UK’s largest, most complex eruv ready for use

Ritual enclosure is 13 miles long and took 10 years to plan, construct

By JTA 8 January 2014, 5:40 am

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Illustrative photo of an ultra-Orthodox man hanging an eruv wire in the Gilo neighborhood of Jerusalem, Israel. (photo credit: Nati Shohat/Flash90/File)

The United Kingdom’s largest eruv will be usable for the first time this Sabbath.

The Manchester eruv took 10 years to plan and construct and is the UK’s most technically complex enclosure, according to the London Jewish Chronicle.

Eruv experts from Jerusalem spent 10 days inspecting the enclosure before declaring it ready for use on Friday, the newspaper reported. The boundary is 13 miles long and cuts across three boroughs of Manchester.

According to Jewish law, the eruv permits religious Jews to carry items in public on the Sabbath, including pushing baby carriages.

Meanwhile, the Conference of European Rabbis has published what it says is the first comprehensive list of kosher products certified by European kashrut authorities. The items are searchable by country, brand name, food type and kashrut authority.

“This online resource is a fantastic example of how modern technology can be used to make religious life a little easier,” Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt, president of the Conference of European Rabbis, said in a statement. “The project comes following a huge amount of hard work over recent months, and we will of course continue to update and improve it.”