Question:
I currently live in a small four‑unit condominium (similar to a townhouse structure), with a single shared outdoor courtyard that is fully enclosed by a gate. Of the four tenants, three are non‑Jewish, and I am the only Jewish resident. Am I required to make an eiruv chatzeiros or to rent the gentiles’ rights in order to carry objects into the shared courtyard on Shabbos?
Answer:
No eiruv or rental of rights is required in this situation. You may carry into the shared courtyard on Shabbat, provided that the courtyard is properly enclosed according to halachic requirements.
Explanation:
The Sages decreed restrictions on carrying in courtyards shared by Jews and non‑Jews only in specific circumstances. Namely, their enactment applies when two or more Jewish households live together with a gentile in the same courtyard. In such a case, the Sages required both an eiruv chatzeirot between the Jewish residents and the rental (sechirut reshut) of the gentile’s rights, in order to discourage close residential interaction with gentiles due to concern that Jews might learn from their practices.
However, this decree does not apply when there is only one Jewish resident, even if multiple gentiles live in the courtyard. The reason is that it is uncommon—and potentially unsafe—for a Jew to live alone among gentiles, and therefore the Sages did not see a need to impose additional restrictions to discourage such living arrangements. As a result, no prohibition of carrying was enacted in this case.
Accordingly, since you are the only Jewish resident in the building, and the shared courtyard is properly enclosed, there is no halachic requirement for an eiruv or for renting the gentiles’ rights, and carrying in the courtyard is permitted.
Sources:
Admur 382:1 “The dwelling of a gentile is considered like the dwelling of an animal. Therefore, one who lives together with a gentile in a courtyard is not prohibited [from carrying] unless there are two Jews living in two separate houses, who prohibit one another and therefore require an eiruv together. In that case, the gentile also prohibits them, and their eiruv is ineffective until the gentile rents out his right in the courtyard to them. This is not because the gentile’s dwelling is considered a halachic dwelling, but rather because the Sages were concerned that Jews might learn from the gentile’s conduct when living together in the same courtyard. They therefore sought a pretext to prevent a Jew from living together with a gentile. Accordingly, they ruled that an eiruv is ineffective in the presence of a gentile, and that bitul reshut does not work with a gentile unless he rents out his rights. The gentile, however, will not want to rent out his rights, because he fears witchcraft, and thus it becomes difficult in the eyes of the Jew to live together with him due to the prohibition of carrying, and he will leave. However, since it is not common for a single Jew to live together with a gentile in a courtyard—because he fears for himself lest the gentile kill him, as gentiles are suspected of bloodshed—the Sages did not find it necessary to prohibit carrying due to the gentile’s dwelling in order to force him to leave. But two Jews are not afraid of him; they will live together with him and may learn from his actions.”; Michaber 381:1; Tur 381; Rebbe Eliezer Ben Yaakov in Mishneh and Gemara Eiruvin 61b-62a; Levush 381:1
