[sevrinsky]

Many aspects of Orthodox Judaism observance focus on halacha, often translated as "ritual law", but probably better described as technical religious practice. This may confuse those who expect religion to be primarily concerned with belief or faith.

As to the curious case of the eruv: The fundamental laws of Sabbath observance are mandated by the Bible, but the specifics of forbidden activities have been refined by rabbinic discussion over hundreds of years. These are documented in the Mishna, the Talmud, and many other sources continuing to the current era. It would be more accurate to view the eruv as a technical way to enclose a shared communal area. This has always been built into the technical determination of domains as set by rabbanic authorities, and functions more as a constant reminder of Sabbath than as a "loophole".

Anyone who observes Shabbat would never confuse it for a regular weekday, even with an eruv and light timers.

[w0de0]

Isn’t there some level of faith, small f, required to keep this technical religious practice up? It’s undeniably burdensome, and perhaps a bit silly to the outsider - and goyim culture is not hermetically sealed off, observant Jews know most people live simpler lives. So what keeps them at it, if not faith of some description? I wonder about this in good faith :)