LIRR repairs eruv for Jewish community

Members of an Orthodox Jewish community in Great Neck thanked the Long Island Rail Road on Friday for acting swiftly to repair and restore an eruv -- a symbolic boundary marker -- in time for them to enjoy the Sabbath.

An eruv is a ritual boundary in which Orthodox Jews are permitted activities they normally would not perform on their Sabbath, such as carrying keys and pushing baby strollers. It can be comprised of existing structures and wires strung up on utility poles.

Rabbi Eitan Rubin of the Great Neck Synagogue said, during a routine inspection of the eruv on July 7, he noticed the eruv had become "breached" along the LIRR's right of way near East Shore Road and Colonial Road. A damaged fence and some downed wires both contributed to the problem, Rubin said.

Community members were reluctant to try to resolve the problem because of dangers posed by the LIRR tracks.

So, while the eruv was broken, community members were unable to conduct several activities during the Sabbath last week, Rubin said. Hoping to fix the problem before a second Sabbath was affected, synagogue members reached out to the LIRR.

"It was an unusual request. And it really wasn't clear to us what needed to be done until we sent a crew out to scope it out," LIRR spokesman Sal Arena said. "We certainly wanted to put the community at ease."

The LIRR on Friday morning sent "high-tension specialists" from its engineering department to the scene. With input from Rubin, the workers erected a new wire across the LIRR tracks that closed the eruv.

"Not only were they incredibly respectful, but they were questioning the practice in a way to learn about it and what exactly needed to be done," Rubin said. "They took it very seriously."

Arena said, although rare, the LIRR has helped restore eruvs before. "We're happy to help," he said.