Rabbinic Proclamations Concerning Eruvin in Brooklyn and Other Large Cities
When eruvin were again promoted in Brooklyn in 5739, the response came through a large-city proclamation, a direct signed ruling from Rav Moshe, and a broader public notice carrying seventy-three rabbinic names.
The Manhattan prohibition applied to every large city
The Kislev proclamation of the Union of Orthodox Rabbis begins from the Manhattan ruling and rejects the idea that it concerned Manhattan alone. Its wording applies the prohibition to New York and other large cities under the same halachic conditions.
Sixteen names are printed beneath it, including Rav Yaakov Kamenetsky, Rabbi Yaakov Kassin, Rabbi Yosef Harari-Raful, Rabbi Zalman Shimon Dworkin—identified as Av Beis Din of Lubavitch—and Rabbi Meir Greenberg. The surviving reproduction contains printed names rather than individual handwritten signatures, and is presented in that form.
Rav Moshe's direct ruling on Brooklyn
Rav Moshe's separate letter on Union of Orthodox Rabbis stationery is dated 17 Teves 5739 and bears his handwritten signature. It says that an eruv may not be established in Brooklyn because he regards the borough as a reshus harabim de'oraisa.
He specifically rejects reliance on the Boro Park project and warns against establishing an eruv in any Brooklyn neighborhood. This is not a later summary of his position; it is his practical ruling during the active Brooklyn campaign.
The notice with seventy-three rabbinic names
A later English notice headed ERUV-PLAN carried seventy-three typeset rabbinic names drawn from a wide range of New York communities. An additional panel extended the warning to New York and other American cities where the same halachic conditions existed.
The surviving image is a border-complete advertisement crop; it does not include the newspaper masthead, issue date, page number, or neighboring articles. It is reproduced as the public notice itself, without assigning it an exact issue that the available copy does not establish.
The Lubavitch connection
Rabbi Dworkin's printed inclusion places the mara d'asra of Crown Heights within the large-city proclamation. Rabbi Osdoba and Rabbi Segal later cite his position together with the leading poskim headed by Rav Moshe when ruling on Crown Heights.
The 5739 notices do not replace the neighborhood psak. They explain the large-city position that preceded it and the rabbinic setting in which Crown Heights had long refrained from carrying.