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• Article: AFineLine.pdf  After reading the article, submit a 250 word response on the D

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• Article: AFineLine.pdf  After reading the article, submit a 250 word response on the Discussion Board explaining the controversies and conflicts over eruvin.
  A Fine Line: Is Religious Real Estate
  

   

  Kosher?
  

   

  By Stefanos Chen For Daniel Kraus, an Orthodox Jewish renter in Midtown Manhattan, a downed utility pole could
  

   

  put the kibosh on all his weekend plans ? but not for the reasons you might think.
  

   

  Kraus (pictured at left with his
  

   

  family) was caught in "a flutter of
  

   

  email" last Friday, when it was
  

   

  discovered that a pole marking part
  

   

  of his community's ritual boundary,
  

   

  known as an eruv, was damaged.
  

   

  The purpose of an eruv -- a series of
  

   

  nearly invisible wires strung high
  

   

  above street level on utility poles
  

   

  and lampposts -- is to create a
  

   

  symbolic home in which observant
  

   

  Jews are allowed to perform some
  

   

  tasks that are otherwise prohibited
  

   

  on Shabbat, the time between sundown Friday and Saturday evening. Chief among these
  

   

  privileges: carrying items (like walking canes and keys) and moving objects (like baby strollers
  

   

  and wheelchairs).
  

   

  As a director of the Manhattan Jewish Experience, a community of young Jewish professionals
  

   

  in Gramercy/Murray Hill, and the father of two small children, the prospect of the eruv
  

   

  (pronounced ay-roov) being damaged was more than a little inconvenient, he says with some
  

   

  understatement.
  

   

  "We were hosting 50 people for lunch in our loft space," Kraus recalls. "How am I going to get
  

   

  the kids from the house into the loft?"
  

   

  It took a phone call to New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Kraus says, but his congregation
  

   

  was able in the 11th hour to get the repairs in time for Shabbat. As should be amply clear, he
  

   

  says, "it has a very practical use every week." A Fine Line Yet for something so vital to the
  

   

  Orthodox Jewish community, eruvin remain largely unknown to other groups, including some
  

   

  non-observant Jews.
  

   

  "Aesthetically, it's just a tiny little string that you don't see unless you're at eye level, 15 to 20
  

   

  feet up," says Julie Friedman, a Realtor who covers the Gramercy/Murray Hill area. She leased
  

   

  Kraus his apartment in 2007.
  

   

  While an eruv may be composed of no more than fishing wire and lampposts (pictured right), the
  

   

  intrinsic value that the enclosure adds to a property is immense for Orthodox Jews. "Consider it a
  

   

  commodity" for the observant, she says.
  

   

  But as for adding any monetary value to real estate, New York appraiser Alice Palmisano isn't so
  

   

  sure.
  

   

  "It's a little esoteric for the general population," Palmisano says. In her 27 years working in real
  

   

  estate, she has never heard of an eruv. And as with all niche amenities, she adds, "It would only
  

   

  contribute value to those who value it."
  

   

  More to the point, a Realtor could be penalized for advertising the religious enclosure under the
  

   

  Fair Housing Act, she points out. Marketing such a feature could be construed as discriminating
  

   

  against non-Jewish groups. Is an Eruv Legal?
  

   

  While common in cosmopolitan cities like New York, eruvin exist nearly everywhere that
  

   

  observant Jewish communities call home. A quick perusal of a publicly updated directory shows
  

   

  eruv-enclosed communities in cities as varied as Las Vegas, Cincinnati and Memphis. (See the
  

   

  full list here.) Many renters and homeowners might be surprised to discover that their own
  

   

  property is located within these sanctified spaces -- and only the most eagle-eyed among them
  

   

  might spot the wire boundaries.
  

   

  But it's not their appearance that has some groups up in arms. In Tenafly, N.J., where an eruv
  

   

  was erected more than a decade ago, the controversy has splintered into quarrels over First
  

   

  Amendment rights and religious imagery in public. From there, assertions of prejudice were not
  

   

  far behind. A 2002 lawsuit claims that some residents were concerned that the eruv would
  

   

  "attract more Orthodox Jews to the area."
  

   

  "It makes no sense [to argue about it]," says Rabbi Menachem Genack, who belongs to a
  

   

  synagogue in nearby Englewood, N.J., which has a long history of eruvin. "Why is it disruptive?
  

   

  Can you see it? No."
  

   

  Ultimately the courts upheld the synagogue's right to erect an eruv, but other controversies
  

   

  continue to break out in other communities. Notably, "The Daily Show" spoofed a recent eruv
  

   

  dispute in Westhampton Beach, N.Y., for similar issues of perceived prejudice. (See their sendup of the dispute below.)
  

   

  The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
  

   

  Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook The Bottom Line
  

   

  While controversies over eruvin erupt for several complicated reasons, the bottom line for real
  

   

  estate professionals -- and, in turn, home shoppers -- is that considerations must be made for all
  

   

  clients, regardless of creed, race or a laundry list of other protected classes under the Fair
  

   

  Housing Act.
  

   

  Even Friedman, who serves a large number of Orthodox Jewish home shoppers, says that she
  

   

  does not broach the topic unless the client makes the first move.
  

   

  Agents would do well to be even more stringent, says Palmisano, who is also a licensed broker.
  

   

  The rules can be so strict, in fact, that she says agents can get in trouble for even mentioning the
  

   

  terms "bachelor pad" or "family home," as those could be called out as an exclusion to other
  

   

  groups.
  

   

  The reality, though, from Friedman's perspective, is that the inclusion of an eruv is in the same
  

   

  category of convenience as proximity to a train station. It's just a matter of providing a service
  

   

  for one group of shoppers, without committing a disservice to others. "And if they ask if there are Jews who live in the building," she adds, "we just smile and say 'this
  

   

  is New York City' -- everything is reflected here."
  

   

  EDITOR'S NOTE: In response to some commenters' questions on the maintenance costs of
  

   

  eruvin, it is the responsibility of the particular Jewish community -- not taxpayers -- to finance
  

   

  the project.

   

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