When Mrs. Irwin Asher moved to nearby Edison a little more than a year ago, she found it difficult to make friends.
The primary time for socializing was Saturday, and for the last seven years Mrs. Asher had spent her Saturdays at home with her children. It wasn't just that Mrs. Asher was a doting mother; she simply was observing the restrictions of the Jewish Sabbath.
This is a story from the New York Times for December 17, 1978. You can find the entire article on the Highland Park Eruv’s website. The article is about the very first eruv in New Jersey right here in our community.
Without an eruv, Mts. Asher was stuck in the house since she couldn’t use a stroller to take her kids out. With the eruv, Mrs. Asher was able to visit friends, go to the park with her kids, and come to the synagogue for services. Families could bring a bottle of wine with them when they were invited somewhere else for Shabbat. Men could bring their tallits to services and take sefers to their chavrutas for Shabbat study.
The eruv has gone a long way from 1975. It has expanded as more people move to our community. In the old days, you would have to call Rabbi Pesach Raymond himself to find out if the eruv is up for the week. Now, you can get an automatic notification of the eruv’s status via email or Twitter. You can see the status by going to the Eruv’s webpage, or its Facebook page. You can even call the automated eruv hotline.
Each and every week, over a dozen volunteers roam Highland Park, Edison, and New Brunswick to check the eruv. If they find a problem, they report it. The problem is fixed quickly, so the eruv will be up for the coming Shabbat.
The eruv helps this community grow. Every month, dozens of people from outside of the Highland Park check out the eruv’s website. These are Jewish families who are thinking of moving to Highland Park and checking to see if our community has an eruv. Most Jews say they wouldn’t think of moving to a community without an eruv.
It takes the time of the dedicated volunteers, but it also takes money to maintain the physical eruv and the technical infrastructure that keeps us inform of its status. The Highland Park/New Brunswick Eruv organization asks each synagogue whose members depend upon the eruv to ask each of their members to donate $36 for the maintenance of the eruv.
For the next thirty days, Congregation Etz Ahaim will be asking its members to help support the eruv. If you use the eruv please donate. Even if you don’t carry on Shabbat, you still benefit from the eruv because it helps our community to grow, so again, please donate.
The optional recommended donation is $36, but you may donate any amount you like. Click on the button below to donate.
NOTE: When you donate $36, our credit card processor takes out a small transaction charge. We would appreciate if you donate $37.39 to pay the transaction fees and guarantee the eruv gets your full $36 donation.