What is "eruv"

n. (context Jewish law English) A ritual aggregation of properties that allows Jews observing traditional Shabbat rules to carry burdens across property lines.

An eruv (; , "mixture", also transliterated as eiruv or erub, plural: eruvin ) is a ritual enclosure that some Jewish communities, and especially Orthodox Jewish communities, construct in their neighborhoods as a way to permit Jewish residents or visitors to carry certain objects outside their own homes on Sabbath and Yom Kippur. An eruv accomplishes this by integrating a number of private and public properties into one larger private domain, thereby avoiding restrictions on carrying objects from the private to the public domain on Sabbath and holidays.

The eruv allows these religious Jews to, among other things, carry house keys, tissues, medicines, or babies with them, and use strollers and canes. The presence or absence of an eruv thus especially affects the lives of people with limited mobility and those responsible for taking care of babies and young children.

Eruv ( "mixture"), in Judaism, may refer to:

• An eruv chatzeirot, a religious-legal enclosure which permits carrying in certain areas on Shabbat.
  • List of eruvin
• Eruvin (Talmud), a tractate in Moed
• Eruv tavshilin ("mixing of cooked dishes"), which permits cooking on a Friday Holiday to prepare for Shabbat.
• Eruv techumin ("mixed borders"), which permits travel beyond the city boundary ("techum") on Shabbat.