[Sca-cooks] Period Shabbat

[Barbara Nostrand]

Noble Cousin!

Greetingts from Solvieg!

> No "work" is permitted to Jews on Sabbath, except that "work" is  
> not a correct translation of the word "melachah." From what I can  
> discover, melachah is related to the word melech, which means king.  
> Thus, what is prohibited are acts of mastery/sovereignty, that is,  
> over the physical world. At candle-lighting time, which is 18  
> minutes prior to 'official' sundown, acts of mastery cease, and  
> everything remains for about 26 hours just as it was at the start  
> of Sabbath (which ends 42 minutes after sundown). Anything which  
> says "I control my environment, I am human, I have opposable thumbs  
> and a really big brain" is right out. ;)

Ahh. Interesting etymology. However, the key component of forbidden  
work is making, and the list of forbidden melachot is supposed to  
derive from those activities involved in constructing the mishkan.

Your Humble Servant
Solveig Throndardottir
Amateur Scholar