in order? I asked these questions to some fellow students and I learned that no one could name all of them, let alone in order. This made an impression on me, so I decided to take action.
I made an announcement to the yeshiva, saying that I would be starting a shiur on the 39 melachot and anyone who wanted to listen was welcome to come. I was nervous because I had never given a shiur before and I didn’t know how many people would show up, if any. To my delight, a large number showed up and I was able to teach halachot about Shabbat that many had previously thought were permitted. The shiur was an even bigger success in my eyes because after I was done, a number of the attendees came up to me asking when my next shiur was, eager to learn more.
After my first successful shiur, I gave a few more. I felt each one was a success, not only because I was learning and teaching, but also because I had influenced others, potentially preventing them from violating Shabbat unknowingly. For example, so many people, including me, thought it’s OK to wet a stain on clothing or a tablecloth on Shabbat, but it is not. In fact, it violates the melacha of melabein, cleansing.
Another thing I learned and taught during my shiur is that there are so many other melachot that are have special “loopholes” that can cause people to accidentally do melachot. An interesting “loophole” is the correct way to mash a potato to avoid doing tochein, grinding. If you mash a potato with the tongs of the fork, you are grinding, but it is OK to mash it with the handle of a fork just before eating.
One “loophole” that surprised me and intrigued me was mechabeh, the melacha of extinguishing. One would assume that when it comes to putting out a fire, one is allowed to do the melacha because the fire is life-threatening. One can put it out, but must do it in a certain way. If a fire catches on a tablecloth, one may not pour water directly on it, but rather, one must wet the tablecloth near the flame with colored wine or soda instead.
Mocheik, cutting, is a very difficult melacha to follow to the letter, quite literally. Cutting through a letter/character on a food wrapper, thereby splitting the character, is forbidden. Instead, one must cut between the letters of a word, even though the word combination is broken. Normally when opening a package one needn’t be concerned with ripping through letters, but on Shabbat he or she needs to be careful.
Learning the 39 melachot turned out to be the most important part of my year in Israel. Being in yeshiva enabled me to complete my biggest success in learning, something I never thought I could do: start a shiur and further my own learning.
I may have finished my Israel year, but I will be continuing to learn the 39 melachot and giving shiurim by creating a YouTube channel and posting videos of my shiurim based on my personal notes. Creating these videos and posting them online enables me to teach people all over the world on how to properly keep Shabbat. I will let everyone know when I create my first video. Please subscribe. I encourage everyone to try to find something to learn and never stop.
By Tzvi Sabo
Tzvi Sabo is 2017 MTA graduate and a summer intern for The Jewish Link as a writer and photographer.
