Orthodox Group Sues New Jersey Town For Ordering Eruv Removal

A bird’s-eye view of Mahwah, New Jersey. Image by Wikimedia

By JTA August 14, 2017

(JTA) — An Orthodox Jewish group has sued a town in New Jersey for ordering it to remove an eruv, or religious boundary, from utility poles in the town.

The Bergen Rockland Eruv Association and two residents of Rockland County on Friday filed a federal lawsuit against the town of Mahwah, saying the town is violating their constitutional and civil rights.

Mahwah had told the South Monsey Eruv Fund to remove the white plastic piping from utility poles that it uses for the symbolically enclosed area by Aug. 4. An eruv allows observant Jews to carry objects and push strollers outside of their homes on Shabbat.

The Orthodox community told The Associated Press last month that it had been given permission to hang the piping by the local utility company. But town officials said the piping is banned because it is considered signage.

Town officials told the Associated Press that the town will start issuing summonses by next week if the piping is not removed.

“The object, motivation and effect of the actions of the township is to suppress the religious practices of the plaintiffs and certain other Jews who reside in Airmont and other parts of Rockland County (in New York),” the lawsuit states, according to AP. “The eruv presents no aesthetic, safety, traffic, fiscal or other concern to Mahwah.”

Town Mayor Bill Laforet has called on the council to hold off on issuing summonses and to instead negotiate with the eruv group. He said a legal fight over the eruv could be costly for the city, the AP reported.

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO