Carrying on Shabbos

Question:

In the holiday cottage which we will be staying, which is in a remote area, there are 3 cottages, all belonging to the same owner. The area is clearly a reshus hayachid, as enclosed by fences, but I don’t know how to proceed to allow carrying in the whole area.
Note, we are staying for 3 weeks but other cottages are likely to change tenants on Shabbos.
How can we arrange carrying in the enclosed area on Shabbos?

Answer:

There are two things needed her in order for you to carry there, there is a need for proper walls around the area, and that all three cottages should have an eruv together to be able to carry from inside the cottages to the courtyard between them. If it is indeed enclosed properly, then all that would be needed is to make an Erev Chatzeiros. The idea of an Erev Chatzeiros is that it technically makes it that all the families are like one big family in one house, causing that it would be considered as one families property. It is done as follows, take some matzos, (one per family, and up to 8 matzos even if it more than 8 families). If each family is giving a matzo that is fine, but if all the matzos are coming from one person, he has to give it to someone to pick up and acquire for the other families. (The person picking up the matzos should not be a family member who is supported by the head of the household).  Then the person making the eruv makes a bracha  “ברוך אתה… אשר קדשנו במצותיו וצוונו על מצות עירוב”. Then he makes a declaration, as to what the eruv is accomplishing. (The declaration can be said in any language, as long as you understand what you are saying. I’ll write it in English since that is understandable to more people.)   “By means of this Eruv it may be permitted for us to carry from house to house, from yard to yard, from roof to roof, from house to yard and yard to house, wherever it is necessary, on all the Shabbosim and Yomim Tovim for us and all those who dwell in this place, (and it is good to add) for all of us and all those who will come to this place”.

If the owner lives on premises, and is not Shabbos observant or a gentile, then his home etc. should be rented from him (even for 1 pound or dollar) for the purpose of not hindering the eruv.

Those matzos should be saved in one of the houses until after the last shabbos that you will be there. The eruv can be done with any bread, but it has to last the end of your vacation.

This is how we make an eruv Chatzeiros.

Have a good Shabbos and a restful vacation

Sources:

O:CH siman 366.