Nine individuals from a Hasidic Jewish community in New York faced arrest and charges related to a concealed tunnel connected to a historic synagogue. A tense confrontation ensued when
city officials, alongside leaders from the Chabad-Lubavitch headquarters, sought to shut down the tunnel.
The charges against the men include criminal mischief, reckless endangerment, and obstructing governmental administration. A Chabad spokesperson labeled the group as "extremist students."
These hidden passageways were constructed beneath a prominent street in Brooklyn, housing the Chabad-Lubavitch headquarters, a significant Jewish site in the city. Emergency structural inspections were urgently requested following concerns that the illegal tunnel could potentially damage the renowned property.
A physical altercation erupted as law enforcement encountered a group of young men obstructing efforts to inspect and seal the tunnel with cement. Some individuals breached the wall of the prayer space, leading to the arrests.
Rabbi Yehuda Krinsky, the Chabad chairman, expressed gratitude to the police while lamenting the "vandalism" caused by a faction of agitators. He assured that inquiries into these "odious actions" would take place to reinstate the synagogue's sanctity.
The tunnel's origins, construction methods, and underlying motivations remain unclear. It is evident that the tunnel appears to link to at least one other building on the Brooklyn street.
Speculation suggests that the men aimed to expedite the synagogue's expansion by constructing the tunnel. Complaints about overcrowding at the Chabad building in recent years have also surfaced among members attending services and functions.
Video footage and images from the incident depicted a small group, predominantly young men, attempting to hinder the tunnel's closure with cement. Some were witnessed removing wood panels from sanctuary walls and using benches to impede the authorities. One video revealed officers intervening to diffuse a growing confrontation.
The building, once the residence of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, a revered figure in the Orthodox Jewish movement, serves as the Chabad-Lubavitch headquarters. Although Rabbi Schneerson passed away in 1994, his legacy endures at the center, renowned for revitalizing the Hasidic religious community post-Holocaust.
The conflict surrounding the tunnel at 770 Eastern Parkway this month seemingly extends from divisions within the Chabad-Lubavitcher movement. A fringe faction within the Chabad, staunch in their belief of Rabbi Schneerson as the Jewish Messiah—an idea rejected by the mainstream movement—contributed to the tunnel dispute.
The building remains closed as ongoing inspections and assessments of the tunnels persist. Photo by William Hoiles from Basking Ridge, NJ, USA, Wikimedia commons.