The Ba’al Shem Tov

The Ba’al Shem Tov (cited in Mikveh Mayim 3:6 and elsewhere) is quoted (in Mikveh Mayim 3:6 and elsewhere) as interpreting the pasuk in Chabbakuk 3:12 (and see Metzudot David ad. loc.) “בְּזַעַם, תִּצְעַד-אָרֶץ,” bezaam (bet, zayin, ayin, mem) Hashem will remove the enemies of the Jews from Eretz Yisrael.” The Ba’al Shem Tov teaches that za’am is an acronym: zayin=zevicha (ritual slaughtering, i.e., kashrut), ayin=eruvin, and mem=mikva. In other words, scrupulous observance of the halachot of communal kashrut, eruvin and mikvaot will bring the removal of the enemies of am Yisrael from Eretz Yisrael.

We can understand why mikvah and zevicha are included in this list. Mikvah, of course, serves as the core of tahara, purity in Jewish life. Zevicha is an expression of kedusha/holiness, as the Rambam includes Hilchot Shechita in the Sefer Kedusha section of his Mishneh Torah. Our observance of shechita and all the other kashrut laws certainly elevates an animalistic existence to a redeemed and dignified life. How, though, does eruvin bring about a redemption? Is not eruvin a mere convenience that permits carrying beyond where we otherwise would have been forbidden to carry?

Establishing Firm Boundaries

Last summer, someone called an hour before Shabbat, saying that he discovered that the hotel in which he was staying for Shabbat is located a few feet outside the eruv. He wondered whether there is some allowance to carry a few feet beyond the eruv. After advising him to consult the rabbi for the exact boundaries, I informed him that if the hotel lies beyond the eruv, he may not carry beyond the boundary line. While regarding eruv techumin (at least in the time of the Mishna, according to Rabbi Shimon; Eruvin 4:11), we might presume a 15-amah extension, eruv boundaries are absolute.

Firm boundaries teach us a lesson of profound importance. A significant part of Torah life is establishing limitations. Boundaries between property, neighbors, males and females, parents and children are examples of essential hallmarks of proper and appropriate behavior. Indeed, Tehillim (104:9) states that Hashem establishes boundaries that, if not observed, will destroy the world.

Essential to the world’s creation is Hashem’s setting ironclad boundaries between day and night, land and sea, and even wild animals and humankind (see Rashi to Breishit 9:2 s.v. V’Chitechem). If we fail to restrain ourselves and live within the boundaries set by Hashem, we risk His unleashing the boundaries He arranged for the world, thereby enveloping the world in chaos. Indeed, Rashi to Bereishit 6:13 states כל מקום שאתה מוצא זנות ועבודה זרה, אנדרלמוסיא באה לעולם והורגת טובים ורעים, promiscuity causes the unleashing of pandemonium, resulting in the killing of both the good and the bad.

On the other hand, Bilaam’s curse is averted due to that evil man noticing how “the openings of their tents did not face each other so that they should not peer into each other’s tents” (Rashi to Bamidbar 24:2 citing Bava Batra 60a). Our respecting each other’s boundaries staved off the terrible potential effect of Bilaam’s evil speech.

The establishing of the eruv boundary and its weekly inspection, upkeep, and Shabbat observance reminds and reaffirms the notion of an ironclad limit. The eruv creates a firm edge to which we may carry but beyond which we cannot. Before Shabbat, visitors to a community often search for the eruv boundaries to see whether they may carry on Shabbat. Eruvin are a positive reminder of the essential role healthy boundaries have in our lives.

In this manner, eruvin play a redemptive role and help stave off anarchy. Eruvin help teach the notion of inviolable boundaries, which is an indispensable aspect of healthy and proper Torah living.

Reaching Beyond our Limitations

Each tefillah begins with the phrase from the pasuk (Tehillim 51:17) “Hashem sefatai tiftach, Hashem, open my lips.” Ramban interprets safah as also referring to sefat hanahar, the edge of a river. According to Ramban, we are even asking Hashem to free us from our limitations and allow us to do and accomplish far more than our innate abilities.

Our eruvin very much express this idea. An eruv extends our boundaries beyond which they are “naturally” set. Our homes are our natural boundary, but the eruv frees us to reach beyond. The redemptive side of the eruv lies in its expression of the notion of freeing ourselves from our natural limitations and accomplishing far more than that which we think of ourselves capable of.

Conclusion

Eruv helps penetrate into our consciousness Sefer Tehillim’s (34:15) expression of the fundamental moral building blocks of life: sur mei’ra va’aseh tov, avoid bad and do good. Respecting boundaries is key to averting the bad, and reaching beyond our limitations allows us to accomplish the good.

Far from being an ingenious mechanism to permit our carrying throughout our community on Shabbat, the eruv expresses profound ideas that, in the view of the Ba’al Shem Tov, can even bring about protection and redemption. The community’s eruv, therefore, should not merely be viewed as a convenience item but rather an institution whose profound ideas are to be contemplated deeply in a manner that elevates and ennobles a life rich with content and meaning.

Rabbi Haim Jachter is the spiritual leader of Congregation Shaarei Orah, the Sephardic Congregation of Teaneck. He also serves as a rebbe at Torah Academy of Bergen County and a dayan on the Beth Din of Elizabeth.