Informational Meeting On Hamptons Eruv Turns Contentious

Hamptons Online yesterday reported at length on a contentious public information session held last Wednesday in Westhampton Beach, New York regarding a request by a local synagogue to construct an eruv-- a symbolic boundary that permits Orthodox Jews to carry items on the Sabbath. One-third of the large crowd at the meeting held in The Hampton Synagogue walked out when one of the panelists, Joel Cohen, began reading anti-Semitic e-mails that the synagogue had received over the matter. This however reflected more pervasive tensions over the proposal. Some opponents fear that creating the eruv will attract more Orthodox Jews to the area and turn the town into a religious enclave. (See prior related posting.)