Eruv on Shabbos?

We are staying in a seaside resort. No way to know how it is enclosed. Buildings are low rise, connected mostly by covered walkways Our room is connected to the main building by covered walkway. QUESTION: are we allowed to carry from the room to the main building? Can we carry to other parts of the property?

Shalom!

Thank you for your question.

In Talmudic times, homes were situated around the perimeter of a rectangular central courtyard, known as a “chatzer.” The chatzer was a public space where all the residents of that space would do common household chores, such as washing clothes, and the like.

According to Torah law, this chatzer is considered to be a private domain, and as such, carrying should be permitted without any further concerns. The rabbis, however, forbade carrying in the chatzer area unless certain conditions were met as the area was not completely private like a home.

The rabbis made two enactments in order to allow carrying in a chatzer. The first is that the entrance/exit from the chatzer (which led to the public streets and thoroughfares) must have a door or other halachically acceptable reminder not to carry past the area of the chatzer. The second is that one resident of the chatzer was required to collect some bread from every Jewish family that lives in the chatzer area. He then hands the bread to another person who “acquires” the bread on behalf of all the residents of the chatzer. As a result, the breads are now belonging to everyone in the chatzer/community, and everyone is permitted to enter the home in which the bread is stored to take some if needed. This is known as an “Eruv Chatzeros.”

However, if one of the residents in the chatzer area is a Jew who is not shomer-Shabbos or is a non-Jew, the Eruv Chatzeros will not work. In such a case one must “rent” the area of the chatzer from such people/

With that introduction, let us examine the situation in a hotel.

A hotel consists of many rooms which all share a hallway, almost exactly like the chatzer model described above. It seems that the first enactment is satisfied as all entrances and exits of a hotel have doors. However, while there are some exceptions beyond the scope of this answer, many authorities feel that the second requirement of making an Eruv Chatzeros, applies to hotels. In order to do this, one would need to rent the rights to the hallways and public areas from the hotel owner or from any senior hotel employee. One can do this by giving the owner or employee one dollar and telling him/her that one is ritually renting out the right to carry on the Sabbath in the public areas of the hotel. One then takes a box of matza ("the bread") and says: "With this Eruv all Jews will be permitted to carry from the rooms to the public areas of the hotel and back." One then gives the matza to another Jew who "acquires" it on behalf of all other Jews in the hotel. One can then carry in the pubic areas of the hotel without question.

OC 363, 366, 368 and commentaries