Dear Friends,

A group of young adults from the East Side gathered on a recent Wednesday evening to meet and fraternize. This was not a singles’ social scene, though; indeed, all present were married women with children. Among them were professionals and housewives, some new to the neighborhood and others veterans of the East Side. This otherwise diverse group of women had in common the simple fact that they all choose not to rely on Manhattan’s longstanding eruv. An eruv is a halachic mechanism that allows Jews to carry objects outside on Shabbat in areas where even simple activities such as carrying keys or a handkerchief would otherwise be prohibited. For many people, the absence of an eruv is merely an inconvenience; for young parents, like these women, the lack of an eruv means being stranded at home for the duration of Shabbat. Prohibited from carrying their children or pushing strollers, such women cannot attend Synagogue and their families cannot join others for Shabbat meals. Although most of Manhattan’s Orthodox Jews and many of its distinguished rabbis accept the validity of the Manhattan eruv, a large number of Jews, like these women, follow rabbinic authorities that are uncomfortable with certain aspects of the Manhattan eruv and therefore prohibit carrying in Manhattan on Shabbat. Unable to meet fellow Jews on Shabbat as part of a synagogue community, these women congregated on a weeknight instead.

To meet the religious needs of these and similarly punctilious Jews, and because the existing Manhattan eruv in any event needed structural improvements, it was decided to embark on a major eruv enhancement project. As a result of a collaborative effort that began nine months ago with a detailed feasibility study, I am now pleased to announce that Upper Manhattan has a newly constructed mehadrin eruv designed by and under the strict supervision of the Monsey-based Mechon L’hoyroa (ML). In actuality, the existing local Upper West Side eruv was expanded eastward (and slightly southward) to include all of Central Park and the Upper East Side, an area three times its original size. Enjoying broad rabbinic support, this eruv hopefully represents the first stage of a project that will eventually include other areas of Manhattan.

Please keep in mind that the eruv, which is composed of both solid walls (such as apartment buildings) and strings affixed to street lamps, can be out of service as a result of neighborhood construction, inclement weather, high flying parade balloons, or other unforeseen circumstances. For this reason, an ML inspector checks the entire eruv each Thursday. Please do not assume that the eruv will be functional on any given Shabbat; it is your responsibility to call each week and confirm the status of the eruv. Although a citywide eruv hotline number will soon be published, in the meantime call the Synagogue office on Friday mornings to make sure that the eruv is intact.

This project benefited from the tireless efforts of ML’s Rav Shraga Klein, a master of the Laws of Eruvin and an adroit problem solver, who spent hundreds of hours, many while most of us were still asleep, devising the eruv plan and supervising its implementation. An expensive undertaking, this eruv enhancement project benefited from the generosity of numerous individuals and synagogues. Within the FAS community, special thanks go to Jacob and Lilly Gold, who provided vital “seed capital” long before it was certain that this effort would succeed, as well as to Louis and Doris Glick and Mayer Offman, whose early contributions helped set this project in motion.

With warm regards,
Rabbi Yaakov Kermaier