CARR 268-269 - Central Conference of American Rabbis

QUESTION: What is the

origin for the eruv? What should our Reform Jewish attitude be? (Rabbi A. Wohl, New

Rochelle, NY)

ANSWER: As you know, the eruv has been developed by

Orthodoxy as a legal way around the Sabbath restrictions which prohibited the carrying of any

item beyond one’s private domain. Although there are several categories of domain, the ones

which concern us are r’shut harabim and reshut hayahid. The personal and private

domain could be enlarged through individuals living around a courtyard or any similar enclosure,

agreeing to do so, and placing items necessary for the meal in one place (Er. 17b, 61a, 82a;

Tur and Shulhan Arukh Orah Hayim 336-395 )

It became the practice in

the Middle Ages to consider the entire ghetto community as a private domain through the

creation of an eruv, and of course, the area was walled in and had gates which were

closed on shabbat. So, the necessary preconditions of an enclosure were assured. Later

on, when the Jewish community spread further or no longer lived in a walled ghetto, a symbolic

enclosure was created by connecting rope, wire or poles atop a post at least ten handbreadth

(about 4 feet) in height (Er. 11a ff; Tur Shulhan Arukh Orah Hayim

362).

Although it was rather easily possible to construct such an artificial symbolic

device in the towns of Poland, which were predominantly Jewish, it became much more difficult

to do so in western cities, where Jews were in minority and frequently lived scattered through out

the city. In many places, therefore, no attempt was made to construct an eruv, and

nothing was carried outside of the private domain by strictly Orthodox Jews. An attempt was

made to create an eruv in Manhattan in the nineteen twenties. In this case, the island, of

course, is entirely surrounded by water, except at the upper end and there a segment of the

elevated railroad was to be used as a symbolic wall (eruv). This was recognized by some,

but not by others. Recently, as the mood of Orthodoxy has been that of greater and greater

strictness, efforts have been made to create an eruv in other cities as well. This can

generally be accomplished without any governmental interference and done either through the

use of telephone wires or cable television wire, with proper connections placed for the sake of

the eruv.

It will be difficult to argue with the current Orthodox mood, which is

one of further separation and strict adherence to the letter of the law. Certainly we, as Reform

Jews, who are interested in the spirit of the law, would reject this kind of legal fiction for the

observance of the shabbat, and we should discuss the matter in that spirit with our

Orthodox colleagues.

July 1983