A Kosher Beach That's Not for the Birds
By Rachael Myrow
November 4, 2006
Orthodox Jews in California's Venice Beach have found a 3,000-year-old loophole to a Jewish law that prohibits them from enjoying the beach on the Sabbath. But as Rachael Myrow of member station KPCC reports, environmentalists are concerned their solution might be dangerous for local birds. Listen to the NPR broadcast here.
(Note an eruv is not a loophole at all. Most proscriptions against carrying on the Shabbos are me’d’rabban and are not min haTorah. The same legal framework established by Chazal that prohibits carrying also includes a provision that allows for carrying if an eruv is established. Additionally, Ms. Marcia Hanscom’s (Sierra Club) claim that, “It's a privatizing of our public land for one segment of the community. And there are a lot of people who think that's inappropriate,” has never been supported in any court. On the contrary, as Mr. Zev Yaroslavsky (L.A. County Supervisor) stated, “To them, this is an important thing. To the rest of us, it's a piece of nylon wire. So why make a big deal out of it.” I will add that Ms. Hanscom’s declaration that, “We're even trying to get the power lines taken down near here,” shows the type of unreasonable people they are dealing with.)
