Eruv
Eruv ( Hebrew עֵרוּב 'Mixture' ) (Erub, Eruw Chazeroth, Sabbath boundary, Sabbath fence), describes three procedures that allow certain activities in Halacha that are otherwise forbidden according to Jewish laws. Usually this means an Eruv for carrying, but there is also an Eruv for cooking ( Hebrew עירוב תבשילין) and the Eruv for traveling ( Hebrew עירוב תחומין).
In the Talmud , the Eruvin treatise is dedicated to Eruv . Eruvin deals with eruv chatzerot , the "mixing of possessions", and eruv techumin , the "mixing of boundaries". The eruv tavschilin , the "mixing of prepared things ", is dealt with elsewhere in the Talmud.
In common parlance, an eruv means a fence - real or symbolic - that surrounds a Jewish residential area. Within the Eruv, the Sabbath rule of wearing nothing does not apply.
Eruv for wearing
For the Sabbath , Exodus prescribes not to leave “his place” ( 2 Mos 16 : 25-29 EU ). The 39 jobs that are not allowed on Shabbat include carrying objects, i.e. H. the transfer of an object from the private to the public area and vice versa. No objects may be moved outside the home, regardless of their weight or purpose.
According to the Talmud, carrying objects means three activities:
- Move an object from an enclosed area (such as a private home, public building, or fenced area) to a main public road
- Move an item from a main public road to an enclosed area
- Move an object more than four cubits on a main public road
In order to avoid confusion about what constitutes a main public road, rabbis extended the ban early on to any unfenced area.
On Shabbat, Orthodox Jews want to prove that they renounce their God-given rule over the world and refrain from performing a melacha . On the other hand, the ban on wearing is the reason for many circumstances and reduces the oneg (joy) on the Sabbath.
Another ban was added at the court of King Solomon , so it was also forbidden to wear anything in an area that was shared by residents of several houses, even if that area was enclosed by fences or walls. In the case of the walled, shared inner courtyards, however, carrying was allowed through the use of an eruv. The Eruv consists of a food - mostly bread - that is shared by all residents. By sharing the food, all residents are considered to be residents of a common house and are therefore exempt from the additional ban.
The eruv chatzeirot ("mixing property") works in such a way that all residents treat the area fenced as Eruv as their "home". The shared space thus becomes common property within the meaning of the law. For the Eruv to work, however, the area must be surrounded by a wall or fence, otherwise carrying it remains forbidden in the sense of the original prohibition. This fence can be made of a rope or wire drawn around a block of houses or a residential area. Orthodox Jews can then regard the fenced-in area as their common “home”. The tape must form an uninterrupted demarcation and can therefore also run along telephone poles or buildings. Natural boundaries such as rivers can also become part of the Eruv.
When the city wall in Königsberg, which had become militarily superfluous, was broken through in 1906 , the Eruv was no longer closed. The Jewish community of Königsberg managed here too with a wire that was stretched over the breach and symbolically closed the boundary again.
Today, the term Eruv usually refers to the rope or wire through which the shared bread becomes effective. In the Talmud and other classical sources, however, this means the bread itself.
In theory, all rabbis accept the concept of Eruv, which allows Jewish communities to enjoy the Sabbath with some facilities. However, when it comes to the practical implementation of the technical requirements for a valid Eruv, some rabbis are divided. Therefore, the existing eruvim are not used by all Orthodox Jews.
Worldwide (excluding Israel) there are over 150 Eruvim, in Israel far more. Eruvim exist in all major North American cities, for example in Toronto, Phoenix, Memphis, Los Angeles, Boston, Chicago, Providence, Miami, Dallas, Baltimore, New York City and Washington, DC (there are eight Eruvim alone). There are also Eruvim in Rio de Janeiro, Johannesburg, Melbourne, Gibraltar, Amsterdam , Antwerp and Strasbourg . In Manhattan it covers an area of approximately 40 square kilometers. It is checked and repaired every Thursday.
About the coexistence of Orthodox Jews and non-Jews within the Eruv of Teaneck (New Jersey), the documentary Eruv - The Wire by the German actor and director Kai Wiesinger was made in 2004 , which made the largely forgotten subject Eruv known in Germany. Before 1938 there was also Eruvim in Germany, for example the Altona Eruv existed from the end of the 17th century until the 1930s; In 1914 the Jewish Community of Frankfurt am Main negotiated with the city administration about the establishment of an Eruv. There is currently no Eruv in Germany. In September 2012 the inner city of Vienna was declared an Eruv within the belt.
