Text Size

Email Post

Print Post

Comments (11)

Save Article

Sacramento, CA - Marijke Melman stepped out of her Arden Arcade home Saturday to begin the three-block trek to the synagogue with her two small children.

In the past, the walk could take up to an hour because her kids – Erez, 3, and Yosha, 1 1/2 – would get tired and need to rest. On this passed Sabbath, they arrived at the synagogue within 10 minutes.

The difference?

For the first time, Melman and other Orthodox Jews in the Sacramento area were allowed to push strollers outside on Sabbath.

"This is a really big deal for our community," said Melman. "People will be able to do more and still be observant."

This week, they are celebrating the creation of what is believed to be the first eruv in the region.

Since carrying a child or pushing a stroller in public is work, parents of toddlers and infants – usually the mother – have had to stay home with the kids during services.

That changes with the new eruv. They can now carry prayer shawls or push a stroller or a wheelchair on Sabbath as long as they stay within the boundaries of the eruv.

"This is definitely a quality of life issue," said Rabbi Adir Posy, former interim rabbi of Kenesset Israel Torah Center, who spearheaded the project. "What's great about Sacramento is that it is an inclusive community," Posy said. "And a lot of people felt passionate about it."

The Sacramento eruv is a little more than six square miles. It is designated by easy-to-see but unobtrusive markers, often on utility polls.

"People are smiling from ear to ear," Rabbi Mendy Cohen of Chabad said Sunday. "Now, mothers and the elderly don't have to stay home and be isolated.

"People have wanted this for 20 years, and (Rabbi Posy) did it," Cohen said.

Eruvs have not been welcomed in all U.S. communities. An effort to have one in the Hamptons in New York has lead to complaints and allegations of anti-Semitism.

That has not happened in the Sacramento.

Kenesset Israel was one of three Sacramento synagogues firebombed by white supremacists in 1999. Jewish officials have worked with community leaders for years, this time with SMUD officials and local property owners. The owner of one local business said he was happy to help.

The $10,000 cost, which included paying for a New Jersey rabbi to inspect the eruv and make sure it met religious requirements, was paid for by the Jewish community.

For the first time Saturday, she carried papers to shul. "This is wonderful for the community, because we'll be seeing a lot more children at services."