Allowing Carrying Using an Eruv Chatzerot

From Halachipedia

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To permit carrying in a courtyard, community, or town, an eruv chatzerot is necessary. The eruv consists of 3 parts: 1) Walls or halachic partitions surrounding the desired area, 2) Renting access from the non-Jewish residents, and 3) A communally owned deposit of food. This article describes how to practically set up your very own Eruv Chatzerot in order to allow carrying on Shabbat in your area. For rabbis there is an obligation to set up an eruv in the community to allow to carry and avoid a violation of Shabbat.[1]

The Walls or Halachic Partitions

  1. As long an area can be determined not to be a public domain on a Biblical level, an eruv using tzurot hapetach, entranceways made with two polls and a lentil as thin as a string on top, suffice.
  2. See Rav Hershel Schachter's article on Introduction to the Modern Eruv and the Hotzah page for details about how to create the tzurat hapetach and the definitions of the 4 halachic domains.

Renting access from non-Jews

  1. In order to create an eruv to permit carrying it is necessary to rent the area of the non-Jewish residents as long as there are 2 or more Jews in the area.[2]
  2. It is possible to rent a non-Jew's area for the purposes of eruv chatzerot by renting it from his worker.[3]
  3. (For example, in an apartment building it is sufficient to go to the superintendent to pay a nominal amount in order to rent the hallways and lobby of the building.) NEEDS SOURCE [4]

Communally Owned Food

  1. The purpose of the jointly owned food is to indicate that it is as though everyone who owns a share of the food was living in one area.[5] In order to create a community eruv food of the size of 6 or 8 Kebaytzim suffices.[6] Traditionally people use a box of Matzahs since that lasts a very long time.[7]
  2. The food should be given as a gift to the entire community with the following procedure:
    1. The box of matzahs should be handed to a Jewish adult to whom the giver is unrelated[8] in order that the recipient acquire it on behalf of the Jews living in the community, including those who will move into the community from that point until the next Pesach.[9]
    2. The recipient should raise the box of matzahs a Tefach.[10]
    3. After handing the box of matzahs to the recipient on behalf of the community, the giver who is creating the eruv should take the matzahs and recite the bracha of 'Asher Kideshanu B'mitzvotav V'tzivanu Al Mitzvat Eruv' is recited[11], however, this is only if one is certain that one absolutely needs an eruv chatzerot.
    4. Then he should stipulate that the box of matzah should serve as the eruv in order to permit carrying in that particular domain, with the following language: בהדין עירובא יהא שרי לנא לאפוקי ולעיולי מן הבתים לחצר ומן החצר לבתים ומבית לבית לכל ישראל הדרים בבתים שבחצר הזה.[12]
    5. It is necessary to repeat this process each pesach and should be recreated the Shabbat during Pesach.[13]
  3. The food must be accessible on Shabbat to the Jewish people for whom the eruv serves. Additionally, it should be publicized where the food is accessible.[14] Alternatively, it is common to place the eruv in the shul.[15]
    1. For example, in an apartment building it is should be known that the box of matzahs are stored in a certain apartment and when that person is away for shabbat, it should still be accessible such as by leaving the key with another tenant in the building.[16]
  4. If the food is eaten in the middle of Shabbat, it is still permitted to carry for that Shabbat, but the food must be replaced for the next Shabbat.[17]

Carrying within a Building

  1. If a person lives in an apartment building with other Jewish, an eruv chatzerot is necessary in order to carry within the building on Shabbat.
  2. Some say that if a person lives in a dorm with other Jewish students, an ervu chatzerot is necessary in order to carry in the dorms on Shabbat.
  3. If a person visits a hotel for a Shabbat, some say that an ervu chatzerot isn't necessary in order to carry in the hotel on Shabbat, while others require it.[18]

Sources

  1. Rosh quoted in S”A, Kitzur Shulchan Aruch 94:1
  2. Shulchan Aruch O.C. 382:1
  3. Shulchan Aruch O.C 382:11
  4. oral communication with Rav Schachter
  5. Gemara Eruvin 49a, Kitzur Shulchan Aruch 94:6
  6. Kitzur Shulchan Aruch 94:8
  7. Rama 368:5. Rav Hershel Schachter ("Eiruvei Chatzeiros," min 2-4) on yutorah.org explains that a box of matzah is traditionally used for the eruv chatzerot and it works even for Sephardim who would make mezonot since it can be hamotzei if eaten as a meal. Rav Hershel Schachter ("Eiruvei Chatzeiros," min 8-9) on yutorah.org states that one box of matzahs probably has 8 Kebaytzim but if you think that's not enough then have 2 boxes of matzah.
  8. Mishna Eruvin 79b, Kitzur Shulchan Aruch 94:7
  9. Tosfot Eruvin says that a guest who isn't living in a community for more than 30 days doesn’t need to participate in the shituf eruv for the chatzerot.
  10. Kitzur Shulchan Aruch 94:6
  11. Kitzur Shulchan Aruch 94:6
  12. Kitzur Shulchan Aruch 94:6
  13. Kitzur Shulchan Aruch 94:11
  14. Kitzur Shulchan Aruch 94:10
  15. Kitzur Shulchan Aruch 94:24
  16. Rav Hershel Schachter ("Eiruvei Chatzeiros," min 3-4) on yutorah.org
  17. Mishna Brurah 368:16
  18. Rav Tzvi Goldberg on star.org writes that Igros Moshe 1:141 permits carrying without an eruv chatzeiros in a hotel, while the Dvar Avraham 3:30 argues. For a short summary of the topic see Rabbi Eisenstein's shiur on yutorah.org.