Jewish News of Greater Phoenix
Valley rabbis inspect the new eruv built by Valley Eruv Project on July 8.

Phoenix Jewish Community Gets an Eruv

After five years of planning and over $180,000 fundraised, the Valley Eruv Project of Phoenix, Arizona announced that the eruv is now up and ready to use.

On July 8, Rabbis Pinchas Allouche of Congregation Beth Tefillah, Ariel Shoshan of Ahavas Torah, Yossi Levertov of Chabad of Scottsdale, Rob Glazer of Ahavas Torah, and Zalman Levertov of Chabad of Phoenix inspected the entire eruv, along with Ben Ellis, VEP project manager.

“This great shared achievement will enhance the observance of Shabbos, the bedrock of our faith, and is a loud proclamation of the oneness of our Creator — our purpose for life,” stated the mass email that went out. “May it be Hashem’s will that we always bring greater honor to His Name, and that this opportunity enhance the honor of Shabbos for those who observe it and also inspire myriads of Hashem’s children to step closer to living life according to His desire.”

Valley Eruv Project’s eruv allows Sabbath-observant Jews to carry items and push strollers and wheelchairs on Shabbat within a 40-mile perimeter: Its borders are the Central Arizona Project canal north of Bell Road on the north, the Arizona Canal on the south, State Route 51 on the west and Loop 101 on the east.

VEP, a partnership of rabbis, volunteers and supporters, started planning the eruv in 2008. Since then, VEP raised more than $180,000 — including two $50,000 gifts and a $10,000 grant from the Jewish Community Foundation — and worked on designing the eruv and getting permits approved from various entities. Construction began in December 2012.

Another eruv, the Phoenix Community Eruv, in Central Phoenix, has been in use since 2005. The eruv is bordered by 16th Street on the east, 15th Avenue on the west, Northern Avenue on the north and the canal at Highland Avenue on the south.

20 Comments

  • chabad

    Wasn’t the rebbe against having a public eruv? Does the eruv follow the alter rebbe’s view?

    • Milhouse

      The Rebbe was for a secret eruv, but he was a daas yochid on this, and the fact is that nobody is going to pay tens of thousands of dollars, and check it every week, if the frum oilom can’t benefit from it. Almost every Jewish community in the world (including Kfar Chabad) has an eruv, and people have a right to expect one.

      The Alter Rebbe doesn’t have his own view on eruvin. He actually follows the mainstream psak, that most eruvin are kosher. But he writes that although the halocho is not like the Rambam, a baal nefesh should try to be machmir. From the description of the perimeter it sounds very much as if this eruv may be kosher even according to the Rambam, so the Alter Rebbe would have no problem with it.

  • ch needs an eruv

    Why does CH not have an eruv? If you don’t want to hold by it; don’t. That doesn’t mean others can’t. And it will ensure that nobody does any “real” issurim by carrying, either accidentally or on purpose.

  • NoYechi70InJerusalem

    No the Rebbe was not against an eruv just in Brooklyn & areas where there are large volumes of vehicular traffic.
    Rav Moishe Feinstein was also against it & said anybody who uses the Boro Park Flatbush eruv is mechalel shabbos d’oraisa.
    Everywhere in EY has an an eruv including Kfar Chabad & Nachlas Har Chabad so obviously the Rebbe wasn’t against it in all locations.

    • Milhouse

      Read the Rebbe’s letter; his opposition to a *public* eruv has nothing to do with the volume of traffic. It’s about people getting used to carrying, and then not finding out when it’s down, or finding out but carrying anyway. That’s why he was for making an eruv, but keeping it secret. When the CH Beis Din was established in the ’80s, there was a rumor that they did make a secret eruv for CH, but of course nobody can confirm this, because that’s kind of implied in the word “secret”.

  • OUR Rebbe

    the Rebbe was definitely against having a publicised public eruv…at the very least for his chassidim, and anyone who hold by the Rebbes standards…………………………….. (I would think and hope that includes most residents of C.H jewish community)

  • Eiruv

    I don’t think it is possible to make an eiruv according to the Rambam/AR in any big city. To have every 15 amos a poll is probably impossible. I’m sure in Lubavitch was very easy to make one but I never heard it was. I think Kfar Chabad has an eiruv according to the AR. I hope the AZ Rabbis checked also the Tchum issue (not to have open areas that have more then 70 amos between houses).

    • Milhouse

      It’s very easy to make a Rambam eruv in a big city. All that’s needed is to have most of the perimeter be made of real mechitzos, not tzuros hapesach. Such eruvin exist right here in Brooklyn, as well as in Sydney, London, Detroit, and several other places.

  • @ #9

    do you actually have a verrified source that you can present for what you are claiming?
    The Rebbe also spoke of the problem of being mechanech children not to carry and what happens when they leave the community with the eruv…. just look at plenty of chassidishe israeli bochurim holding their hats on the street on shabbos in C.H because they do not have the chinuch and habits of not carrying on shabbos.

  • To #13

    You’re right, a lot of the guests who come to Crown Heights from places that DO have an Eiruv think that surely there is an Eiruv in CH… so they carry here too! I saw it just this past Shabbos. Add to that all the people who carry by mistake, and you gotta wonder why ‘they’ are so against an eiruv in Crown Heights!

  • At 15

    ‘they’ are not against it
    The REBBE is against a public eiruv for the reasons stated above and more. At least a bit of respect for the Rebbes wishes and standards in his own shchunah, that is densely frum bec of the Rebbe ( dont forget when all other fum ppl ran far away, riots etc)
    Many Visitors dont carry bec they think theres one but bec they are so used to it, and will do it on vaccation or anywhere else too
    Old habits die hard.. CHINUCH!!

  • NoYechi70InJerusalem

    I do not have a source from the Rebbe,however I do have a source from Rav Moishe Feinstein namely Igros Moshe & I assumed being that the Rebbe held by Rav Moishe on many issues & that there is one in Kfar Chabad & Nachlas Har Chabad & Anash in EY do use the eiruv that was the reason.

    • Milhouse

      No, Reb Moshe himself acknowledged that his opnion on eruvin is a radical chidush and nobody else agrees with it. He told the rabbonim of Flatbush that he could not give a haskomoh on an eruv there, but that they should feel free to make one anyway, since they were not obligated to accept his chiddushim.

      In any case, even according to R Moshe, a Rambam eruv (rov mechitzos) would be kosher, since it doesn’t depend on being in a karmelis.

      Also, R Moshe was very misinformed about the population of Brooklyn; he was under the impression that it has more than 3 million people, and that Boro Park and Flatbush alone had more than 600,000. Neither of these is true. Also, he was unaware of the wall (with breaches wider than 10 amos) that surrounds Brooklyn on three sides.

    • Milhouse

      The Rebbe’s letter was about Manhattan, and he wrote that they *should* make the eruv, but that they should keep it secret. So he obviously didn’t agree with R Moshe that the eruv would be possul.