Carrying in Crown Heights Is Prohibited
Carrying through the streets of Crown Heights is forbidden on Shabbos and Yom Kippur. The publicized eruv may not be relied upon, whether the object is a stroller, key, siddur, food, or something small carried only a short distance.
The practical psak
Carrying in the neighborhood streets is “absolutely forbidden,” in the wording signed by Rabbi Aharon Yaakov Schwei and Rabbi Yosef Yeshaya Braun. The same ruling treats the eruv presented for Crown Heights as nonexistent and leaves no basis for residents or visitors to carry on its strength (2 Iyar 5776).
Rabbi Avrohom Osdoba and Rabbi Shlomo Yehuda Halevi Segal prohibited both transferring an object from one domain to another and carrying through a reshus harabim anywhere within Crown Heights. Their joint ruling applies on Shabbos and Yom Kippur and states that no valid eruv exists within the neighborhood's boundaries (Sivan 5776).
These were not instructions for separate congregations or private groups. They addressed public carrying in the streets of the neighborhood and the eruv being presented for communal use.
The prohibition applies to ordinary objects
A stroller, key, siddur, tallis, bag, food container, handkerchief, or child's item may not be carried through the neighborhood on the strength of the publicized eruv. The purpose or value of the object does not by itself permit hotza'ah.
The melacha includes bringing an object from a building into the street, taking it from the street inside, and carrying four amos within a reshus harabim. A short walk or an object forgotten in a pocket remains part of the same practical prohibition.
The instruction was repeated
The local instruction did not change when the eruv continued to be publicized. Rabbi Osdoba and Rabbi Braun again prohibited carrying before Sukkos 5782 and addressed the proposed exterior-wall enclosure in 5783. Their ruling was that it made “no change whatsoever” to the earlier psak.
The notice issued before Yom Kippur 5786 again told residents and guests that carrying was forbidden. The sequence of rulings leaves one practical standard for Crown Heights: prepare for Shabbos and Yom Kippur without relying on an eruv.