Mazel! Austin's Jewish 'Hood Becomes Official !! (Houston, Dallas: homes, neighborhood, living in)

[ImOnFiya]

The city of Austin gives official OK to transform Northwest Hills area into neighborhood-sabbath area for observant Jews.


City to establish Jewish eruv area

Permits traditional Jews to follow Sabbath laws

by Pamela Cosel

AUSTIN (KXAN) - Austin will soon follow behind Dallas , Houston and San Antonio after City Council on Thursday approved a resolution to move forward with the establishment of a Jewish "eruv."

The approval honors the request of the Jewish community and its religiously observant members who want to observe Sabbath traditions while living in a modern environment.

In the area, there already is the huge Dell (Jewish) Community Center and the kosher HEB, I have never seen an eruv area before and I believe the markers and the activities will be really be spiritual and educational. I think this is going to be really cool. You know local realtors will want to give the area some sort of catchy moniker to sell homes.

What do you think of the eruv? Do you think the area should be renamed to reflect the changes? What sort of name should be given?

[TexasHorseLady]

What do the non-Jewish members of the community who live within those boundaries think of it? Will it impact them in any way? What does the City of Austin (a governmental body) have to do with it?

[Visceral]

Not a fan of any kind of recognition on that level of any religion. Seems not so good for people not of that faith and just drives home the perceived "exclusivity" of their faith. Can you imagine the uproar over a Christian or Muslim area being set aside for such things? No sir, not a fan.

[catholicdad]

Sounds good to me. Where are the complaints when mega-churches disrupt traffic and put up their tacky billboards? Somehow that is ignored under "freedom of religion".

I view this as a test for Austin: can Austin do a better job than San Francisco of truly embracing diversity? In San Francisco, "embracing diversity" just means favoring hippies and gays. If Austin passes this test, then the next level will be mosques with megaphones for outdoor prayers. Can Austin beat Dearborn? I'll have more respect for this mediocre town if it passes both.

[Austin97]

Originally Posted by ImOnFiya

The city of Austin gives official OK to transform Northwest Hills area into neighborhood-sabbath area for observant Jews.


City to establish Jewish eruv area

Permits traditional Jews to follow Sabbath laws

by Pamela Cosel



In the area, there already is the huge Dell (Jewish) Community Center and the kosher HEB, I have never seen an eruv area before and I believe the markers and the activities will be really be spiritual and educational. I think this is going to be really cool. You know local realtors will want to give the area some sort of catchy moniker to sell homes.

What do you think of the eruv? Do you think the area should be renamed to reflect the changes? What sort of name should be given?

They can do whatever they want, but the city should have no part in it except for the permits to modify city owned property such as electrical poles.

[ognend]

Originally Posted by ImOnFiya

The city of Austin gives official OK to transform Northwest Hills area into neighborhood-sabbath area for observant Jews.


City to establish Jewish eruv area

Permits traditional Jews to follow Sabbath laws

by Pamela Cosel



In the area, there already is the huge Dell (Jewish) Community Center and the kosher HEB, I have never seen an eruv area before and I believe the markers and the activities will be really be spiritual and educational. I think this is going to be really cool. You know local realtors will want to give the area some sort of catchy moniker to sell homes.

What do you think of the eruv? Do you think the area should be renamed to reflect the changes? What sort of name should be given?

Interesting. Curious, what is the percentage of Austin population that is Jewish?
OD

[FueledByBlueBell]

Uh, hate it only because we are looking at that exact area and this will only drive up prices and demand even further which is just what we need in Austin right now (sense the irony). Great timing...

[Trainwreck20]

What do the non-Jewish members of the community who live within those boundaries think of it? Will it impact them in any way? What does the City of Austin (a governmental body) have to do with it?

It sounds like the city is agreeing to allow some utility poles to be modified, and will do the actual work, but the cost will be paid for in private monies. The city has to approve and construct the changes, so they do have to be involved at that level. Honestly, I have never heard of this, but hey, if it makes someone feel better, have at it .

I can't imagine it will affect any non-Jewish people in that area unless they are somehow discomfited by more Jews walking around on the weekend .

Do you think the area should be renamed to reflect the changes? What sort of name should be given?

No, it should not be officially renamed. The community, of course, can call it whatever they want.

then the next level will be mosques with megaphones

Nothing against mosques, but I would suspect existing laws (noise) would cover that issue and they would already be allowed where they could meet the noise levels. The FW proposal has no effect on anyone (physically) and does not require any changes to laws, megaphones that exceed noise limits could affect a large number of people if they did not meet current requirements.

[ScoPro]

Good thing to do.

The godless have 6th Street, so why not an eruv in the nice part of town?

[gpurcell]

Unless its pointed out to you, the boundary markers of the eruv will be essentially undetectable.