Aldermen to host community meeting on Feb. 27 on proposal to expand an ERUV in Evanston

The meeting, hosted by Ald. Wynne, Fiske and Revelle is set for Tuesday, Feb. 27 at 7 p.m. at the Morton Civic Center in room 2404.

Spiritual leaders of the Jewish faith communities in Evanston propose the expansion of the existing eruv in Evanston east of the North Shore channel. Under Jewish law, it is forbidden to carry anything from an enclosed "private" domain into an open "public" area on the Sabbath.  An eruv, a technical enclosure that surrounds both private and public domains, thus creates a large private domain in which carrying things is permitted on the Sabbath. 

Background from Ald. Eleanor Revelle:

What is an eruv?  Under Jewish law, it is forbidden to carry anything -- regardless of its size, weight, or purpose -- from an enclosed "private" domain into an open "public" area on the Sabbath. This applies to carrying something like a prayer book or house keys or using a walker or pushing a stroller from home to a synagogue or to another home on the Sabbath.

To permit such activity to answer is the installation of an eruv -- a technical enclosure that surrounds both private and public domains, thus creating a large private domain in which carrying things is permitted on the Sabbath. The wall of the eruv does not have to be solid. The enclosure may be created by utility poles, for example, with wires strung between the poles. The eruv can also take advantage of existing fences, seawalls, and embankments.

Eleven spiritual leaders of the Jewish faith communities in Evanston propose the creation of an expanded eruv encompassing most of Evanston east of the North Shore channel. The eruv will make use primarily of existing utility poles and the canal banks. But, it will require installation of two poles at the pedestrian bridge on the golf course as well as one new pole on Ingleside where Orrington dead-ends into Ingleside, in order to allow an eruv wire to reach from the utility pole in the alley east of Euclid to the utility pole opposite the alley west of Sheridan. Additional accommodations will have to be made along the lakefront in the 1st and 3rd wards.

If you have any questions, please contact:

Alderman Eleanor Revelle: erevelle@cityofevanston.org.