Yale exhibitions explore Jewish practice of ‘eruv’

The Jewish “eruv” practice, which reconciles the Talmudic injunction against carrying objects from private to public space on the Sabbath with the biblical command to make the Sabbath a joyous occasion, is explored in three exhibitions taking place in separate locations on the Yale campus.

A series of other events at Yale and elsewhere during this period — including lectures, films, and concerts — will further examine the implications of this Jewish spatial practice.

The eruv is constructed to extend the boundaries of a private home, creating a shared dwelling place encompassing entire neighborhoods, so that such mundane tasks as carrying a prayer book, pushing a stroller or wheelchair, or playing outdoors, are possible inside the new boundary. This ritual enclosure in which the distinction between “private and public” and “indoor and outdoor” is blurred, allows observant Jews go about many of the routines of daily life which would otherwise be prohibited.

The eruv boundary is marked subtly and nearly invisibly by redefining urban fixtures, such as utility wires, with the addition of common pieces of hardware or fishing line. Because the eruv demands the cooperation of surrounding communities, it is often the center of acrimonious disputes and litigation, explains the curator of the three exhibitions, Margaret Olin, a senior research scholar at the Yale Divinity School. Further, she notes, “the concept of the eruv raises issues about public and private space, borders and limitations that speak, in multifold and fascinating ways, to wider concerns about multiethnic communities, immigration, and human rights.”

The three exhibitions are collectively titled “Shaping Community: Poetics and Politics of the Eruv.” They include major installations by Sophie Calle, Ellen Rothenberg, Suzanne Silver, and Shirin Neshrat, as well as photographs and multimedia pieces.

The exhibition titled “This Token Partnership” (at the gallery of the Institute of Sacred Music, 409 Prospect St.) investigates the component material and construction of the eruv. In “Israel: Gated Community” (at the gallery of the Joseph Slifka Center for Jewish Life, 80 Wall St.) photographs of Jerusalem eruv lines introduce a juxtaposition of works to visualize contrasting uses of the eruv as a metaphor. Finally, the installations comprising “Internal Borders” (at the Yale School of Art gallery located at 32 Edgewood Ave.) move beyond the metaphor of the eruv to explore the consequences of the notion of borders for interpersonal relations.

Tours of the exhibitions will be held at all three galleries simultaneously on Thursday, Oct. 18, 4:30-6:30 p.m. A special shuttle bus will enable visitors to see all three exhibitions. Guided tours are available at other times upon request by calling 203-436-5955.

The exhibitions are presented by Yale Institute of Sacred Music with support from Yale School of Art and the Joseph Slifka Center for Jewish Life at Yale. They are free and open to the public; no tickets are required for the tours. Information about all three exhibitions (including opening hours), and all the related events can be found online.