Is it hypocrisy for Jewish communities to erect an eruv?

But they are not obeying them, if they just find a way to get round them!Surely, if they think the rules are too restrictive, or obsolete, it would be easier to just ignore them. It is the pretence of following the rules that puzzles me.

Whether or not it is hypocritical I would not like to say, but it is the extent that religious beliefs can inhibit logical thinking that I worry about.

That is between them and the One who made the laws, Greatnan.

What others think won't make any difference to them, any more than what others think makes any difference to those who drive just over the speed limit on principal, or smoke in bus-shelters, or use mobile phones while driving.

Principle, not principal.

It makes no difference to me if they want to get round their own rules in this way - I was just pondering on the thought processes behind it. Perhaps I am just too rational - either I believe in something or I don't.

As an Arab child in Palestine my dad earned some pocket money running errands and doing things like switching on lights etc. for Jewish friends & neighbours.

It does seem odd to me that it is o.k. to define the walls of home by putting up a few wires. If one was truly trying to observe the word of God you would just sit quietly and in contemplation on the Sabbath. The fact that switching on a light ( or an oil lamp/candle in the past) goes against God's wishes for Sabbath behaviour seems crazy to me.. but each religion has plenty of oddities!

Thanks for the clarification When... reminds me of when young children play hiding games and shut their eyes thinking if they cannot see then they cannot be seen!

At my Quaker school we had to be very quiet on Sundays and 'meeting' was extra long. We were supposed to sit and think spiritual and good thoughts in meeting, in fact as our teachers closed their eyes to focus their thoughts we were all busy swapping scraps/ pictures we had cut from birthday cards etc!

I have a number of Jewish friends who will not eat pork but happily eat prawns. Some of my young Muslim friends wear tunics over their jeans to cover their bottoms(& please their mums) but tbh it does not hide them! Christians that I know may give up something for Lent but do not attend church more often during the 40 days!

I suppose the difference with the eruv issue in the OP is that it is a particularly 'faithful' religious group that appear to be 'getting round' the rules they believe God has set for them. In a way that does feel a little more hypocritical than if they were 'light' touch believers!

I really don't get it. Pretending that an area is "home" in order to circumvent a rule that is found to be inconvenient seems strange in the extreme to me.

If you are part of a religion that has a particular rule, then you should stick to it.

But this is, if I've read the Q and A's right, part of the rule. It is a way to help people (wheelchair users, mums with buggies etc) still get to visit the synagogue, and visit their neighbours.

It's a kindly thing. Rather nice.

But I still don't see how you get inside the - thingy- if you live outside it.

Unless you have to go in the night before. Or something.

Just looked again. You would definitely have to lodge with someone inside the night before the Sabbath.

Such a good idea!

I can see it is more convenient but it is stretching the expectations! iI don't care one way or another about the eruv as it only seems to be impacting on the group involved but if I am asked to think about it i suppose it feels like cheating!

Jingle - there is no physical barrier, just a wire fastened high up to buildings or telegraph poles.

I think there are dispensations for the disabled etc anyway.

Yes - I know that. You still have to be inside that area if you want to push a buggy or a wheelchair. If you lived just outside, or further afield still, you would have to get inside it before the Sabbath starts.

It's very odd interesting.

But harming no one.

#candle-lights

I didn't say it was harming anybody - just that it seems irrational.

Why would there be special dispensation for the disabled? What else would you need to push besides a baby's buggy or a wheelchair. What other things would they be thinking of?

Perhaps a laden tea trolley for the after-service tea and biscuits.

It's a good idea!

Don't take offence - none meant.

Henrysson wrote a fable about a fox who repented his bad behaviour and wished to become a good Christian. However, things did not go well and he quickly became tired of the restrictions, especially not eating meat on a Friday. So he solved the problem via baptism. Grabbing a lamb, he dunked it in the river saying, "Go in lamb; come out fish".

The moral of the fable was not that the fox was clever.

I haven't taken offence, jingle. Just explained my thinking.
Absent.....

I don't understand that

This is quite an interesting article from the Jewish chronicle, which states that although many Jews welcome the eruv as enabling them to get to the synagogue, some rabbis oppose the idea and instruct their congregations to ignore them.

www.thejc.com/judaism/judaism-features/102301/how-eruv-liberated-families-shabbat

I don't find it hypocritical that Jews are looking for ways to maintain their traditions whilst seeking to be inclusive and I believe that the idea of the eruv goes back a long time.