MONTREAL — An eruv will be created in Westmount following the ratification this week of an agreement between Congregation Shaar Hashomayim and the city council.

The synagogue has worked with the city to assure that this Jewish tradition of symbolically enclosing an area complies with municipal bylaws.

According to Halachah, one of the categories of work that is prohibited on Shabbat is the carrying of objects between a public and a private domain, as well as the transporting of objects within a public domain.

An eruv creates a defined area within which objects can be carried, such as reading material and food, or pushed, such as a baby carriage or wheelchair.

“By supporting this initiative, Westmounters are enhancing the city’s reputation as an open and respectful community,” said Shaar Hashomayim’s eruv chairperson, Lynn Eltes. “Jewish residents will now be able to observe the letter and spirit of the Sabbath in a very pleasant way…

“Our hope is that the eruv will heighten the sense of the holiness and beauty of Shabbat while fostering a stronger sense of community among Jewish and non-Jewish residents of Westmount.”

The eruv, which will be marked by a very thin line on the top of existing utility poles, will be barely noticeable to passersby and will have no impact on the rights and welfare of other Westmount residents, Eltes added.

It will stretch from The Boulevard to the north, the train tracks behind St. Catherine Street to the south, Clarke and Mountain Avenues to the east and Claremont and Lansdowne Avenues to the west.

All costs related to setting up and maintaining the eruv will be covered by the synagogue.

The eruv, which will be built over the next few weeks, will be fully checked every Friday.

Westmount residents who want to confirm that the eruv is operational can call the synagogue’s eruv hotline at 514-937-9474, ext. 109. Residents seeking more information should contact Rabbi Adam Scheier at 514-937-9471, or visit the shul’s website  at www.shaarhashomayim.org.

In addition, neighbours are being invited to meet with clergy and shul representatives to learn more about the initiative in an event to be held June 5 at the synagogue from 5 to 7 p.m.

On the island of Montreal, eruvs have already been established in Côte St. Luc, Hampstead, Dollard-des-Ormeaux, Ville St. Laurent and Town of Mount Royal.

Several years ago, some Outremont residents contested the legality of an eruv there. Ultimately, the Jewish community’s right to install an eruv was upheld by the Quebec Court of Appeal in 2001.

Shaar Hashomayim is a 162-year-old traditional congregation that has been located on its present site since 1923. It has about 4,000 individual members.