[Avodah] Mining on Shabbos

[kennethgmiller at juno.com]

A friend asked an interesting question: Why isn't mining among the Avos Melachos?

If the melachos are derived or defined as those actions which were necessary for building the Mishkan, and the Mishkan used a lot of gold, silver, and brass, then wouldn't the acquiring of such metals be an Av Melacha?

The first idea that comes to mind is that this might be included in the first melacha, choresh, plowing. But in fact, this is the classic example of a Melacha She'ein Tzricha L'gufa: Digging is assur d'Oraisa only if my purpose is for the hole, *not* if my goal is for the dirt which I'm obtaining. Perhaps someone makes a distinction between dirt and metal, but in this context, I just don't see it.

Akiva Miller

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