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Comment by daveFNbuck | Hacker News Reader

> but there's nothing stopping you from visiting your friend who happens to have the Spurs game on

Your friend doesn't have to just happen to have the game on. You can even invite your friend over to your house to watch the game. You just can't be the one to operate the TV, as using electric appliances is considered work.

It's amazing how much extra effort is required to consider yourself resting on Saturday. People will also take the stairs to avoid the work of elevators and walk to temple to avoid the work of driving.

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Part of that's a translation problem. "Work" doesn't really express the same concept as melakha, which is more specifically human kinds of work than expenditure of brute force.

My understand of Melakha is creative effort not brute force.(i.e. six days G-d created and the seventh he rested (from that creative effort))

If I have said that God is essentially human in His creative work, then I'm certain you could line up rabbis on either side.

Melacha is the 39 base categories of avodah (translated, but not literally work) that went into the construction of the temple. The talmud then expands upon how we learn about and understand these - including their sources and the discussions in Mesechet Shabbat (the Sabbath Tractate).

Over the years Rabbis have clarified and expand these definitions to understand how they relate to the current generation and modern world. This is a long conversation.

This is sort of correct - its not the temple rather the Mishkan (tabernacle)... The commandment of Shabbos is six days you should "Taaseh Melacha" and rest on the seventh day... later by the building of the Tabernacle, it connects mentions shabbat out of place and is interpreted to mean, dont build the mishkan on shabbat...and to interpret work as related to creating a tabernacle...https://www.etzion.org.il/en/mishkan-and-shabbat

Ultimately, the general idea is "we create during the week and on sabbath, separate ourselves from that creative energy and just enjoy our handiwork, just as the creator of the world did... this is why even plucking a blade of grass would be forbidden..anything that creates either through adding or removing things is in the framework of how Shabbat laws are interpreted...

As I understand it in my lay background.

While all rules in Judaism are debated endlessly and have a multitude of opinions... My understanding is that most stringent Halacha followers would agree one SHOULD not watch a spurs game on Shabbos...and there are clearly several rules around separating the day from others that may even make it a prohibition(not that I havent watched my share of sports games on Shabbos.) I just think its worth pointing out that its rare youll find a rabbi that says you Should watch the game.

NYC has a bunch of these so that elevators are ok to use on Shabbat: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shabbat_elevator

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