Find an eruv / Glossary
Eruv words, explained
The terms you'll meet on eruv websites and maps, in plain English. For what they mean in practice, ask your rav.
- Eruvעירוב
- A ritual enclosure that lets observant Jews carry objects outdoors on Shabbat inside it, by joining the private properties and spaces within it into one larger private domain. The full name of this kind is eruv chatzerot.Source: Wikipedia, "Eruv" (opens in a new tab)
- Carrying on Shabbatהוצאה
- Moving an object from one kind of domain to another (for example, from a private home into a public street) is one of the 39 categories of activity Jewish law forbids on Shabbat. The eruv addresses this.Source: Wikipedia, "Eruv" (opens in a new tab)
- Reshut hayachidרשות היחיד
- A private domain, such as a house. It is defined by being enclosed, not by who owns it.Source: Wikipedia, "Eruv" (opens in a new tab)
- Reshut harabimרשות הרבים
- A public domain, such as a very busy road.Source: Wikipedia, "Eruv" (opens in a new tab)
- Karmelitכרמלית
- A semi-public domain: most other outdoor places, which are neither fully private nor fully public.Source: Wikipedia, "Eruv" (opens in a new tab)
- Tzurat hapetachצורת הפתח
- "The form of a doorway": two upright posts with a lintel across the top. In a modern eruv, poles in the ground are the doorposts and a wire or rope strung between them is the lintel, so a long boundary counts as a wall with many doorways.Source: Wikipedia, "Eruv" (opens in a new tab) and Chabad.org, "What Is an Eruv?" (opens in a new tab)
- Lechiלחי
- An extra upright attached to a utility pole, often a thin plastic pipe running up its side, with the eruv wire directly above it.Source: Wikipedia, "Eruv" (opens in a new tab)
- Eruv techuminעירוב תחומין
- A different kind of eruv that lets a person walk beyond the 2,000-cubit limit on Shabbat or a festival. It has nothing to do with carrying.Source: Wikipedia, "Eruv" (opens in a new tab)
- Eruv tavshilinעירוב תבשילין
- Another different eruv: it lets food be cooked on a festival that falls on Friday for Shabbat. Also unrelated to carrying.Source: Wikipedia, "Eruv" (opens in a new tab)
- Inspection
- Because one break anywhere in the boundary means there is no valid eruv that Shabbat, the boundary is checked regularly, in most communities every week.Source: Wikipedia, "Eruv" (opens in a new tab) and Chabad.org, "What Is an Eruv?" (opens in a new tab)
- Up / down
- The weekly announcement. "Up" means the eruv was inspected and is intact as of the time posted; "down" means it is not in use. Eruv committees usually publish this on a hotline or website on Friday afternoon.Source: Wikipedia, "Eruv" (opens in a new tab)
Definitions summarised from the sources named under each term, checked October 2026. This page explains words; it doesn't give halachic rulings.
