Discussions in Judaism usually happen between Reformists and Orthodox, but these days in Buenos Aires there was an internal dispute within the Orthodox community over the installation of an eruv in Buenos Aires and it involves influential actors, who even reached President Javier Milei.
What is an eruv? It is a kind of “symbolic fence”, demarcated by a cable, that surrounds an area in Jewish communities. During Shabbat – a holy day of rest – there are strict rules that prohibit carrying things outside the house, even carrying keys or pushing a stroller. The eruv turns a public area into a “giant community yard”, allowing things to be loaded within that area. The eruv is installed with cables strung between posts, existing fences or building walls that form a symbolically closed perimeter. It must be constantly checked because if a cable is cut, it is no longer valid.
Not all Orthodox groups accept the eruv, but there are some in large cities such as New York, Tel Aviv, Miami or London. Some consider the laws of Shabbat to be very strict and difficult to comply with in a metropolis, which explains the controversies even within the Orthodox world. This is why the eruv returns to kosher friendly cities.
Discussion. In Buenos Aires there were announcements and communications after the creation of the eruv that contains the neighborhoods of Once, Villa Crespo, Recoleta, Barrio Norte and Palermo. One of the promoters of installing the eruv was the great rabbi Isaac Sacca of the Sephardic community, who from his official account on X congratulated the teams that worked on the project and even issued a statement with the news.
But, as the months went by, the issue became controversial because not all the rabbis of Buenos Aires agreed with the idea of installing an eruv. Thus, on May 6, a group of rabbis, including Tzvi Grunblatt, the main representative in Argentina of Chabad Luvabitch, the branch of Judaism practiced by President Milei, signed a statement in which they declared the Buenos Aires eruv invalid. That is, the eruv is installed, but it is not clear whether it can be used or not.
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