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If an Eruv is erected inside of a metropolitan area, can it include Mosques, Churches, and other pagan places of worship? Or must it exclude these places? Can an Eruv be majority non-Jewish? If you exclude territory in an Eruv by creating a "hole": does that hole need an explicit barrier (nylon strings on fences)? Are there examples of this in the USA? What happens if there is an "open-air outdoor church park"? What happens if Christians pray inside of an Eruv in the public space outside of their church.

I'm interested in the laws about other religions and worship, and non-Jews inside of an Eruv.

Evan Carroll
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    Of course. So long as the municipal authority allows it, we consider that to be enough. Technically, it needs the permission of each non Jew that lives in the eruv if you are using his property or home, but practically we rely on the local government that has the right to search a home in a time of need, as enough authority to allow the eruv on their behalf. – Chatzkel Aug 24 '22 at 02:38
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    The question is generally moot because most churches are buildings with walls which effectively exclude the interior. – Double AA Aug 24 '22 at 13:06
  • @DoubleAA I'm confused I don't understand why that would make this moot? Could you actually tell what the laws are rather than make declarations about your interpretations of them. I'm interested in the laws about other religions and worship, and non-Jews inside of an Eruv. – Evan Carroll Aug 27 '22 at 02:42
  • I think @DoubleAA's answer was a good one. You are asking whether an eruv can "include" a church, but the laws of eruvs relate to public spaces, not to an enclosed building like a church. Not sure what an Eruv would have to do with "other religions and worship, and non-Jews". It is a topic on which there is quite a lot of misinformation. – Jm Lewin Aug 27 '22 at 07:32
  • @EvanCarroll You must know the old joke about a topologist, a donut and a coffee cup? So a coffee cup is a kosher eruv shape. If there is some place within the borders of an eruv that can't be in the eruv you can put a border around it and exclude it, making your eruv the shape of a donut instead of a pancake. Unless you're talking about some sort of open-air outdoor church park, your question is moot because all churches have walls and self-exclude their interiors from the eruv. – Double AA Aug 28 '22 at 00:44
  • Non Jews is a separate issue. Indeed non-jews may not live in an eruv. Every eruv you've heard of has all the non-jews' land symbolically rented from them by the mayor or some other local authority figure (fun fact: in washington dc it's the president of the usa). You can read all about that on google, eg. https://www.ou.org/chag/files/2020/09/Eruvin-Daf-62-Sechirat-Reshut.pdf – Double AA Aug 28 '22 at 00:52

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