Building Communities : : A History of the Eruv in America / / Adam Mintz.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Academic Studies Press Complete eBook-Package 2023
• VerfasserIn: Mintz, Adam,
• Place / Publishing House: Boston, MA : : Academic Studies Press, , [2023]; ©2023
• Year of Publication: 2023
• Language: English
• Series: North American Jewish Studies
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (180 p.)

Jewish law forbids carrying objects between private or public areas on the Sabbath. However, rabbinic authorities deemed carrying permissible within a physical enclosure called an eruv. This book explores the rabbinic debates surrounding the creation of such enclosures in North American cities and examines the evolution of American Orthodox communities from the late nineteenth century through the 1960s. The earliest debates reflect a community with low religious observance and weak ties to local government that relied on European rabbis for authority. By the mid-twentieth century, these rabbinic disputes reveal an established, religiously observant community forming its own traditions.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Acknowledgements -- Introduction -- 1. History of the Eruv -- 2. The St. Louis Eruv -- 3. The East Side of Manhattan Eruv -- 4. The Toronto Eruv -- 5. The Manhattan Eruv, 1949–1962 -- Conclusion -- Bibliography -- Index