Why is Fire the Example?

In today’s Torah portion of Vayakhel, the Torah opens with the general laws of Shabbos, prohibition against “work” and then gives one example: “Do not burn fire on the Sabbath.” The Talmud questions as to why of all the 39 categories of work, fire is the one spelled out and specified here, and the Talmud gives several answers.

Here’s an answer the Talmud couldn’t come up with, but is especially relevant today in the 21st century. Back then fire was important: It provided heat and light, and was used for cooking. But today, a different form of fire: electricity encompasses nearly all of our human activity from communication to productivity, from academics to business and entertainment. Think of a blackout. One hundred years ago most didn’t have electricity to be affected by a blackout, but today it brings our lives to a halt.

In terms of Sabbath observance, most challenges today involve electricity (think smartphones, TVs, computers, gaming devices and access cards) or some form of fire (cooking and baking, and think spark plugs in a car, plus all the electrical components in cars today). Very few of us will be sewing on the Sabbath, planting or harvesting crops, kneading dough or even completing business transactions, though the latter might be more likely. Most of the Sabbath challenges for college students today involve electrical stuff.

So it makes a lot of sense today for fire on Sabbath to be spelled out on its own.

P.S. The truth is there is some modern Rabbinic argument (in the past 100 years) as to which of the 39 biblical categories of Sabbath work prohibitions electricity belongs under. There’s little practical difference in terms of actual observance but FYI not all consider it a form of fire.