The Basic Idea In order for an action to be considered true “work” on Shabbat, it must satisfy several conditions. These conditions relate mainly to the concept of intention. That is, my work is only ‘work’ on Shabbat (Hebrew, melacha) if I intend to do the action I am doing.

By Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovitch Parashat Ki Tisa begins with the final instructions for building the Mishkan, the Tabernacle – the temporary temple that accompanied the Jewish nation through its journeys in the desert. The instructions were given to Moses when he was on Mount Sinai and received the laws of the Torah from God. The

Origins in the Torah The etiology of Shabbat is given in the first two chapters of the Book of Bereishit (Genesis), although the name of the day does not actually appear there: God worked six days at creating the world on the seventh he ceased working (shavat mi-kol melaʾkhto), blessed the day, and declared it holy.