[Avodah] Eruv Tavshilin - who makes it?

[Akiva Miller]

My wife and I have recently discovered that among our friends, it is
invariably the husband who makes the Eruv Tavshilin. This surprises us, and
we are wondering what other families do, and if there are any sources for
one preference or the other.

Essentially, the Eruv Tavshilin means that in this particular instance, the
Shabbos cooking cannot wait for Friday, but must be done on Erev Yom Tov
too. With such an intimate connection to the Shabbos cooking, it was
intuitively obvious to both my wife and myself that this is NOT similar to
other mitzvos (mezuza is a good example) which might be done by the husband
for gender-role reasons. Rather, it is the beginning of the cooking, and
should therefore be done by whoever does the cooking. In our family, that's
the wife.

Eruv Tavshilin was not assigned to each and every individual, like kiddush
was. It is a reminder. Granted that the rishonim have varying explanations
of this mitzvah, but it seems that to all of these explanations, the object
of this reminding is the person who does the cooking.

So my question to the chevra is: In your family, who makes the eruv, and
why? And do any sources discuss this?

Note: I admit there's a certain weakness in everything that I've written
above. Namely, the idea that one can rely on the Eruv Tavshilin that was
made by the rav of the town. Let's set aside the fact that this is not the
best way of doing the eruv, and that various conditions are imposed on one
who wants to rely on it. Let's focus on the fact that it is valid *at*
*all*. How does the eruv made by someone outside of my home help me? What
sort of *reminder* does his eruv provide? I have never understood this, nor
have I heard any explanation of it, only assertions that it does work. Any
help in this area would be appreciated.

Akiva Miller
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