Why is it Forbidden to Light Fire on Shabbat?

Question: Why is it still forbidden in our time to kindle fire on Shabbat? After all, ignition/lighting is now done easily using a match or lighter, pressing a switch or turning a car key, etc., without effort (like striking stones together, etc.) as in their time.

Answer: First, if the Torah had stated: "Do not exert yourself on Shabbat," or "Do not perform tiring actions on Shabbat," the question would indeed be valid. And yet, any tiring activity would have been prohibited, such as moving many and/or heavy chairs from room to room for guests, carrying large pots and trays loaded with Shabbat delicacies as at a wedding-Shabbat or brit-Shabbat, if they tire those carrying them, and even walking several tiring kilometers through the city to visit relatives and friends might have been forbidden, since all these involve effort.

However, the Torah does not forbid effort on Shabbat, as long as it's for Shabbat's purposes. Why, then, is kindling fire on Shabbat forbidden? Because the Torah states: "You shall not kindle fire in any of your dwellings on the Sabbath day" (Exodus 35:3) without distinguishing between kindling that involves effort and kindling that doesn't.

The explanation is simple. As stated in the Torah, we are commanded to rest from work on Shabbat to testify to our recognition and belief in the fact that Hashem created and formed the creation with all its details during the six days of work, and rested from work on the seventh day. Not rest from effort, but from work. That is, from creation. Lighting a fire is a creative work of making fire that wasn't there before, and there is no difference whether the work is done with effort or with great ease.

It will be easier for us to understand this when we consider the fact that Hashem did not exert Himself and "get tired" during the six days of creation, but rather "by the word of Hashem the heavens were made, and all their host by the breath of His mouth" (Psalms 33:6). "For He spoke, and it came to be; He commanded, and it stood firm" (ibid., 9). And as stated in the Torah in the creation story: "And Hashem said, Let there be... and there was..."

It is clear, therefore, that the Torah defines creation as work because of the result, which is creation and innovation, and not because of fatigue and effort. Hashem created and formed work, "And the heavens, etc. were finished, and Hashem finished on the seventh day His work which He had done" (Genesis 2:1-2). And similarly it is said: "You shall not do any work" (Exodus 19:10) and it does not matter at all whether the work involves effort or not. And how do we know which action is defined as creative and innovative work and which is not considered as such? (For example, weaving.

Is it considered work for Shabbat purposes? The wool threads were already in the world, but on the other hand, their connection through weaving created and innovated a garment that wasn't there before? The same question can be posed regarding sewing, cooking, building, etc.). For this purpose, the Oral Torah was given.

In the Oral Torah, we received that the definition of work for Shabbat includes thirty-nine actions. Therefore, they and all their derivatives (in halachic terminology: the primary works are called "avot melachah," and their derivatives "toladot") are forbidden on Shabbat. Here, for example, are some of them: sowing (even inserting a single seed into the soil. There's no effort here, but there is a work action.

After all, this seed will begin to sprout!) reaping (even harvesting a single ear of grain or picking a single fruit. There's no effort here, but there is work. Detaching what is picked from its place of growth) kindling (even lighting a match or lighter or creating a spark by starting a vehicle or pressing an electrical switch on Shabbat.

There's no effort here, but there is a work action. After all, one has created and innovated fire) cooking (even throwing a single pea into a boiling pot. There's no effort here but there is the work of cooking), kneading (same as above) etc. We will now understand what is stated in the Torah regarding the work of kindling: "You shall not kindle fire in any of your dwellings on the Sabbath day" (Exodus 35:3) without distinguishing between kindling that involves effort and kindling that doesn't.

In any case, the very act of kindling is work, and is forbidden on Shabbat. On the reason why a special verse was stated regarding the work of kindling, see the Talmud, Tractate Shabbat (70a). And see additional wonderful explanations on the level of interpretation in the Torah's PaRDeS, in the well-known book "Ma'ayanah Shel Torah" Book of Exodus, Parashat Vayakhel.