common – they prohibit any activity that is externally creative, or that exercises control or dominion over one's environment. The extension of the definition is consistent with the common etymology -melakha for "work" and malach for messenger / agent or "angel": just as the malach is the agent used to bring about the realization and execution of a certain idea, so does melakha take a thought or idea and carry through to turn it into a reality. 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. The thirty-nine creative activities The 39 melakhot are discussed in the Talmud in tractate Shabbat. As listed in the Mishna (Shabbat 7:2), they are as follows: Transferring between domains (see below) and preparing food are permitted on Jewish holidays. These are the only exceptions to the rule that activities prohibited on the Sabbath are likewise prohibited on holidays. Note: The thirty-nine prohibited activities are bolded. The Order of Bread Planting Hebrew: (Zorea) Definition: Promotion of plant growth. Not only planting is included in this category; other activities that promote plant growth are also prohibited. This includes watering, fertilizing, planting seeds, or planting grown plants. See further: Mishneh Torah Shabbat 8:2, 21:5; Shulchan Aruch Orach Chayim 336; Chayei Adam Shabbos 11 Plowing Hebrew: (Ḥoresh) Definition: Promotion of substrate in readiness for plant growth, be it soil, water for hydroponics, etc. Included in this prohibition is any preparation or improvement of land for agricultural use. This includes dragging chair legs in soft soil thereby unintentionally making furrows, or pouring water on arable land that is not saturated. Making a hole in the soil would also provide protection for a seed placed there from rain and runoff; even if no seed is ever placed there, the soil is now enhanced for the process of planting. The Mishna (Shabbat 7:2) lists plowing after planting, although one must plow a field before planting. The Gemara asks why this order occurs and answers that the author of this Mishna was a Tanna living in the Land of Israel, where the ground is hard. Since the ground is so hard in Israel, it needed to be plowed both before planting and after planting. The Mishna lists plowing second, teaching that the second plowing (after planting)