Image by Nikki Casey

(JTA) — A local man was arrested a day after the Sharon Massachusetts Police Department posted on Facebook that the community’s eruv had been repeatedly vandalized.

Sharon Police on Friday in a Facebook post reported that the eruv “has been the subject of extensive vandalism over the last few weeks.” The post included photos of downed poles and special markers that make up the boundary markers.

The Sharon eruv was constructed in 1990. According to the police post it “has served as a critical piece of infrastructure for the Jewish community by creating a sense of togetherness for hundreds of households in the Town of Sharon.”

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Some 40 volunteers for the Sharon Eruv Society help maintain the eruv on a weekly basis. The society had offered a reward for information about the vandalism.

Police on Saturday arrested Yerachmiel E. Taube 28, of Sharon on charges of malicious destruction of property, destruction to a religious organization, interference with civil rights, and disorderly conduct.

An eruv is an artificial boundary that, according to Jewish law, allows Jews to push and carry objects outside their homes on the Sabbath and holy days.  The eruv is made up of a series of poles and string.

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