Question 1

When do you hold services? Are there weekday services? Are there high holiday services? Do I need a ticket?

Accepted Answer

The Fire Island Minyan is a seasonal congregation. Services are generally held during the warm weather months (approximately mid-May through mid-October) and weekend-only (Friday evening through Sunday morning) due to the availability of a Minyan on the island. There are generally no services following Sunday morning Shacharit until Friday evening Mincha. We do hold services for Shavuot, Rosh Hashana, and Sukkot. Yom Kippur and Simchat Torah are also possibilities depending on when they fall out in any given year. A schedule of services is published as we get closer to Rosh Hashana.
 
Service times are posted on the front page of the website and are subject to change. To stay fully up to date, please subscribe to the Fire Island Minyan newsletter.

Question 2

How do I get to Fire Island?

Accepted Answer

Ferry! Ferries depart from Maple Avenue in Bay Shore, NY. Ferries to Ocean Beach leave from one side of the street (99 Maple Ave) and to Seaview and Ocean Bay Park from the other side of the street (104 Maple Ave), so watch out for the signs. Check the schedules on FireIslandFerries.com. If you are not driving to Bay Shore, you can take the Long Island Railroad (LIRR) train to Bay Shore. From the Bay Shore train station, there are vans and/or taxis that will drive you to the ferry. Otherwise it’s a 1 mile walk. If you're taking the train from New York City, be sure to check the LIRR’s package deals which include train, van, and ferry.

Question 3

Where do I stay?

Accepted Answer

The Fire Island Minyan is not associated with any rental properties or hotels. That said, if you sign up for the Fire Island Minyan weekly newsletter, there may be ads for house rentals and/or shares by the room, including homes with a kosher kitchen. Otherwise, we recommend searching the typical home rental and hotel websites. While it may be tempting to Contact Us on this topic, this is the extent of information we have available to share.

Question 4

What do I eat?

Accepted Answer

There are no kosher restaurants and limited kosher food is available for sale on Fire Island (no kosher meat and a limited amount of kosher cheese). Most other products including wine, grape juice, Shabbat candles, challah and other kosher food can be bought at the Seaview Market. Please note that any items you purchase on Fire Island will be priced at the cost of their convenience (approximately 150% of Manhattan prices). Grocery delivery can also be coordinated through the Fire Island Ferries freight. Refer here for more information: https://fireislandferries.com/info/freight.

Question 5

Is there an Eruv?

Accepted Answer

What follows below is one man’s interpretation of various texts on the subject and is not intended to rule halachically or “pasken” on the matter. If you have further questions, please consult your local Rabbi.
 
Oceans & rivers (and bays, for that matter) are considered “walls” with respect to an “Eruv Chatzerot”. The Divrei Malkiel, Rabbi of Lomza, Poland, wrote in a letter to the rabbinate of Odessa, Russia in 1900 discussing their Eruv and supporting this view. It was common custom to rule the “ocean-as-a-wall” for many generations. His letter was published in Sefer Tikun Shabbos, and republished in his work, Divrei Malkiel. In 1907, Rabbi Yehoshua Siegel (a renowned posek who emigrated from Poland to the Lower East Side) published “Eruv V’Hotza’ah”, an analysis which also considered the water surrounding Manhattan to be more than sufficient as a border. Subsequent rabbanim found issues with the boundaries around Manhattan (evidently without addressing previous rulings from ~100 years before), and then created an explicit Eruv on part of the island.
 
How does this apply to us on Fire Island? Well, we obviously are completely surrounded by water (bridges aren’t an issue, as the water is still a boundary), so we fit the definition set by the sages so many years ago. On top of that, Fire island is (in its entirety) a “National Seashore”, and is essentially a National Park administered by the US Parks Service, making it (from the government’s standpoint) an overall “Reshut Ha’Yachid” (so carrying items on FI doesn’t include crossing a [macro] boundary, as one remains in the Park at all times). For the details on this, read here: http://www.nps.gov/fiis/parkmgmt/upload/LegislativeHistory.PDF.
 
Also of note, Rabbi Samuel Teitelbaum zt”l, grandfather of Fire Island Minyan founder Yitz Pastreich, came to visit Fire Island. Upon examining the island he noted that a man-made Eruv was not necessary.

Question 6

How do I sign up for the Fire Island Minyan newsletter?

Accepted Answer

Click here: Fire Island Minyan newsletter

Question 7

Fire Island Links

Accepted Answer

- FireIsland.com – Fire Island Travel Guide- Fire Island Getaways – Getaway ideas from Newsday.com- Fire Island Finder – Guide to Fire Island Towns and Villages- Fire Island Travel Guide – Wikitravel’s guide to Fire Island- National Parks Service – Fire Island National Seashore- Village of Ocean Beach – Official Village Website- The Fire Island News – Seasonal Newspaper- Weather Forecast – Fire Island Weather

Fire Island Minyan

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