Shabbat 73: The Fourty-Less-One Categories of Prohibited Labour on Shabbat

The discussion about intentional/unintentional transgression continues.  Throwing without intention  to break Shabbat halacha might be exempted if the person throwing is unaware that the throw has likely gone four cubits into the public domain.  What if the intention was to throw only two cubits?  Rabbi Yochanan says that one has sinned unintentionally even if one only was unaware that the consequence of their sin was karet.  Rabbi Shimon ben Lakeish (Reish Lakish) says that one is only unwitting if they do not know about their prohibition and about the punishment of karet.  

A new Mishna teaches us the forty-less-one categories of labour that are prohibited on Shabbat.  They are grouped by their function:

• one who sows, plows, reaps, gathers sheaves into a pile, threshes removing kernels from the husk, one who winnows threshed grain in the wind, one who selects the inedible waste from the edible, one who grinds, one who sifts the flour in a sieve, one who kneads dough, one who bakes

• one who shears wool, whitens it, combs the fleece and straightens it, dyes it, spins the wool, stretches the threads of the warp in the loom, constructs two meshes, ties the threads of the warp to the base of the loom, wears two threads, severs two threads for constructive purposes, ties a knot, unties a knot, sews two stitches with a needle, tears a fabric in order to sew two stitches

• one who traps a deer or any living creature, slaughters it, flays it, salts its hide as part of the tanning process, tans its hide, smooths it, removes hair and veins, cuts it into measured parts

• one who writes two letters, erases in order to write two letters

• one who builds a structures, dismantles it

• one who extinguishes a fire, kindles a fire

• one who strikes a blow with a hammer to complete the production of a vessel, says Rabbi Chananel

• one who carries out an object from domain to domain

Rabbi Yochanan says that we need this tally to teach that when one performs all of the prohibited labours in the course of any lapse of awareness (during which one also was unaware of the prohibition involved), one is liable for each one.  The rabbis discuss which actions are done first and second in different places.  Sowing then plowing?  Plowing then sowing?  Does planting count as its own category of prohibited labour?  

Sometimes several actions are included in one category.  For example, Rabbi Abba says that one who digs a hole on Shabbat because one needs the dirt is exempt for the act.  This principle is dependent on whether or not a purpose is constructive or destructive.  The act of digging mars the surface of the ground, a destructive act, and thus one is exempt.

We are also reminded that performing an action in an atypical manner on Shabbat is permitted.