An eruv (Hebrew: עירוב‎, lit. 'mixture') is a ritual enclosure made for the purpose of permitting carrying objects from a private domain to a semi-public or public domain. An eruv accomplishes this by symbolically integrating a number of private properties and spaces such as streets and sidewalks into one larger "private domain."

An eruv allows Jews to carry, among other things, house keys, tissues, medication, or babies with them, and to use strollers and canes. The presence or absence of an eruv thus especially affects the lives of strictly observant Jews with limited mobility and those responsible for taking care of babies and young children.

The West Hartford community has long had an Eruv as shown on the map. Now, a project is being undertaken to expand the area of the Eruv to include the UHart campus and surrounding neighborhood. This expansion will make UHart a much more welcoming community to Shabbat observant Jews.

The symbolic enclosure of an area by an Eruv involves running a wire between utility poles in a specific way dictated by Jewish law. This requires attaching the wire to each pole around the periphery of the Eruv area. To do so, permission must be granted by the utility company, special connectors must be attached to each pole. To accomplish this work, a cherry-picker truck must be rented and experienced workman hired. While this sounds very expensive, the expense is greatly reduced in that the expansion area is directly adjacent to the existing Eruv.