עברית
Halachot and Customs
What is an Eruv on Shabbat?
Question
Every Friday before Shabbat, I often take synagogue bulletins related to the weekly Torah portion (sometimes even the excellent bulletins from "Hidabroot") for reading. At the bottom of some bulletins, it says "Do not carry the bulletin in a place where there is no eruv." I would appreciate an explanation of this instruction. I know about eruvim made for holidays, but the concept of a Shabbat eruv is unclear to me. I would be grateful for an answer on this topic. Thank you :)
Answer
Greetings and blessings,
I will briefly outline the fundamental points.
There are 39 forbidden labors on Shabbat, and one of them is carrying from a private domain to a public domain, meaning it is prohibited to carry anything from a private domain to a public domain.
A private domain (reshut hayachid) is an area belonging to a private individual, enclosed by partitions, such as a private house or yard. A public domain (reshut harabim) refers to a street that is at least 9 to 10 meters wide and is open on both sides, through which 600,000 people pass daily. According to the Sephardic tradition, it is not necessary that 600,000 people pass through.
All other streets are not considered a public domain and therefore there is no Torah prohibition against carrying therein. However, the sages forbade carrying in any place frequented by many people so that it is treated like a public domain. Additionally, any courtyard shared by multiple neighbors is not considered a full private domain, and it is forbidden to carry from the house into the shared courtyard; the same applies to stairwells.
Since today a true public domain rarely exists, carrying is not prohibited by Torah law but remains prohibited rabbinically in the situations mentioned. Yet, the sages provided a solution for carrying in places where there is a rabbinic prohibition—these solutions are called eruvim.
The solution is to encircle the entire neighborhood with a symbolic doorway consisting of two posts and a wire or string above them. This creates the appearance that the neighborhood is enclosed by a partition and is treated like a shared courtyard.
Even in a shared courtyard, carrying is prohibited as above; however, the sages taught that if all the neighbors share in one loaf (metaphorically meaning mutual responsibility and partnership), they are regarded as one family. Therefore, the local religious community leader or rabbi provides this communal obligation, permitting carrying within the eruv.
However, outside of Israel in most places, and in some places within Israel, there is no eruv. It is forbidden to carry objects into the street or stairwell, and even within stairwells, carrying more than four amot (about two meters)—the measure of the street—is forbidden.
With blessings,
Binyamin Shmueli
