A Potent Symbol of Jewish Life in America, the Eruv Gets Unprecedented Exhibition at YU Museum

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS
By Tahlib

Multi-media installation by Yona Verwer

NEW YORK---An Eruv is a border, usually made out of string or wire that allows Jews to accomplish a basic activity on the Sabbath, which Jewish law otherwise prohibits on the Day of Rest: Carrying. An eruv makes it possible for people to carry keys, push a baby carriage or hold a baby, or bring food to someone’s home. It is a little understood concept in Jewish life, and is the subject of a major exhibition, "It's a Thin Line: The Eruv and Jewish Community in New York and Beyond" at the Yeshiva University Museum in Manhattan. Through ephemeral and historical artifacts but also contemporary art by artists such as Yona Verwer of the Jewish Art Salon in Manhattan the exhibition seeks to explain a Jewish tradition that even some Jews don't understand.