Posted on 06/01/2016 8:36:22 AM PDT by C19fan
A six-mile perimeter could be created around an area of North London to help Orthodox Jews avoid restrictions on the Sabbath. Fishing wire would be suspended from tall poles to create the boundary for what would become a huge eruv, acting as an extension of the walls of a home which would give Jews greater freedom. But there are concerns the proposal to Camden Council by a group of synagogues could lead to ‘ghettoisation’ of the area, following similar fears raised in another application nearby in 2014.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
This became an issue in Deal, NJ which has a large Sephardic-American group. I never really saw the problem but that’s me.
This is very common in areas that have an Orthodox community. For those who don’t know, the ‘wires’ are pretty much invisible to the goyish eye. But there’s always a fuss from town councils, I don’t know why. To me, it adds a nice bit of cultural diversity without any of the dark sides associated with it.
I lived inside an eruv in Brooklyn for years.
Really not a problem, unless you’re bothered by you know who...
Some people are offended by the people putting up the boundry, unfortunately. Anything different give them an issue to criticize. An Eruv, Kosher food, Sabbath observance, the Talmud, they’re all targets at times. Has nothing to do with the Eruv itself, which in most cases is completely invisible.
In many cases (most?) they use existing wires, you'd have to know which utility wire was designated. I live in an Eruv, I couldn't point out the designated wires if my life depended on it. Most non observant and non Jewish, probably the majority in the Eruvs I'm aware of in the Chicago area, haven't a clue they live in one.
It’s become an issue in Deal and Tom’s River, I don’t know why!
The comments section of the article is a farrago of idiocy and bigotry.
To me, the key concept is that this is, as you said, a nice bit of cultural diversity "without any of the dark sides associated with it."
If it were the Muslims (or anybody else, including my own people) setting up the eeuivalent of a sharia-compliant No-Go Zone, my stance would be implacable opposition. I'd scream bloody murder! But this is not that.
When I was a child there were, I think we called them, "Rogation Days" (and this is an old custom I wish they'd bring back). This was when the parish priest would walk the geographical boundaries of the parish --- down Sassafras Street to 6th, across 6th Street to Liberty, up Liberty Street to 11th, over 11th and back to the Church--- sprinkling Holy Water and praying for all who lived within the physical (but invisible) boundaries of the parochial borders.
Look, if you're a non-believer, the Holy Water evaporates almost instantly, like the sound of the priest's voice. If you don't like the looks of a priest in a cassock, avert your eyes, look away at the bomes, taco shops, playgrounds and bars he's -- from a distance --- making the Sign of the Cross over.
To the non-believer, it should mean less than children playing hopscotch. The children, after all, leave chalk marks on the sidewalk. The priest and his acolytes leave nothing but a memory of blessing.
(Giving a cross look at the computer and slapping it mildly.)
Yes, this whole thing is a bit stupid... Creating these “virtual” walls just so you can do things outside on Sabbath that your religion says are forbidden to do, outside on the Sabbath is just flat out silly.
Stringing up a bunch of fishing line just to say you are still inside your home, when you could be miles from it, is just lunacy.
Either observe your faith, leave your faith, or change its requirements/tenants, but this is just flat out stupid. But never let it be said that humans will not find inventive ways to self delude.
The entire concept of the Eruv is just an exercise in self delusion.... Some mythical extension of a houses walls so you can do outside on the Sabbath things your religion expressly forbid being done outside on the Sabbath.... its just silly.
Look, I’m following the rules... not really.
Either follow the tenants, change your faith or update the tenants of the faith.... this attempt at creating some mythical exemption is laughable.
I can just see some old equivalent of the activist supreme court thousands of years ago trying to invent some loophole because folks wanted to do something outside their home on the Sabbath that was forbidden.... and as they cloister in their dark room one goes.. I know... lets just let them tie string to their homes and extend it and they can pretend its part of their house so they can do it! Everyone knows its a silly thing and breaking the tenant, but it will give the masses cover for living their lives in a way they want that isn’t quite in line with the old tenants.
Well, I’m all for Judeo-Christian customs and traditions. This is certainly a harmless help to religious Jews who want to get out of their house on the Sabbath. For those who bash it, they can go to hell and not in a handbasket.
Are you an Orthodox Jew? If not, why do you care?
When I would shop in Deal, I would look for them. Couldn’t find them and you’ve just explained why. Yet, to idiot councilmen it was like bringing in Sharia law.
tenets
Correct me if I'm wrong, Hebrew-speakers.
It is silly (spoken in my most huffy, judgmental voice) SILLY, to call other people's rituals "silly." Everyone draws a line somewhere. Where and how these people draw a line makes sense to them, accommodates or inconveniences only themselves, and does no harm to anybody else.
If only our own sillinesses were so benign!
Elements of the “Oral Law” and Rabbinic Rulig in the Talmud are absolutely odious. Without an Eruv, Orthodox Jews would not be able to carry even a bag on the Sabbath.
The good news is that absolutely no one is inconvenienced or harmed in any way by the Jews’ creating an eruv for their community.
This practice is not an obvious “Oh, yes, that makes sense,” and even more explanation might lead to even more head scratching on the part of those who decide to be free from restrictions. The whole thing is pretty innocuous and should be ok, if only from a multiculti point of view.
One can argue that if the U.S. is not complaining about Muslim mutilation and honor killing of its girls in the U.S. or Muslims’ quoting their religion in cutting off the hands and heads of other humans, then overlooking a stretch of wire put on top of some posts by Jews ought not seem such a terrible “offence.”
No but it does point out the willingness of the community to justify anything.
What is the antecedent/what are you referencing in the word “it”?
What do you mean by “justify”?
Is the hanging of miles of Christmas lights along streets and on electric poles at public expense something else you think people are silly in justifying?
Is the hanging of Christmas lights by one segment of the community at private expense something else you think is silly?
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