LONDON (VINnews) — With the outbreak of coronavirus, an Eiruv was established in the Tottenham district of London for the first time, due to the need to make minyanim in unfamiliar places which did not previously have an eiruv.
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The eiruv was established by the Kedassia Beis Din of London which provided halachic authority for the eiruv. However due to pressure from various groups opposing the eiruv, the Kedassia decided to delay the establishment of the eiruv. However those who initiated the eiruv said that it was already running and found another rabbi who is an expert in eiruvin to provide authorization for it.
The Kedassia requested a two-week break to add extra stringencies to the eiruv and afterwards the eiruv continued to exist for the past two years despite some incidents of vandalism by extremist elements.
Currently there are some 1800 chareidi families in the Tottenham district. Initially only women would carry but now almost everyone including Satmar and Bobov chasidim use the eiruv.
The Kedassia eiruv relies on two parks and a river nearby to create three mechitzos (borders) and make the eiruv even more halachically valid. However there are three streets which fall outside the three mechitzos and required a separate solution. These streets made their own eiruv in the meantime until Kedassia found a solution for them. However Kedassia did not like the ad hoc eiruv and some extremist elements affiliated with Kedassia attempted to vandalize the eiruv. In response, local residents hired a guard company to protect the eiruv.
In another situation which arose in the neighborhood, a local woman not included in the “three mechitzos” who needed an eiruv established one on her own street with the help of certain local rabbis and hired a company with guard dogs to protect the eiruv. Local elements opposed to the new eiruv removed the wooden board at the entrance to the street but the woman placed it minutes before shabbos and this enabled her and the other residents to carry on shabbos, although there were a number of arguments and fights between those who opposed the eiruv and those who favored it.
The London askanim are working hard to solve the problem and establish the final borders of the eiruv to include those streets which are not part of the three mechitzos. This will hopefully defuse tensions between those who favor eiruv and those who oppose it.
why would someone oppose an eiruv, let alone vandalize it?! if they don’t accept it, why can’t they leave others alone?
kol yisrael areivim ze laze.
The headline should read , extremists attempt to ruin the eiruv, necessating guards…….
If you don’t want to use don’t but if it’s kosher under a respected posek who k owns eriven then just don’t use it.
When asked by a reporter to state his opinion on the aforementioned eiruv, a London yid told the reporter: “I don’t have my own opinion on the matter, I need to ask eiruv.”
When asked to explain what he had just said, the London yid said, “What’s so difficult to understand?! I need to ask eiruv! I need to ask ei ruv! I need to ask a Rav!”
Why is Eruv the most contested mitzvah? If i do any other mitzvah not the way others hold they will look at me weird but no one is going to even say a word but when it comes to Eruv it turns into a fight.
If you dont like it dont use it.
U don’t want to carry don’t but why make someone else’s life miserable!
What was the reason why women were able to use the Eruv and not men?
As I have pointed out in the past: in Litvishe America we don’t deal with this level of controversy that escalates to threats to safety
The anti eruv extremists are reshaim no better than the reform anti eruv elements in the US, if anything they are worse, they should be shunned, not counted in a minyan and not given aliyas.
don’t know why those who want an eruv can’t have one and those who are against it, well, don’t use it.
Respect for the other who thinks differently is the key stone to Shalom.
There is only one way to deal with them, The Hagaddah says הקהה את שיניו
Sounds like the vandals are the eiruv rav. Zing!
The first Eiruv in London was established in Golders Green. It took decades before the planning came to fruition.
During that long period, HaRav Chaim Bermant ZT”L, in his long Teshuvoh on the subject, wrote that personally he was not that bothered either way as:
“I’m too old to push and too young to be pushed”
why not just be normal/helpful and make a whole neighborhood eruv so people, mums, disabled, kids, people that have medicine etc can get around and do mitzvos on shabbos
Keddasia promised the people of that area to set up an eruv, as it falls into their (made up) 3 mechitzos category. Of course, they didn’t follow through. They couldn’t organise a proverbial in a brewery. It’s their responsibility to sort out an eruv or someone else will do it.
If your rav says an eruv isn’t kosher, don’t use it. (Very few of us have the halachic knowledge to pasken ourselves on the kashrut of an eruv.)
But don’t engage in acts of vandalism. Even if your rav is right on the eruv (and obviously there would be at least one posek who disagrees), that is being over an issur d’oraita!
I recently spent a Shabbat in an city that has an even larger population than New York City or London. There is an eruv in part of the city, extending into some suburbs. I heard no machlokets. May the rest of the Jewish world be like that.
How is this any different than the argument between different groups at the kosel? Please, well thought out and elucidated replies. Not the standard shut out all critical thinking.
The comments on this thread are of an uncharacteristically high quality.
It’s ironic that the term Eruv denotes inclusivity and the principle of containing a group as unity dwellers.
Thank G-d I live in a city where all the Eruvim are under one Rav and they are used by all from Modern to Chasidish. Seems many placed lack the Chochmah to do thinks with Shalom and no machlokes. Sad, very sad.
Anyone who severs an עירוב is a an עז פנים לגהינום ואין לא חלק לעולם הבא
Maybe the ones who are vandalizing the eruv are not modeh behilchos eiruv and you need sechiras reshus from them.
And this is newsworthy in America because?
We need to smesh all eruv in London. We don’t need our women and girls playing football in the streets. If they don’t like it they can go live in Hendon.
We are not scared. We will go with our maskes in the middle of the night and cutt off all strings. We have strong becking from Rabunim. Chitzpeh to go against the most chushiv kehile 86 Satmer.
Yoeli Frankel, Burech Roth and Englander brothers.