Paper short abstract:

This paper aims to examine the project of the first Eruv in London in the early 2000s, and explore its representation and the effect of mapping its border in the discussion of project, notably the concerns about the creation of a ghetto and of the appropriation of public space by a minority group.

Paper long abstract:

This paper focuses on the project of the first Eruv, established in the early 2000s, in London.

The Eruv is a rite performed by some Jewish communities.During feast days, any practical work is forbidden according to the Talmud religious rules. The Eruv allows Jews to perform the work of carrying inside a perimeter called itself "Eruv".

To design an Eruv a deep study of the city through the lens of Jewish religious texts is carried out. The perimeter of this ritual space is mainly 'built' through a resignification of elements of the urban landscape. Poles linked by a fishing line can be used to create continuity between those elements, symbolising a door.

These pole and fishing-line 'doors' created in the public space needed the approval of the Local Authority. Therefore, the Eruv, a religious ritual, needed to be discussed by the Local Planning Office. A project was submitted in 1992 and debated for about 10 years by Barnet inhabitants, their political representative and the press. The Council produced two maps of the project that showed the whole perimeter of the Eruv as a line: the built elements that already existed in the city which were not the object of the application, as well as the 37 pairs of poles linked by nylon wire. This paper aims to explore how the representation of the project affected its discussion, notably the concerns about the creation of a ghetto and of the appropriation of public space by a minority group.