Slim plastic pipes affixed to a utility pole in Mahwah are part of a new eruv, a symbolic boundary that allows Orthodox Jews to perform tasks outside their homes that usually are prohibited on the Sabbath.
An eruv is basically a loophole in the Jewish faith that was contrived by liberal rabbinical interpretation that by attaching PVC pipes to public utility poles, it creates an imaginary boundary allowing Orthodox Jews to do all of the tasks that they do every day of the week excluding the Sabbath, to be able to do them on the Sabbath.
The surrounding non-Orthodox area in Monroe does not have the same economic issues like in Kiryas Joel, but please keep in mind that according to reports, no one in Kiryas Joel goes hungry and without shelter.
The Woodbury Junction development represents roughly 382 acres of land and is part of a larger territory of 507 acres that Kiryas Joel has been trying to annex since 2013.As one can imagine, homeowners in the surrounding area of Kiryas Joel have been fighting its land expansion efforts as they feel that it is not in their best interests.