Eruv - Controversies

Controversies

The installation of eruvin has been a matter of contention in many neighbourhoods around the world, with notable examples such as the London Borough of Barnet; Outremont, Quebec; Tenafly, New Jersey, and Westhampton Beach, New York.

As the property-owner is the owner of the public streets, sidewalks and the utility poles on which symbolic boundaries are to be strung, some authorities have interpreted Jewish law as requiring the local government to participate in the process as one of the property owners by agreeing to creation of the eruv, and to give permission for the construction of a symbolic boundary on its property. In addition, because municipal law and the rules of utility companies, in general, prohibit third parties from stringing attachments to utility poles and wires, the creation of an eruv has often necessitated obtaining permissions, easements, and exceptions to various local ordinances. These requirements that government give active permission for an eruv have given rise to both political and legal controversy.

In the Elstree and Borehamwood neighbourhoods of Hertfordshire, United Kingdom, a petition was circulated in 2007 condemning the proposed eruv on the grounds that it would constitute the establishment of a "Jewish state".

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