The battle over whether the Westhampton Beach (NY) Village Board should approve a synagogue's construction of an eruv (symbolic religious enclosure) around part of the village continues. (See prior posting.) The Southampton Press reports that yesterday more than 100 people attended a meeting sponsored by a group known as Jewish People Opposed to the Eruv (JPOE). Attendees were asked to sign petitions which will be submitted along with a legal brief (full text) authored by church-state expert Marci Hamilton. Prof. Hamilton was hired by another anti-eruv group, the Alliance for the Separation of Church and State in the Greater Westhampton Area. Jack Kringstein, the vice president of JPOE said that the eruv would change the community for the worse by bringing in unwelcome people. An AP story from earlier this month on the Westhampton dispute explains opponents are concerned that "Westhampton Beach — a wealthy community but one less glitzy than its better known neighbors Southampton and East Hampton — may evolve into an Orthodox enclave."
The 18-page legal brief opposing the eruv puts forth a number of arguments as to why it would violate separation of church and state limitations, despite court cases elsewhere that have approved such arrangements. In part arguments focus on the fact that under Jewish religious law, the symbolic enclosure of space needs to be accompanied by a civil government proclamation, although that could come from the governor or state attorney general instead of the village board. The brief argues that village approval of the eruv along with a proclamation would be a government act carrying out religious law. It also contends that permitting the eruv would violate the principle of neutrality, and would be endorsement of an identified religious enclave with specific geographical boundaries. [Thanks to Steven H. Sholk for the lead.]
