Eruv Agreement Renewed and Expanded in Venice

In the Jewish tradition, an Eruv (Hebrew for “mixture”) is a symbolic boundary that connects private and public spaces. This allows observant Jews to carry items such as house keys, prayer books, and baby strollers outside their homes on the Sabbath or the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur). The Eruv transforms a public neighborhood into a “private” domain. In some locations, such as Manhattan in New York City, the Eruv is a 28-kilometer-long transparent wire. In Venice, however, it is marked by the network of canals.

This feature was highlighted at the renewal of the Venetian Eruv at the beginning of April. Venice’s mayor, Luigi Brugnaro and; the city’s Chief Rabbi, Alberto Sermoneta attended the ceremony.

The new Eruv includes the area of Sant’Elena, which was not covered by the previous agreement signed in 2021. “In Venice, the Eruv is announced every year at the synagogue on the eve of Passover between the Mincha (afternoon) and Arvit (evening) services,” explained Rabbi Sermoneta. A blessing is recited, followed by a formula stating, “With this Eruv, I can transport objects from the public domain to the private domain, and from courtyard to courtyard, freely, on Shabbat and Yom Kippur.”

In a conversation with Pagine Ebraiche, Rabbi Sermoneta, who was born and rabbinically educated in Rome, recalled the ceremony held by Rome’s Chief Rabbi Elio Toaff (1915-2015) to celebrate the Roman Eruv. In it, “a large matzo, handmade by Rav Toaff himself with hand-cut holes surrounded by a crust,” symbolized the space in which carrying objects is permitted, even on Shabbat or Kippur.