New Jersey Town Of Mahwah Will Scrap Eruv Ban To Settle Discrimination Lawsuit
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
(JTA) — A New Jersey township has agreed to repeal an ordinance prohibiting the construction of an eruv, that state officials said discriminated against Orthodox Jews.
The announcement this week resolved a lawsuit the state attorney general’s office filed against Mahwah last October.
The ordinance said the affixing of PVC pipes on utility poles to demarcate the eruv violated town signage rules.
The township previously had repealed an ordinance that prohibited out-of-state residents from using its parks, which also appeared to be directed at Orthodox Jews in New York, which also had been part of the lawsuit.
The township also agreed to inform the attorney general’s office in writing about any new ordinance proposals affecting the use of parks, or signage on utility poles, for the next four years.
An eruv is a boundary of string within which observant Jews may carry objects and push strollers outside of their homes on the Sabbath.
Last summer, some Mahwah residents objected when they saw trucks in their neighborhoods installing small PVC pipes on utility poles to demarcate the eruv. The Township Council then called for the removal of the pipes, citing zoning regulations that prohibit signs on utility poles. The eruv association said it had obtained permission from the utility company to hang the eruv infrastructure.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news. All donations are still being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000 until April 24.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
