The Hebrew word for "work" is melakhah or melakhot (pl.). The operative definition of "work" according to (modern) rabbis is basically summarized like this: "work is an act which man can manipulate creation for his own purposes." In the oral tradition of of Judaism (halakhah), there are 39 specific acts prohibited on Sabbath including (but not limited to): baking, sowing, reaping, threshing, pounding, writing, plowing, harvesting, spinning, weaving, hunting, kindling and extinguishing fires, and transporting from private to public spheres. All of these specific acts are by consistent with a Hebrew understanding of "work."
Rabbi Heschel, in his book, Sabbath, elaborates on civilization's manipulation of creation ("space" in Heschel's term) at the expense of time...
Technical civilization is man's conquest of space. It is a triumph frequently achieved by sacrificing an essential ingredient of existence, namely, time. In technical civilization, we expend time to gain space. To enhance our power in the world of space is our main objective. Yet to have more does not mean to be more. The power we attain in the world of space terminates abruptly at the borderline of time. But time is the heart of existence.
To gain control of the world of space is certainly one of our tasks. The danger begins when in gaining power in the realm of space we forfeit all aspirations in the realm of time. There is a realm of time where the goal is not to have but to be, not to own, but to give, not to control but share, not to subdue but to be in accord. Life goes wrong when the control of space, the acquisition of things of space, becomes our sole concern.
Sabbath, on the other hand, is a God-centered time to be, to give, to share and be in accord with God, eachother, and creation.
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