A plan to create an eruv, an area within which orthodox Jews can move more freely on the sabbath, in north London has triggered sharp disagreement among residents.
A public consultation on the proposal closed on Thursday, with hundreds of comments posted on Camden council’s website, in advance of a planning decision to be taken by the end of the year.
An eruv is an area exempt from ancient Jewish law which forbids the carrying or pushing of items outside private areas on Shabbat, the Jewish sabbath, which runs from sunset on Friday to sunset on Saturday. Keys, spectacles, books and prayer shawls are among the items which cannot be carried; pushing prams or wheelchairs is also forbidden.
The exemption exists because the eruv is considered to be an enclosed private space, even though non-Jews can move freely in and out of the area. It allows people with small children and wheelchair users to get to and from synagogues and to visit friends and relatives, and for people to carry essential items.
The overwhelming majority of comments on the proposal were in support of the eruv. Many members of local synagogues said it would enable them and fellow community members to take part in religious and social activities.
But there were also scores of objections on the grounds of aesthetics, the risk to wildlife, and opposition to religious symbols and practices.
The plan for the eruv involves erecting 41 pairs of narrow poles connected 5.5m above the ground by clear nylon fishing wire. The wire would join existing walls, fences and railway lines to create a continuous six-mile boundary demarcating the eruv. Weekly inspections are required to check for breakages.
Under the proposal, the eruv would take in large tracts of Camden and Hampstead, including conservation areas. It would abut an existing eruv, and another that has been approved but not yet created.
Six thousand people would benefit, according to documents submitted in support of the planning application.
“People inside an eruv can have a much fuller social and community life,” said Daniel Rosenfelder, a Camden-based architect who submitted the planning application on behalf of the United Synagogue.
“It takes away restrictions on observant Jews, and the local community thrives. Once it’s set up, all the hoo-ha dies down. People’s worries and preconceptions don’t materialise.”
The narrow poles were designed to blend in with existing street furniture or match adjacent painted walls, and the 0.5mm fishing wire was imperceptible, said Rosenfelder. “We’ve done everything we can to make it unobjectionable.”
However, some residents have raised concerns about “street clutter” and the risk of birds, bats and other wildlife being injured by flying into wire. One resident described the poles and wires as “unnecessary, unsightly, unwanted and unnatural”.
There were also objections to the religious aspect of the eruv. “Hampstead is a multi-faith and NO faith community. No religious group should impose its structures on this community. I also object to the reason for their proposed erection: that is hypocritical circumventing of a religious taboo. Any imposition on the community of religious or quasi-religious practices is inappropriate and unacceptable,” said one comment on Camden council’s website.
Another resident wrote: “These prohibitions [under Jewish law] are objectionable and illiberal, but especially so in the urban society of the 21st century. Neither Camden council nor the residents of Camden should be complicit in them. Creating a new eruv … would embody a celebration of these cruel and inhumane practices.”
An eruv was a “divisive religious concept which has no place in a secular society”, said another objector.
However, many residents said an eruv would make a significant difference to their lives.
One man wrote: “My wife suffered a stroke five years ago. She is no longer able to stand or walk. She is confined to a wheelchair at all times.” An eruv would allow him to take her to the synagogue on Shabbat, he said.
Another resident said his wife was expecting a baby. “Without the eruv, my wife will be unable to attend [the synagogue] due to the prohibition of carrying on the sabbath. This means we will no longer be part of our local community religious life.” The couple would also be unable to visit family on Shabbat.
The UK’s first and biggest eruv was created in 2003, with an 11-mile boundary taking in Hendon, Golders Green and Hampstead Garden Suburb. There are now six eruvs in and around London and one in north Manchester. Approval has been granted for several more.
According to Rosenfelder’s planning application, existing eruvs “have no effect whatever in altering the composition of the local population or the pattern of local activities in any significant way”.
Other Shabbat prohibitions include driving or riding in cars, writing, shopping, using phones, cooking, gardening, doing laundry, and turning on or off anything which uses electricity, such as lights, radios, televisions, computers, air-conditioners and alarm clocks. The ban on these activities is not affected by the creation of an eruv.
