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AN ERUV!
Marjorie Gottlieb Wolfe
Syosset, New York
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An “eruv,” in modern technology, is a technical boundary (“grenets”) that allows Jews to carry (“trogn”) certain items in public areas on Shabbat.
“There are eruus all the way from Richmond, Virginia to Toronto to Melbourne, Australia to Tel Aviv,” says Lorne Rozavsky (Chabad.org). There are eruvs in hundreds of cites around the U. S. and “di velt” (the world).
One of the distinctive features of Judaism is that we get very specific about our terminology. As a result, we consider work (“arbet”) as carrying things around unless we are inside (“ineveynik”) our houses or fenced yards.
So what are we NOT ALLOWED to carry around on the Sabbath? Keys, purses, books, diabetic supplies, babies, diapers, or food to someone’s house--almost anything. This makes it difficult (“shver”) for families with “yung” children to get together on the Sabbath. The tradition of not carrying items on Shabbos goes back for 1000s of years.
By creating a boundary around an area that has many Jewish residents, we legally create a community. How is the boundary made? We use existing fences, overhead wires, hillsides, buildings, bridges, etc. to indicate boundaries. The eruv consists of a very thin wire (“drot”) stretched between poles--usually telephone or electric utility poles--well over the height (“heykh”) of people.
Eruvs are still a hot-button issue; they still rankle neighbors.
So that we can get along with our neighbors and to avoid vandalism, the practice has been to make the wire as unobtrusive as possible. Each week expert observers check the boundary to ensure that it hasn’t been damaged during the week. If it has been damaged, then repair crews are dispatched.
In 2013 these headlines appeared:
RABBI MARC SCHNEIRER’S SYNAGOGUE SUES TOWN.
ERUV BATTLE IN HAMPTONS TURNS UGLY.
JEWISH GROUP TURNS UP HEAT IN ERUV FIGHT.
WELCOME TO GOLDBERG’S.
“Vos iz di naes”? (What is the news?) After a 6-year battle, the Hampton Synagogue in Westhampton Beach, Long Island (NY), will establish an eruv in the village of Westhampton Beach despite the vociferous objections of many. Rabbi Marc Schneier wrote, “We look forward in the near future, to expanding the eruv to Quogue and Westhampton.
Verizon issued a license allowing the Hampton Synagogue to attach lechis to 18 poles in Westhampton Beach and PSEG Long Island issued one for 27 poles.
Hank Sheinkopf, a spokesman for the eruv, said that the eruv “is hardly visible to the eye” and “has no impact whatsoever on non-Jews and nonobservant Jews.”
The subject of an eruv has been a source of bitter contention within the Village. It has brought up to the surface confusion (“tsemishung”) and a stripe of ugly anti-Semitism. Opponents of the eruv in Westhampton have expressed fears that their community could turn into “another Lawrence,” a once diverse L. I. town now populated overwhelmingly by Orthodox Jews.
Opponents of the eruv--mostly non-Jewish residents--turned up for a meeting at Schneier’s Synagogue. One participant called him “slime.” Another said that eruvs belong only in ghettos and that Orthodox Jews shouldn’t live in the community. Schneier was told to go back where he came from. “Eyn got un azoy fil soynim.” (Only one God and so many enemies.)
One Long Island resident posted this comment:
“No doubt the town administration would prefer NOT to make their town accommodating to a flood of ultra-Orthodox with all that has followed such influx in other towns such as Monsey...”
Other comments posted online are as follows:
Jewishdud wrote, Memo to Orthodox Jews in Southampton. G-d does not care one bit about wires attached to telephone poles. Either push your baby carriage on the Sabbath or don’t push it.
Oy vez mir. Another Monsey or New Square with illegal Yeshivas and Shuls in the Hamptons? Fight Enders, fight!
Devorah posted this comment: Don’t give them an inch or your lifetime investments will plummet! Main Beach will be filled with whatever THESE people do in the water since they don’t know how to swim.
Jon Stewart’s popular news program did a 5-minute bit/spoof on the above-mentioned problem. It was titled, “The Thin Jew Line.” Arnold Sheiffer said that the show did not point out that “the eruv benefits very few and extends to their economic benefit.” BTW, Stewart is Jewish by etnicity but is irreligious.
And so, today’s [Aug. 9, 2014] headline reads:
EAST END ORTHODOX JEWS CREATE A LONG-SOUGHT ERUV.
Mazl-tov! And a Mazl-tov to the opening of UK’s ‘largest eruv.’ The Manchester Community Eruv has a perimeter of more than 13 miles and covers parts of Prestwich, Crumpsall and Higher Broughton. Planning of the eruv took 10 YEARS. Rabbi Yahuda Brodie, chief executive of the Manchester Beth Din said, “It is going to make a major difference to the life of very many people including people wheeling children.” (Note: The Jewish population 0f Greater Manchester is about 24,000--the largest in the UK outside London.
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