NJ Township Permits Creation Of Eruv

In Maplewood Township, New Jersey, the Township Committee has approved a proposal by two Orthodox Jewish congregations to mark existing telephone poles and wires in order to create an eruv around the town-- a symbolic boundary that will permit observant Jews to carry objects and push strollers on the Sabbath. Yesterday's New Jersey Jewish News reports that the proposal was approved by a vote of 4-1. The lone dissenter, Vice Mayor Ian Grodman, said: "I have a problem with the township getting involved in what amounts to a violation of the Establishment clause." However, in 2002 in a case from Tenafly, New Jersey, the U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the argument that permitting an eruv would create establishment clause problems.