Shabbos in an RV brings with it considerations that you don’t normally think about in your own home. Read on for tips on handling the top three.

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The information in this post is not intended as psak halacha. Please always follow the guidance of your own Rav.

There’s the usual lightbulb in the fridge and a place to safely light candles, but what else needs to be taken into consideration when spending Shabbos in an RV? You can probably guess two of the top three, but there’s one that most people don’t realize and I’m going to give you a bonus one too.

• Electricity
• Water
• Eruv

Electricity for Shabbos in an RV

We all know that we can’t turn on and off lights on Shabbos, but there is more to consider when spending Shabbos in an RV. You will want to have certain appliances plugged in (crockpot, urn, etc.). You probably don’t want to leave living room lights on if you’ll have people sleeping there, so you may also want to plug in a Shabbos lamp or two.

Your main power concern, at least in the summer, will be your air conditioning. Without shore power, you would have to run your generator. And, you can not run your generator for 25+ hours straight. (If it’s winter and you’ll be running your heat, that’s propane and you can run it all Shabbos.)

So, what should you do?

You need to make sure you’re “hooked up” to electricity. The best option is to get the 50 or 30 AMP that your rig runs on. If not, you may have to make some compromises as to what you use your power for. If you’re spending Shabbos in someone’s driveway, you may be able to unplug a major appliance of theirs that has a dedicated breaker (i.e. dryer, microwave, etc.). But, caution is necessary here: you may trip the breaker and kill all the power to the RV and the house. (There is also a small fire risk.) Contact me if you’re planning to go this route.

We have stayed at shuls that have hook-ups. You never know, it doesn’t hurt to ask. I plan to write another post about finding Shabbos accommodations on the road. (Subscribe for the latest updates.)

Water for Shabbos in an RV

We all use water all the time. You probably never thought about how much water you use on a regular basis until you planned your RV trip and started wondering about the capacity of your fresh water tank. How many showers until you have to fill it? How about washing dishes? Flushing the toilet? Washing negel vasser in the morning? Or washing to eat bread/challah? See–as Jews, we use water even more. But, in an RV, when you use the water from your tank–even just to flush the toilet–you are using your electric water pump!

So, what should you do?

Here you have three options to ameliorate the problem.

Option one is the simplest: connect to city water. This is as simple as connecting a garden hose (preferably use your white “fresh water” hose, but not necessary). So, if you find yourself in your brother-in-law’s driveway or a shul parking lot, this is really easy. It’s just like at the RV parks.

Options two requires a little more advanced planning: prepare water ahead of time. If you won’t be able to connect to water for whatever reason, you’ll want to fill several large gerry cans with water ahead of time. These can be used for washing hands and dishes. You’ll also need to pour water into the toilet as you flush since with the water pump off, you won’t have any running water. To wash for negel vasser or to eat, I recommend one of those 2.5 gallon water containers with the spout. It’s much easier and neater to fill a washing cup from the spout, and it feels a little more Shabbosdik.

Option three is always a safe back-up: use the plumbing facilities where you’re staying. This may be the bathroom at the RV park (beware: many have lights, sinks, and toilets on sensors), the shul, or the house of the driveway in which you’re staying. Several years ago, we rented the exact same RV from the rental company that we had rented the prior year. However, in the interim, they had made “upgrades”. These upgrades included a sink that lit up when you ran the water and a toilet that flushed electronically!! We had not anticipated this. So, the first Shabbos, we stayed in a shul parking lot and they gave us the code to the building for any time we need to use the “indoor plumbing facilities”. The second Shabbos, we stayed in someone’s driveway and they left their door unlocked all Shabbos.

Eruv for Shabbos in an RV

You may not always need to consider an eruv. The first several years of our RVing, we didn’t really need to consider an eruv since we didn’t have a non-walking child. However, we also didn’t want to be “confined” to eating, playing, and hanging out all Shabbos just in the RV.

So, what should you do?

So, if we are in an area that doesn’t have an eruv, we set up our table and chairs under the awning of our RV. The awning acts as an eruv, but it kind of feels like Succos–we have to be sure to stay underneath the awning. We have to be very careful when bringing anything from soup to a sefer to a board game and can’t lean back too far in our chairs. If we’re in an RV park, we try to move the picnic table under the awning so we don’t have to take out our own table and chairs and worry about sliding our chairs out too far and being stuck.

Amazing Lasting Family Memories Game

But, infants change everything. When we needed to get a non-walking child back and forth between the RV and the house we were eating in, we put up an eruv. We discovered that using our RV as one side of the eruv can be pretty complicated (for example: the gaps in the stairs posed a problem, amongst other issues). BH, we were able to consult with a posek via video call–the reception was so poor, though, that we needed one phone for video and one for audio and he had to speak from his landline! But, a yid gib zich an eitzah. A big thank you to a fellow “WandeRVing Jew” who had been there the week before and sent us a sketch of his eruv.

5 Tips to Ensure a Minyan on Vacation

There are other halachic options when an eruv isn’t an option. Please contact us if you need more guidance.

Bonus: The automatic stairs on Shabbos in an RV

The stairs in most RVs open and close automatically when the door is opened and closed. I suppose you could just spend all Shabbos inside, but what about going to shul? Eating outside? Or even just out for a walk and some fresh air?

So, what should you do?

You RV should have a switch that will override the stairs opening and closing. Just make sure the engine is off and the stairs are in the open position when flipping the switch. Also, be aware that often the switch is near the steps themselves rather than a high panel. Little kids like to flip switches. We were staying inside a friend’s house one Shabbos but decided to leave some of our things in the RV rather than bring in everything we would need all Shabbos. Our three year-old flipped the switch–good thing we were all on the outside rather than the inside! Bonus: my sheitel was inside so I was “forced” to wear my comfortable snood all Shabbos!

Shabbos in an RV is a great chance for some quality family time. With just a few simple considerations, it can be just like any other Shabbos.

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