A chaotic scene unfolded at a historic Brooklyn synagogue as rogue members armed with shovels dug a secret tunnel to push for the expansion of the sanctuary, leading to arrests.
A handful of disobedient members of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, an Orthodox Jewish Hasidic dynasty, started digging the tunnel under its world headquarters, 770 Eastern Parkway, in Crown Heights, New York City, USA, during the pandemic.
Their questionable and unprofessional construction work came as a result of higher-ups dragging their feet on expanding the synagogue’s sanctuary, sources told The New York Post.
A chaotic scene unfolded at a historic Brooklyn synagogue as rogue members dug a secret tunnel
The sect wanted to grow their religious establishment by taking matters into their own hands and started with the creation of the roughly 3-foot-high, 20-foot-wide, 50-foot-long tunnel.
A source told The Post on Tuesday (January 9): “The crowd keeps getting larger. It’s packed on Shabbos and during the High Holidays, it’s unbearable.”
The determined members of the sect have been identified as “young rebels” in their teens and early 20s.
They had reportedly first gained entry through an abandoned Jewish men’s mikvah, a type of ritual bath, around the corner on Union Street.
The group subsequently broke through a roughly 2-by-2-foot metal gate in the former bath’s basement wall and tunneled their way under a sanctuary space reserved for women next door to the synagogue, The Post reported. The rebels went on to breach the synagogue’s massive main sanctuary.
The private pathway was discovered last month when neighbors reported suspicious noises underneath their homes, Israel National News said.
A handful of disobedient members of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement started digging the tunnel under 770 Eastern Parkway during the pandemic
A source further recalled to The Post: “For about a year, they were doing the digging out of the private mikvah.
“They were using very elementary tools — shovels and pickaxes, sledgehammers, stuff like that. No professional equipment. None of this was sanctioned by any authority.”
The bizarre tunnel was captured in video footage, which showed at least one beer can in it along with hanging electrical wire. Additionally, the now-viral clip showed a dirt-filled room in the abandoned bath, as well as clothes and other items scattered around it.
The group wanted to grow their religious establishment by taking matters into their own hands
More recordings and images documented the incident, which turned to chaos on Monday (January 8) as the rebels attempted to obstruct cement truck workers who had been hired by the synagogue’s authorities to reverse the diggers’ tunnel.
The individuals involved in the digging were subsequently captured dismantling wooden panels and support beams in a frantic attempt to access their tunnel for protection.
NYPD officers arrived at the turbulent scene at about 3:30 p.m. local time, taking a dozen men into custody.
“These individuals have been squatting in the synagogue and attempted to take control by demolishing walls to connect the basement to the adjacent building,” an official statement read
Rabbi Motti Seligson, spokesman for the Chabad-Lubavitch community, said: “Some time ago, a group of extremist students broke through a few walls in adjacent properties to the synagogue at 784-788 Eastern Parkway to provide them unauthorized access.
“A cement truck was brought in to repair those walls. Those efforts were disrupted by the extremists who broke through the wall to the synagogue, vandalizing the sanctuary, in an effort to preserve their unauthorized access.
“They have since been arrested, and the building closed pending a structural safety review.”
Another official statement from the religious headquarters added that “the group of young agitators” was primarily in the US on student visas.
It further stated: “These individuals have been squatting in the synagogue and attempted to take control by demolishing walls to connect the basement to the adjacent building, intending to expand the sanctuary.
“Steps are being taken to revoke their student visas and repatriate them to their countries of origin.”
The group broke through a roughly 2-by-2-foot metal gate and tunneled their way under a sanctuary space reserved for women
These so-called young extremists were charged with a variety of offenses, including criminal mischief, attempted hate crime, attempted criminal mischief, and reckless endangerment, the police informed the public.
Berel Bendet, 30, a congregation member who witnessed the mayhem, said: “They opened up a wall,” noting that the diggers caused “significant enough damage.”
After several hours, video clips circulating online showed officers taking the culprits out of the tunnel in handcuffs, as no injuries were reported.
Berel further recalled: “It is very sad. There are thousands of people who come here to pray every day. Thousands who come to learn, also.
“You would see hundreds of people right now going to pray, but they’re all standing out here in the rain because no one can go in today.”
Synagogue leader Rabbi Yosef Braun reportedly urged other members of the Jewish community “to call [the diggers] out in all possible ways and strong terms.”
The bizarre tunnel was captured in video footage, which showed at least one beer can in it along with hanging electrical wire
Rabbi Braun was reportedly horrified that they defaced the “shul,” or synagogue, saying that to “demolish and destroy a shul — never mind the dangerous aspect, never mind the religious aspect — it’s mind-boggling.” A shul is a house of worship in Judaism.
The distraught religious man further stated: “They need to be put in their place, put in their place in so many meanings of the word.”
As a result of the rebel’s carnage, a riot erupted amidst ongoing disputes over who legally owns the property, The Post reported.
Rabbi Seligson, the spokesman for the Chabad-Lubavitch community, noted that the movement has “attempted to gain proper control of the premises through the New York State court system.
“Unfortunately, despite consistently prevailing in court, the process has dragged on for years,’’ he said.
Chabad, also known as Lubavitch, Habad, and Chabad-Lubavitch, is one of the world’s best-known Hasidic movements, as well as one of the largest Hasidic groups and the largest Jewish religious organizations in the world.
“What if the building collapsed?” a reader worried
