Definition
The thirty-nine melakhot are not so much activities as categories of activity. For example, while "winnowing" usually refers exclusively to the separation of chaff from grain, it refers in the Talmudic sense to any separation of intermixed materials which renders edible that which was inedible. Thus, filtering undrinkable water to make it drinkable falls under this category, as does picking small bones from fish. (Gefilte fish is a traditional Ashkenazi solution to this problem.)
Many rabbinical scholars have pointed out that these regulations of labor have something in common—they prohibit any activity that is creative, or that exercises control or dominion over one's environment.
The definitions presented in this article are only 'headings' for in-depth topics and without study of the relevant laws it would be very difficult, perhaps impossible, to properly keep the Sabbath according to Halacha/Jewish Law. However, keeping the definition clearly in mind will for sure aid one in the application of its principles.
Read more about this topic: Activities Prohibited On Shabbat
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