Eruv, an Urban Frontier?

By Lucine Endelstein
English

This paper focuses on the implications of the practice of Judaism in the use of the urban space. It takes the example of the construction of eruv, a ritual system of temporary shifting of the public-private boundaries in Parisian buildings inhabited by observant Jewish families. Because it represents a ritualization of the link between a religious community and the residential space, the eruv calls into question the role of religion in the production of social and spatial boundaries. If it symbolizes the presence of a Jewish community, it also reveals its internal diversity, between religious divisions and continuity, and the boundaries between residential proximity and community construction.

Keywords

  • judaism
  • urban space
  • boundaries
  • Eruv
  • religious observation
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