‘Game-changing’ Leeds eruv gets council go-ahead

Leaders of the project to establish an eruv in North Leeds believe it could be up and running early next year following the granting of full planning permission from the city council.

The religious boundary — heralded as a “game-changer” for the community’s future — has been designed to cover the vast majority of the Leeds Jewish population.

Project chair Jonathan Straight said he had been working on the idea for more than a decade and had been fortunate to gain the support of the late Dayan Yehuda Refson.

“There was a perception that he would not agree to an eruv. But he had taught me in my youth at the Shomrei Hadass cheder and I was able to have a meaningful discussion with him. He was actually positive about an eruv but adamant that it would be designed to the highest halachic standard.”