Support the Highland Park/Edison/New Brunswick Eruv

Image what life would be without the Edison/Highland Park Eruv. Here’s an article from the December 17, 1978 New York Times describing what life was like:

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.

There could be no wheeling baby carriages, no carrying sefarim or talits, no visiting the sick in hospitals, no bringing food over for Shabbat. We are use to the eruv, and the fact that it has never been down in over seven years. This includes Friday, July 5, 2019 when we spotted a message on a Facebook group that somone noticed the eruv was down. The eruv was back up by noon that very day and once again up by the time Shabbat came.

However, maintaining the eruv does cost money, and every year, the Eruv Committee raises money from the members of the various Orthodox congregations who benefit from it. Now it’s Etz Ahaim’s turn to fund raise.

We are asking everyone who benefits from our eruv to contribute $36 to help maintain it. This works out to a mere 70¢ every Shabbat. These funds help with repairs, expansion, insurance, etc. This also includes are webpage, and a whole technology behind it to keep everyone informed about the eruv’s status. Not one penny goes to the various volunteers who check the ten miles of eruv every week, and whose vigilance helps keep it up.

Please click on the button below (or go to https://etzahaim.org/news/eruv-2024) and contribute $36 or.whatever you can afford to help keep the eruv up and running.

Support the Eruv

P.S. For those who do not know, we have multiple ways of informing you of the status of the eruv. You can get our Mastodon updates pushed to your phone. You can get Facebook updates from our Facebook page, or you can subscribe to our email list and get emails every Friday once we’ve determined the Eruv’s status. Go to our webpage at https://hperuv.org for more information where we display the latest status. And if you’re old fashion, you can also call the Eruv Hotline at tel:732-487-ERUV for the latest updates.

Do you know that most people who are looking to move to Highland Park first search to see whether Highland Park has an eruv? Because of this, we keep a lot of information about the Raritan Valley community on our webpage. Come take a look!

Pas Yisroel in Vaad-Certified Establishments as is relevant to Aseres Y’mei HaTeshuvah

Message From the Vaad

Many individuals are stringent during the Aseres Y’mei HaTeshuvah to eat only Pas Yisroel, as recommended by the Shulchan Oruch (O.C. 603:1). The following is a summary of the status of items in the stores that are under our Vaad’s supervision, so that customers can make an informed choice:

  1. Bridge – All baked items in the store are Pas Yisroel.

  2. China Lee – Hot dog and hamburger buns, Moo-Shu wraps (pancakes), and fortune cookies are not Pas Yisroel. The crispy chow mein noodles and spring rolls are acceptable. The strawberry shortcake cake is Pas Yisroel.

  3. Crunch Café – The pizza and sandwiches are not Pas Yisroel. The croissants, cookies, cakes, pastries and croutons are all Pas Yisroel

  4. Dairy Deluxe – The regular ice cream cones and cookies (whole and crushed) are not Pas Yisroel. Sugar cones and waffle cones are acceptable

  5. Dunkin’ Donuts – The bagels, croissants, waffles, muffins, tortillas, sourdough bread, cookies and cakes are not Pas Yisroel. Sugar cones, and doughnuts are acceptable.

  6. From Sweets to Nuts – Chocolates containing grain are Pas Yisroel.

  7. Giddy’s Pizza and Café – All baked items in the store are Pas Yisroel.

  8. Glatt 27 –All bread items from the deli counter are Pas Yisroel and well as many packaged breads and cakes in the store. However, there are a few packaged breads and cakes that are not Pas Yisroel. The general rule is that factory packaged items that are Pas Yisroel will be labeled as such.

  9. Mordy’s Bakery – All baked items in the entire store (both bakery and café) are Pas Yisroel.

  10. Rita’s Ices – The regular ice cream cones and cookies (whole and crushed) are not Pas Yisroel. Sugar cones and waffle cones are acceptable.