At 2:39 p.m., an EF 3 tornado raged through 20 miles of the greater St. Louis area, including the area of “Wash U” (Washington University), the local university located just a few miles from University City. Wash U is included in the St. Louis eiruv, due to the significant number of Jewish students who reside on campus.

When one of the campus rabbis returned to campus a couple of hours after the catastrophic event, he had no idea that a tornado had just ripped through the area. He was quite surprised to see the eiruv lines flapping haphazardly in the wind when the eiruv had already been checked and approved for use for the upcoming Shabbos. As he surveyed the rest of the area, his eyes began to register the staggering damage that had been wrought across campus and beyond. After a quick check on the local news, the devastating scene made more sense but did not solve the fact that the eiruv was knocked out of commission a mere five hours before Shabbos came in.

On Motzaei Shabbos, my phone rang. It was the head of the St. Louis eiruv. “Rabbi Paretzky, we have an eiruv emergency,” he began. He was right. Pulling up Google Maps, I tried one idea after the next to reroute the eiruv, but the tornado that ultimately caused over $1.6 billion of damage to St. Louis did not leave much infrastructure on which to recreate the eiruv. Hundred-year-old trees, miles of utility poles, and reams of fencing were all excavated and strewn across private and public property.

It took me a full week, including another eiruv-less Shabbos, to plan a new route for the 2.5 miles of eiruv that had been decimated. Bridges, railroad tracks, and tunnels, all the stuff of eiruv nightmares, had to be reckoned with in order to construct a feasible route through the city.

Nevertheless, the following Monday morning found me loading my truck with fresh materials and making the five-hour drive down from my hometown of Chicago.

It was a brutal week in the city of St. Louis. Block after block, my bucket truck rumbled against the backdrop of a city desperately trying its best to regroup and repair. The eiruv renovations, too, occurred at a frantic pace, a mental shot clock keeping time in my head as I raced to complete the newly planned route. I barely had time to down a tuna sandwich for lunch each day, but with siyata d’Shmaya I completed a few weeks’ worth of work in just four long days.

By late Thursday night, University City had an eiruv again, and my faithful bucket truck was back on I-55 North, headed home to Chicago.

On Friday morning, a jubilant message was sent out to the community, announcing that the eiruv was now repaired. Once again, the frum community buzzed with the typical Erev Shabbos preparations, but this time, with a new appreciation for the often-unrecognized oneg Shabbos fixture — the community eiruv.

*Names and locations have been changed to protect identity of those involved

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 1099)