Tuesday, April 04, 2006

Part 4a: The Permissibility of a Brooklyn Eruv According to Rav Moshe Feinstein zt”l

Continued from part III


Is Brooklyn Enclosed by Mechitzos?


Rav Moshe zt”l stated (Igros Moshe, O.C. 5:28:5) regarding Brooklyn’s mechitzos, “Until now they [the mechitzos] did not exist but that one can investigate” (see also ibid., Addendum to O.C. 4:89).

These are the facts:
That there are three mechitzos nowadays enclosing more than 95 percent of the Brooklyn waterfront, is obvious even to the most casual of observers (see Part 3: Why Brooklyn Is Not a Reshus HaRabbim). Therefore, according to Rav Moshe, Brooklyn is classified as a reshus hayachid and an eruv of tzuras hapesachim can be erected.

These mechitzos were evaluated by the following rabbanim to see whether they fulfilled Rav Moshe requirements:
Members of Rav Yechezkel Roth shlita’s Bais Din; see Emek HaTeshuvah (5:19) and Appendix 8.
Rav Shlomo Gross shlita, Belzer Dayan of Boro Park.
Rav Tuvia Goldstein zt”l sent a select group from his kollel Emek Halacha.

All were in agreement that these mechitzos exist and that they are valid mechitzos according to Rav Moshe zt"l.

The Bais Ephraim Revisited

  As I have written on numerous occasions the argument that the Bais Ephraim maintains that pirtzos esser [breaches of ten amos wide] is ...