In
the new kuntres on hilchos eruvin compiled and based on the shiruim
of Rav Moshe Heineman shlita (which was reviewed and revised by him),
there is the following story (p. 42):
Q
6. What did Rav Moshe say about the Baltimore eruv?
A:
Making an eruv was a local decision as we asked the Rosh Yeshiva first. When
Rav Moshe Feinstein was in Baltimore, we asked him if we can make an eruv in
Baltimore. After asking us some questions, he answered, “If you want to make an
eruv, then you can make an eruv.” I asked him, “Should we make an eruv?’ He
answered, “If you want to make an eruv, then you can make an eruv.” Then I
asked him, “Should we not make an eruv?” He answered, “If you want to make an
eruv, then you can make an eruv.” We didn’t know what that meant, so I asked
Rav Dovid Feinstein shlita. He told me that his father Rav Moshe doesn’t want
to get involved in eruvin because he has experience that if he says, “Make an
eruv” then a delegation will come to him saying, that having an eruv in a city
is a terrible kilkul. If he says, “Do not make an eruv,” then another
delegation will come to him saying, “Not making an eruv is a terrible kilkul.”
Therefore, Rav Moshe would just say you could make an eruv if you want to, but doesn’t
say you should. I asked Rav Dovid, “What does your father really hold?” He
answered, “My father holds if halachically you can make an eruv, you should
make an eruv because you can’t just push an entire chelek of Shulchan Aruch to
the side saying that hashkafos hatorah is not to have it.
In
the Eruv Manuel by Dr. Bert Miller, he has an identical story and provides
the following additional context (story 35, originally published in his
Orthodox telephone directory for Baltimore, The Good Book, 2007).
In
November 1975, my proposal (Dr. Miller’s) to build a city eruv in Baltimore was
being actively discussed in the city and was being considered by the Vaaad
HaRabbanim. Rav Moshe Feinstein had traveled to Baltimore to participate in a
family simcha. Rabbi Heinemann spoke to Rav Moshe at the simcha.
The
above story supports what I have argued many times; Rav Moshe zt”l did not
want to be involved in the matter of eruvin at all. In fact, Rav Moshe wrote
similarly in Igros Moshe (4:87) that he did not want to join the
rabbanim of Flatbush in the matter of eruvin, because there are many
opinions on the topic, as we see in the Shulchan Aruch (and
even when he did state his opinion, we see that he did not want to issue a p’sak
din barur). Furthermore, we see that Rav Moshe did not maintain, as some
would have us believe, that there are hashkafic reasons to oppose an eruv.
Rav Moshe’s arguments were strictly halachic and not hashkafic.
In
a similar vein, I would be remiss if I did not mention the following from Mesoras
Moshe (vol. 1, p.125) where they claim that Rav Moshe was once asked why he
carried (in a bungalow colony) and was not machmir like the Gra who did
not carry even in a chatzer. Rav Moshe answered that he did not believe
that the Gra maintained as such, for if one did not believe in the efficacy of
an eruv, he is similar to a Tsadoki. Rav Moshe then mentioned that his father
Rav Dovid zt”l suggested that the Gra carried objects in his hand, in a
house and in a chatzer that was encompassed with an eruv, but did
not carry items in his pocket. [In fact,
this answer of Rav Dovid is puzzling, as the source of the Gra’s chumrah
is the Sharei Rachamim (Hilchos Shabbos, ois 93), which
clearly states that the Gra did not carry objects even in his hand in a chatzer.]
