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Jun 28, 2016

Headline of the Day

Rabbi Heller: Crown Heights Eruv Is Reform Judaism


  -- CrownHeights.info

Now, I have no problem with a good, old fashioned, halachic argument. Some say the eruv is good, some say it is not good. Every eruv in the world has people in it that refuse to rely on it. Every halachic topic in the book has opinions arguing with each other. I also understand that Lubavitchers in Crown Heights never had an eruv before because the Rebbe was supposedly against it, and many in the community want that to be the status quo in the area.

What I do not get is how an eruv can be considered Reform Judaism. There is an entire masechta in Shas about the laws of eruvin. There is a section in shulchan aruch about it. Eruv is not Reform Judaism, and modern-day rabbonim putting up an eruv is not Reform Judaism. Nobody is forcing any specific person to rely on it.

Have a halachic debate. Call on your followers to continue in the fine Lubavitch tradition of not relying on an eruv n Crown Heights. Comparing an eruv to Reform Judaism is ridiculous.

I actually liked, in particular, the following line from the article:
I am talking for myself and my children. I want to be an “old-fashioned” Lubavitcher, in the ways of the Rebbeim and the Baal Shem Tov.
I wonder if he has ever attacked other things happening in Crown Heights with that same argument...


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8 comments:

  1. From what I've read on the subject this is what seems to be going on:
    1) The Rebbe paskened that Eastern Parkway is a reshus harabim which means Crown Heights can't have an eruv.
    2) The non-Lubavitch Orthodox population of Crown Heights is growing, has lots of young families and doesn't want to be under house-arrest all Shabbos long.
    3) The eruv which was erected holds that Eastern Parkway is not a reshus harabim and that therefore CH can have an eruv
    4) The new eruv does not meet Lubavitch specifications independent of the Reshus haRabim issue.
    5) Therefore it has two strikes against it. It can't exist but even if it did it's not kosher.
    6) Because as far as Lubavitch is concerned, only their psak is legitimate psak. If you disagree you might as well be Reform.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Your link is to the second article about this rov's statements. The first article has his much clearer talk on this subject. But in a nutshell: no rov announced an eruv in crown heights to date.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Your post is scandalously misleading. He said the "CROWN HEIGHTS eruv is reform...", he never said eruvin are reform ch"v. You really owe an apology, because essentially your whole argument is based on the premise that he's saying that in general eruvin are reform... Rabbi Heller is one of the most respected Rabbonim in Lubavitch today, your "headline of the day" at the expense of the kavod of a gaon like him is a disgrace.

    ~~~

    In response the above commentator, that "2) The non-Lubavitch Orthodox population of Crown Heights is growing, has lots of young families and doesn't want to be under house-arrest all Shabbos long".
    This is total utter BS. Come see for yourself, there's no such growing population within the borders of the Lubavitcher area of CH. The congregation who supposedly put up this eruv does not even approach the borders of the CH Lubavitch community. For them to come in and put up an eruv is encroachment to the fullest extent of the word. That is against all tenets of halacha.
    You cannot walk in to a neighborhood of 10k+ people of one stripe, and say "Oh, I have 2 folks who walk to my shul from your neighborhood, so I'm gonna put up an eruv". Not ONE rav in the neighborhood approved of the eruv.

    Now, in regards to "6) Because as far as Lubavitch is concerned, only their psak is legitimate psak. If you disagree you might as well be Reform."
    Thanks for losing all credibility of your previous statements. Indisputably, there's no group in "ultra-orthodoxy" more tolerant than Chabad, so thanks for demonstrating your sheer ignorance.
    There are Chabad communities all over the world with kosher eruvin (should we start with kfar chabad?) and many communities in general all over the world with eruvin not to chabad standards but never ever spoken of formally in a negative manner and in fact used by most in the Chabad community (cities all over Israel for example, including but not limited to Jerusalem). There's a huge difference when some randoms show up in Chabad headquarters no less, (I challenge you to count even 15 non-chabad families in the Chabad area of Crown Heights) and build an eruv disregarding the unanimous decision of all halachik authorities of the neighborhood (not a common occurrence to get them all on one page btw). The word Chutzpah doesn't do justice.

    ReplyDelete
  4. This is the exact same argument the non religious Jews (let's call them reform for simplicity's sake: we don't wantthose jews in our town (mayor moskowitz of tenafly nj in a city council meeting, on the official record (the local chabad house, a very impre$$ive building took no position in defending the honor of orthodox judaism).

    By the way,the article quotes the rav ar

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Huh??! Who ever mentioned wanting or not wanting other Jews in the neighborhood? That was never under discussion at all. There's simply no "growing community" here with any significant numbers, outside Chabad.
      In the '60's, CH was a very diverse Jewish community, and if it was then, I can totally understand. But the facts on the ground are that everyone else fled and Chabad stayed. When there's a significant number of orthodox of another stripe, thwn there's something to talk about.

      Delete
    2. The claim is that non chabad jews who do (or don't ) live in crown heights are the ones who want the eruv.

      Delete
  5. Bythe way, the article quotes the rav as making a direct comparison of an eruv to reform; not that its like reform, he says it is reform.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Again, for the umpteenth time, he was talking the whole time about an eruv in *CROWN HEIGHTS*.

      Delete

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