Rav and author on the Rebbe's position concerning eruvin
Rabbi Shmuel Zajac on the Rebbe's Position and Eruvin in Large Cities
Rabbi Shmuel Zajac assembles the Rebbe's letters and talks and records accounts he received concerning the Rebbe's approach to eruvin in large cities.
Reading the Rebbe's sources together
Rabbi Zajac brings together the Rebbe's Manhattan correspondence, the Melbourne responses, the sicha of Yud-Beis Tammuz 5745, the Yagdil Torah packet, and testimony from senior Chabad figures. His argument is built from the practical direction common to those sources.
The recurring concern is public reliance. Even when a route is constructed privately and quietly, announcing it can lead people to carry without knowing its conditions, its disputed status, or whether it remains intact.
The Miami exchange
Rabbi Zajac relates that Rabbi Shmuel Tuvia Stern told the Rebbe he had made an eruv in Miami. The Rebbe responded by asking whether Miami had shishim ribo.
Rabbi Zajac treats the exchange as further evidence that the population and large-city status could not be bypassed. The complete farbrengen recording is available, although the brief exchange has not yet been isolated to a reliable timestamp.
Rabbi Zajac's complete study
The full Hebrew study presents his source collection and argument in detail. It is especially useful for seeing how the Rebbe's letters, talks, and later Chabad testimony were understood within the community.
For Crown Heights, these materials accompany the direct local psak. The neighborhood Rabbonim prohibited carrying and treated the publicized eruv as nonexistent.