The growing observant Jewish community in Rutherford, New Jersey has taken a giant step forward in the amenities it offers to prospective families; it has recently fully restored and expanded its eruv

Congregation Beth El of Rutherford is led by Rabbi Yitzchok Lerman, who received semicha from Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau, the former Chief Rabbi of Israel. He has over a decade of experience of religious school teaching and is an instructor at the Rabbinical College of America in Morristown. He is also an officer and chaplain in the United States Air Force reserves.

Rabbi Lerman and his wife, Bina, are the directors of Chabad of the Meadowlands. The rebbetzin, formerly of Melbourne, Australia, has a teaching degree from the State of Israel. She is the director of the Hebrew school based in Congregation Beth El and teaches at the Cheder Middle School in Morristown.

As Rabbi Lerman told The Jewish Link, his predecessor at Congregation Beth El, Rabbi Nosson Schuman, initially established an eruv in Rutherford. According to a news report in July 2010, the eruv covered a half-mile area and was greeted with a proclamation by then-mayor of Rutherford, John Hipp. Yet, as Rabbi Lerman shared, in the years that followed the eruv fell into disrepair, due to heavy construction on Route 3.

Rabbi Lerman got to work on restoring and enlarging the eruv, and in January it was completed. The new eruv covers all of Rutherford and, notably, also encompasses the Homewood Suites Hotel on Route 17, which enables visitors to walk from the hotel to the shul on Shabbat. The rabbi hopes to enlarge the eruv further, so it will connect to the eruv of Passaic.

Rabbi Lerman noted that the new eruv makes the community more attractive to young couples and families who may consider moving to Rutherford. Other amenities offered by Congregation Beth El include a regular Shabbat morning minyan, two adult education classes each week, and a Sunday morning minyan once a month. Chabad of the Meadowlands offers a teen program and activities at MetLife Stadium.

For more information on Congregation Beth El and Jewish life in Rutherford, please see their website at https://jewishrutherford.org/about/

Harry Glazer is the Middlesex County Editor of The Jewish Link. Occasionally, he writes about Rutherford. He can be reached at [email protected]