melakhah

English

Alternative forms

• m'lakhah, melacha, melachah, melakha

Etymology

Borrowed from Hebrew מְלָאכָה (mal'achá, “work; labor; activities forbidden on Sabbath”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mɛl.ə.xɑ/

Noun

melakhah (countable and uncountable, plural melakhot)

1. (Judaism) Any of the types of work forbidden on Shabbat.
   • 1981, Isidor Grunfeld, The Sabbath: A Guide to Its Understanding and Observance, page 59:

     Thus, carrying an overcoat over one's shoulder is a melakhah, but wearing one is not.

   • 2001, David L. Lieber, Jules Harlow, Etz Hayim: Torah and Commentary, page 725:

     Most categories of m'lakhah (activities prohibited on Shabbat and Yom Kippur) are also prohibited on the three pilgrimage festivals and Rosh ha-Shanah.

   • 2004 October 11, Ja...@fas.harvard.edu, “Simple questions (yah, right)”, in soc.culture.jewish.moderated‎^[1] (Usenet):

     I originally learned that it's a problem to use the head of a match here because of the chemical reaction involved, but I'm having trouble figuring out what the melacha would be.