Westhampton Beach, NY – An effort by officials of the Hampton Synagogue to explain to their Westhampton Beach neighbors why they want to erect an eruv, evoked catcalls, boos and a walkout by about a fifth of the crowd that filled every seat in the temple’s main hall.
The walkout was set off at the start of the meeting when temple officials read some of the anti-Semitic responses on the Web site of a local weekly paper that had printed an article about the proposal.
“We don’t need to hear this,” one man shouted. “Questions and answers only,” yelled a woman as she walked out.
It was the same setting where, 10 days earlier, Gov. David A. Patterson told a cheering crowd that the proposal was clearly a civil rights issue and that the state would be monitoring the situation.
Rabbi Marc Schneier estimated that about 95 percent of the Wednesday night crowd of about 700 was not affiliated with the synagogue. He had asked members not to attend to make room for other residents.
A fact sheet distributed to the crowd explained that an eruv is typically defined by an easy-to-see boundary marker. And if a utility line were designated, for instance, a connecting line would be required where gaps occur.
Westhampton Beach Mayor Conrad Teller attended the meeting, but did not take part in the debate. He has said residents have told him they fear an eruv would lead to the village’s becoming an Orthodox Jewish enclave.
The congregation requires village approval before it can set up an eruv. “Legally, we have no compelling reason to turn it down,” Teller said.
He said many of the questions from those in attendance — ranging from how much of the year the rabbi lives in the village, where else he owns a home, and how many members of the congregation are Orthodox Jews — missed the point, as did requests to hold a public referendum on the eruv.
At the meeting, several people asked, “Why do you need it now?”
Schneier said that, in its 18 years, the synagogue has grown large enough that many members live more than a few blocks away, and families with young children and elderly members in wheelchairs cannot go to Sabbath services unless they are pushed, an act permitted only inside the boundary of an eruv.
“It’s not that we are seeking the community’s approval,” Schneier said. “What we are seeking is the community’s understanding.”
http://www.newsday.com/news/printedition/longisland/ny-lieruv155802038aug15,0,3485080.story