Slim plastic pipes affixed to a utility pole in Mahwah are part of an eruv, a symbolic boundary that allows Orthodox Jews to perform tasks outside their homes that usually are prohibited on the Sabbath.
MAHWAH – Damage to the local eruv sent workers scrambling to repair the Jewish boundary before sundown Friday, though how the destruction occurred remained a mystery.
The New York-based group uses PVC to mark the eruv, which creates a boundary that allows Orthodox Jews to push and carry objects outside their homes – tasks otherwise forbidden on the Sabbath, which starts at sundown on Fridays.
Since July, there have been multiple reports of damage to the eruv, which travels across the New York state line into Mahwah and Upper Saddle River.