- Copyright 1998 by Jordan Lee Wagner. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
The Torah prohibits transporting anything on the Sabbath via a public highway, or transferring
anything between a public highway and a private residential area. Although we colloquially
call this prohibited activity “carrying”, it includes all manner of transferring. King Solomon
(and later sages) extended this prohibition to include transporting within and between many
other kinds of areas. However they also provided a mechanism for a community to come together
to create a domain in which those rabbinic prohibitions don’t apply. An important requirement
for such a domain is that it must be physically bounded by partitions, such as fences, hedges,
walls, etc. The partitions can sometimes be more symbolic than substantive. For example, existing
utility wires can often be used (with permission of the utility companies of course) as a
symbolic “lintel” to create a symbolic “doorway” by adding a vertical post (called a “lechi”)
directly under each end of the wire. The resulting symbolic “form of a doorway” can be a valid
part of the boundary. This is usually the most cost effective way to bound a large area. Building
valid partitions around a city or neighborhood is a significant construction project, but
most areas with large Jewish populations do so. Technically, an eruv is the legal procedure
that temporarily merges many private domains each Sabbath, for which the boundary is a prerequisite.
But the boundary is colloquially called an eruv (pronounced “ei-roov”). An eruv is particularly
important to young observant families, since it permits the whole family to come to synagogue
together. (The prohibition against transporting includes carrying young children who cannot
carry themselves.) Without an eruv, one parent stays home with the young children on Sabbaths
(and also on Yom Kippur), or else a baby-sitter must be hired. Thus many families will not
consider moving to a neighborhood without an eruv, even if housing costs are reasonable and
the synagogue is a very special place. This is particularly so if there are other neighborhoods
in the same job market that do have an eruv. An eruv is a convenience that enhances the enjoyment
of the Sabbath for everyone. For example: one can bring wine to a friend's house for kiddush,
take printed Divrei Torah home from shul on Saturday mornings, carry a tallis bag to and from
services, or bring extra food to the shul for shalosh seudos (Third Meal). An eruv also makes
a statement. It says that this is a Jewish community in which the Sabbath is observed. The
telephone, power, and cable TV companies sometimes move the wires on which the boundary depends.
So late Thursday, two professional checkers inspect the entire boundary. An electrician is
on retainer to make any needed repairs on Friday. The current status of the eruv is reported
to the public by a recorded phone message, usually updated between noon and 2 PM each Friday.
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