Activities that are also prohibited within the Eruv
In principle, almost all objects can be carried within a valid Eruv. However, this only applies if the object is not already covered by other prohibitions.
Examples:
- the wearing of objects that are considered muktza that are not allowed to be moved on the Sabbath (including writing utensils)
- The erection and carrying of umbrellas is covered by the ban on building (umbrellas are considered small tents, i.e. buildings)
- Everyday activities such as cycling ( Uvdin d'Chol )
- carrying items in preparation for the days after Shabbat ( Hachana )
Controversy
The establishment of Eruvim has led to conflict in several places around the world, including Barnet, England, Outremont (Montreal), Tenafly (New Jersey), and London .
Controversy mostly revolves around whether the tensioning of an eruv in public space violates the principle of the separation of church and state. The supports of the Eruv wire ( lechi ) are then removed by opponents, for example , and the Eruv is made unusable. Most of the time, however, Eruvim are tolerated without any problems. Eruvim are hardly noticeable in the cityscape and are usually not perceived as offensive by members of other religions. At the same time, the Eruvim allow strictly Orthodox Jews a considerable amount of freedom and are therefore not only viewed as important and useful by Orthodox communities, but also established and controlled. On the websites of the Orthodox congregations there are references to whether the Eruv is currently intact.
According to Jewish law, an eruv may only be installed with the consent of the entire population. In Outremont and other places where there were extreme clashes over Eruvim, Jewish communities have tried to sue the local authorities for approval. In the opinion of critics, however, this approach does not comply with the requirement that an Eruv should be established by mutual agreement.
Studies were then carried out on the Eruv from the Outremont, dealing with the effects of urban planning on ethnic and cultural tensions in residential areas. It turned out that the majority of the opponents of the Eruv did not know exactly what an Eruv actually was and what significance it had for the Jewish inhabitants.
Eruv for cooking
In this context, Eruv means an eruv tavshilin (mixing of prepared food), where cooked food is prepared for a Jewish holiday, which is immediately followed by a Sabbath.
In principle, it is allowed to cook on Jewish holidays, but only in the amount that is to be consumed on that day and not in advance for the time after the holiday. If such a holiday falls on Friday, then it is actually also allowed to pre-cook for the Sabbath. However, in order to avoid confusion due to this exception in the years when the holiday does not fall on a Friday, precooking for the Sabbath on the holiday has been forbidden by the rabbis unless the ritual of eruv tavshilin is performed, which is the Believers are thus reminded of the reason for the exception.
The ritual consists of cooking and baking some dishes for the Sabbath before the holiday begins. Then the "dishes" or "portions" are "mixed"; This means that cooking on the day before the holiday is mixed with a dish that can also be eaten on the day after the holiday (i.e. the Sabbath). This then allows you to cook yourself on the holiday, which is then not regarded as a "new" cooking, but as a continuation of the "mixed" cooking that began before the holiday.
Eruv for traveling
In travel, Eruv eruv techumin (shuffling boundaries) refers to preparing food for a Jewish holiday or Sabbath on which one intends to travel further than is normally allowed on such days. (However, it has nothing to do with the choice of means of transport, all of which, except walking, are prohibited on such days).
Normally you are allowed to walk anywhere in your own city on these days, but only within the city and a maximum of 2000 cubits beyond. If you have to travel further, you can deposit groceries in a certain place before the Sabbath. This makes this place a temporary home, so that one can walk from there again 2000 cubits.
See also
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Chajm Guski: Eruv. Religious terms from the world of Judaism. In: Jüdische Allgemeine . October 10, 2013, accessed June 7, 2018 .
- ↑ Avraham Radbil: Melacha: Religious Terms from the World of Judaism Jüdische Allgemeine , November 20, 2014
- ↑ Bernhard S. Jacobson: The Shabath and Labor: Awodah and Malakhah haGalil , accessed on June 28, 2017
- ^ "Eruv" facilitates Jewish life in Vienna orf.at , September 14, 2012
- ^ Robert Albinus: Königsberg Lexicon . Würzburg 2002, ISBN 3-88189-441-1
- ↑ Why Manhattan is spanned with a white string Süddeutsche Zeitung , July 17, 2017
- ↑ Fiona Lorenz : Impressive and disturbing: ERUV - The Wire hpd , June 11, 2010
- ↑ Architecture with Jewish references in Germany: The institutionalized experiment NZZ , May 21, 2005
- ↑ Alexia Weiss: Vienna has an Eruv Wiener Zeitung , September 13, 2012
- ^ Course of the Vienna Eruv , accessed on September 12, 2012