University City Eruv

University City is a neighborhood in West Philadelphia that includes the University of Pennsylvania, Drexel University, and other small colleges. Located in the heart of Philadelphia, the area attracts many college students, and has become the home of a vibrant collegiate Jewish Community centered around the University of Pennsylvania Hillel Foundation.

Essential to the growth of any Jewish community today is an eruv. An eruv allows members of the (observant) Jewish community to transport items from one property to another on the Sabbath; Sabbath Laws forbid this otherwise (For a more detailed, technical explanation read "What is an Eruv" at this site). How does an eruv accomplish this? In short, by declaring a given region as communal property, with a clearly delineated physical border.

In January 1997, a student led effort was initiated to establish an eruv for the Jewish community at the University of Pennsylvania and surrounding areas. The University City Eruv Corporation was founded in October 1997 to oversee the construction of the eruv and its maintenance. For the following few years, work was done to enclose the designated area of University City inconspicuously through a construction project supervised by Rabbinic consultants (Click Here for a map).

With the help of Rabbi Shimon Eider zt"l, on Rosh Hashana of 5763 (September 7, 2002) the eruv was pronounced Kosher for the first time. Since then, a team of dedicated volunteers comprising both undergraduate and graduate students have checked the eruv on a weekly basis to ensure its continued operation. 

Rav HaMachshir: Rav Mordechai Fuchs of Lakewood, NJ. Maintenance and repairs are done by Rabbi Baruch Gore.

Corporate Structure: The University City Eruv Corporation has Executive Officers and a Board of Directors. Our officers are students (both undergraduate and graduate) as well as alumni of the University of Pennsylvania. The board members are people dedicated in their recognition of the importance of the eruv project in University City.

Executive Officers:

• President: Eyal Lubin

• Treasurer: Eyal Lubin

• Secretary: Oren Gitig

Board of Directors: Ariel Sasson • Jeffrey K. Daman • Nathan Kelsey • Tzvi Merczynski-Hait • Yoni Cooper

Past Presidents: Zach Magerman • Yitzy Tanner • Coby Melkin • Tzvi Merczynski-Hait • Aaron Fishkind • Yoni Cooper • Ariel Sasson • Rebecca Slochowsky • Gavi Horwitz • Elan Ariel • Jacob Chefitz • Sam Greenberg • Jonathan Eskreis-Winkler • Hart Levine • Brad Rubin • Jonathan Moses • Chuck Boyars • Isaac Dayan

Concise Definition (from: Wikipedia - Eruv): A community Eruv (Hebrew: ערוב‎ mixture, also transliterated as Eiruv or Erub, plural: Eruvin) is a symbolic boundary that allows Jews who observe the traditional rules concerning Shabbat to carry certain items outside the walls of their own property (including outdoors and to other areas in a shared dwelling) that would otherwise be forbidden during Shabbat. It is more properly known as an eruv chatzerot (Hebrew: ערוב חצרות‎). The validity of an eruv requires a set of walls or a fence — either real or symbolic — that surrounds an area containing anything from a single private home and its yard, to an entire Jewish neighborhood, permitting carrying within its boundaries. In contemporary Jewish discourse, "an eruv" frequently refers to this symbolic "fence," (actually "doorframe/s") rather than the eruv itself. However, the term eruv actually refers to the process of sharing ownership within the enclosed domain.