Eruvin in the News: Travel Advisory

Most Vacation Spots Have No Eruv

By Yated Ne'eman Staff

Many vacationers carry on Shabbos at hotels and other vacation spots that lack an eruv simply because they are unaware of the problem, revealed an investigative report published in Yated Ne'eman.

The problem is not just in places where kashrus and modesty standards are below par, but even at places of lodging that meet most of the expectations of the chareidi vacationer. Rabbonim involved in eruv matters say if guests insist on a kosher eruv the management can generally arrange for one with relatively little effort.

From here

Eruvin in the News: Queens, NY

A New York state trial court dismissed a claim by a victim of a slip-and-fall accident that a group of synagogues should be liable for her injuries because she tripped over a fallen wire that was part of an eruv maintained by the defendants. The eruv ran through the property of St. John's Episcopal Hospital's teaching center located at 327 Beach 19th Street where the plaintiff fell.

In Egar v. Congregation Talmud Torah, (NY Sup. Ct., April 16, 2009), the plaintiff claimed that defendants had constructive notice that the eruv constituted a dangerous condition because a year earlier an eruv wire had fallen in a different location. The court disagreed, saying that a "single incident of the eruv falling a year before this incident certainly does not constitute evidence of a regularly recurring condition of which defendants must be aware."

For the court's opinion, click here

For the New York Law Journal article, click here