Tenafly Eruv to Remain

Should Jewish groups be allowed to use public property and spaces, such as telephone poles, to construct an eruv? A little noticed Supreme Court decision let stand a lower court ruling which stated such Jewish groups should, indeed, be allowed to do just that. What is an eruv? An eruv is any enclosure that allows Jews to do certain tasks outside in public places during the Sabbath which would otherwise be prohibited to them. Having an eruv can be vital to them and they often use telephone poles to string the wires necessary to create a symbolic enclosure around their community. The town of Tenafly, New Jersey, denied them this ability, saying that the use of public property for a religious purpose violated the separation of church and state. But was that their only reason?

Evidently, racism may have also played a role. Council President Dick Wilson once testified in court that "there is a tendency for only people of the Orthodox faith to live in that area." Even some Jewish residents want to limit the presence of Orthodox Jews in the area. If antisemitism is part of their motivation, then that is certainly wrong - but that doesn't mean that their legal case was wrong.

The appeals court had ruled that because the community allows the poles to be used for other displays (flyers and such), then it cannot keep out religious displays. This is generally reasonable - except that such secular displays are usually temporary. Are the eruv wires taken down every week? If not, then they become a permanent religious display - and that really shouldn't be permitted.

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• Antisemitism