Do Hotels Need Eruvin?
‘A Separate Contribution From Each Company’
(Eruvin 72b)
When several houses share a common courtyard, an eruv chatzeiros must be made if one wishes to carry from the houses to the courtyard or vice versa on Shabbos.
Accordingly, an apartment building requires an eruv chatzeiros if one wishes to carry from one’s apartment to the hallway or vice versa. The common areas of the building – the hallways, the lobby, the stairwell, etc. – have the halachic status of a courtyard, and thus, even though the entire building is technically considered one big reshus hayachid, an eruv chatzeiros is necessary.
But what about buildings like hotels and hospitals? Do they too need an eruv chatzeiros if one wishes to carry from one’s room into the hallway or vice versa on Shabbos?
There are countless particulars to this question, rendering each public building a halachic world unto itself! In the summer rentals common in Eretz Yisrael, known as tzimmerim (Yiddish for “rooms”), each family has its own cooking facilities in its room and eats independently. In a hotel, each person has his own room, but everyone usually eats together in a common dining room. In a hospital, each patient eats in his own room, but the food is provided by a common kitchen. These distinctions are very significant in determining whether an eruv chatzeiros is necessary.
Tzimmerim
Since the residents of tzimmerim cook and eat independently, each room is like a separate house. Presumably, then, an eruv chatzeiros would be necessary.
However, poskim find reasons why tzimmerim may be exempt. According to halacha (Eruvin 85b, Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chayim 370:2) a landlord unites all his houses, making them one common property if he lives in the courtyard and retains a “handhold” on all the houses therein by leaving his belongings there. All the houses are then considered his, and therefore there would be no need to make an eruv since everyone can be considered a guest in his home (see Mishnah Berurah ibid, s.k. 10, 11).
The Maharshag (Teshuvos 122) and Rabbi Moshe Feinstein (Igros Moshe, Orach Chayim I, 141) rule that a hotel or tzimmerim owner who lives on the premises has a handhold on all the rooms since he leaves his furniture there for the guests to use. Therefore, there is no need to make an eruv chatzeiros.
Most poskim, however, reject this ruling (Chazon Ish, 92 s.v. “teshuvah”; Shemiras Shabbos K’Hilchasa 17, s.k. 58 citing Aruch HaShulchan; Dvar Avraham 3:30; Minchas Yitzchak 4:55 citing Maharsham; Shevet HaLevi 2:54; Sefer Eruv Chatzeiros, p. 274), insisting that a landlord doesn’t retain a handhold with furniture provided for the convenience of the guests. Furthermore, the common furniture is rented to the guests, along with the room, and therefore is considered theirs, not his.
Short-Term Lease
It’s important to note that even when the landlord doesn’t retain a handhold on the rooms, an eruv chatzeiros is only necessary if the tenants stay for more than 30 days. When a room is rented for less than that amount of time, the landlord is the only significant resident, the courtyard is not considered a common area, and there is no need for an eruv chatzeiros (see Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chayim 370:8, Mishnah Berurah, loc. cit.).
Hotels and Hospitals
Halacha distinguishes between neighbors who share meals in a common room and neighbors who eat independently. When they eat together (as is often the case in hotels), the common dining room unites them into one group. Therefore, the courtyard does not resemble a public area and no eruv is necessary.
When each family eats alone, however, they are not considered one collective group. If they all eat food made from the same kitchen, however (as is often the case in hospitals), this common food supply takes the place of an eruv, uniting them and permitting them to carry into the hallways, etc. (Eruvin 71a).
If gentiles or Jewish apostates are staying in the hospital, though, it’s forbidden to carry from private rooms into the public corridors since they render an eruv chatzeiros invalid (Nesivos Shabbos by Rabbi Blau, 31:15).