eruv

eruv, in Judaism, a demarcated boundary that permits Jews to carry or push objects outside of the home when observing the Sabbath (Hebrew: Shabbat, from shavat, “cease,” or “desist”). Within an eruv, which is typically made of string and wire and constructed around a neighborhood, Jews observing certain restrictions on the day of rest have the freedom to carry personal items or push things, such as strollers, while walking in public space.

Origins and rationale

Jewish life is regulated by Jewish law (Halakhah), which was delineated and interpreted by rabbis who compiled the Talmud, and rabbis continually refine the law as they confront new realities. Jews who observe the Sabbath as a day of rest are not permitted to work. Prohibited “work,” however, is not merely gainful employment but, according to the rabbis, also many additional activities or efforts. Conservative and Orthodox Jews who observe the Sabbath strictly may not deal with money, light stoves or switch on electronics, or carry or push objects outside of the home, among many other actions. This proscription of carrying or pushing objects outside of the home, however, creates a dilemma: What if one wishes to leave home to go to the synagogue but needs to bring along books, keys, medicine, or other essential items? What if a parent wants to push a child in a stroller through town while socializing or going to a park on the Sabbath? An eruv solves these conundrums for observant Jews.

The rabbis who defined Jewish law in the Talmud outlined four spatial domains that apply on the Sabbath: the private (reshut ha-yachid), the public (reshut ha-rabim), an exempt space (meqom peṭur), and a space not included in the others (karmelit; the sea is an example). Jewish law prohibits carrying objects more than a few feet within a public space or carrying objects between private and public spaces during the Sabbath. To alleviate this cumbersome restriction, the rabbis decreed that a boundary could be erected that symbolically creates a mixture (Hebrew: ʿeruv) of public and private domains in which public carrying or pushing on the Sabbath is permissible.

Construction

The construction of the eruv is done by various means, but the usual method is to use wires or strings to enclose a neighborhood. In modern times these wires are often attached to telephone poles or other public utility features. In some cases they are further indicated with ribbons, old bottles, or other items strung through the wires. The wires are arranged so as to mimic the outline of houses, with openings creating doorways and downward branching portions indicating walls. The rules and regulations for eruv construction are complex and have been painstakingly detailed by rabbis over many centuries; therefore, a trained rabbi is required to assist with the construction. The eruv must be intact to be considered efficacious, and a community’s eruv crew ensures that the enclosure is complete and unbroken before each Sabbath.

Modern controversies

Eruvin are found in Israel and across the Jewish Diaspora. The majority of the island of Manhattan, for example, is enclosed by an eruv. The strings and wires are often nearly inconspicuous, although sometimes they are more noticeably marked in Israel. Nevertheless, these constructions occasionally meet opposition in diasporic settings with varying rationales. In Barnet, a borough of London, both Jews and non-Jews raised concerns about an eruv for which permission to construct was first requested in 1992. Some people objected to its aesthetics, which required installing poles; others saw the construction as a minority group claiming territory. In an article about the controversy in 1993 in The New York Times, some residents interviewed worried that the presence of the Jewish structure would cause a backlash of antisemitism toward Jews in the borough and diminish social harmony, whereas some of the eruv’s proponents believed that opponents objected to the eruv because they feared the increased visibility of Jews, particularly Orthodox Jews. In Palo Alto, California, an Orthodox Jewish community sought government approval to build an eruv in 1999, but some residents argued that official support for the eruv amounted to an infringement on the separation of church and state. An eruv proposed in 2008 in Westhampton Beach, New York, in the Hamptons, resulted in ongoing discord that was highlighted in an episode of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart in 2011. Proponents of the Westhampton eruv charged that the opposition was animated by an antisemitic concern that the eruv might draw in more Orthodox Jews to the beach town. Opponents of eruvin in communities near Los Angeles in the early 21st century contended that the lines could pose a hazard to birds.