Young followers of a Jewish Hasidic group in Brooklyn took it upon themselves to expand their synagogue, sparking conspiracy theories when their secret operation was shut down by their own leaders, community members claimed.
News of the discovery of a tunnel in New York City on Monday and the arrest of young men who tried to stop its destruction sparked countless theories about the purpose of the tunnels, but members of the Chabad group claimed Tuesday that the real one History is not what most people assumed.
Followers of the late Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, seen by many in the group as the Messiah, told they believe they will be granted salvation if they fulfill his command to leave their holiest site – his former home – on 770 Eastern Parkway to expand Brooklyn Heights.
Frustrated by what they saw as the synagogue's leadership's unwillingness to comply with the order, young Chabad members independently began tearing down walls around the synagogue, which is located in a basement and already includes two buildings , to connect with a third building next door. Chabad leaders are fighting over control of the building, which is currently vacant but served as a bathhouse more than 30 years ago.
But the unauthorized project was discovered in December after neighbors reportedly complained, and synagogue leaders themselves moved to shut it down. When workers showed up to fill the room, some young Hasidic men refused them entry. A video showed them using hammers to break through the wall of a sanctuary.
Young followers of a Jewish Hasidic group in Brooklyn have taken it upon themselves to expand their synagogue, community members told
Followers of the late Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, seen by many in the group as the Messiah, told they believe they will be granted salvation if they fulfill his mission to visit their holiest site – his former home expand
On Monday, members of the synagogue tore out wooden panels inside to reveal the entrance to the tunnel and enter to prevent the tunnels from being filled
At that point, synagogue leaders themselves called the NYPD, resulting in viral images as the young men attempted to defend the expansion.
A tour guide at Chabad headquarters, who asked to be identified only as Baruch, told that most of the group agreed that the synagogue needed to be expanded but felt the boys were “going the wrong way.” “would have struck.
“Thousands of people come here every year. It's impossible to fit everyone in, especially during the holidays – we're talking five to 10,000 people squeezing in here. I was here. It's painful stuff. I'm just sweating. It's very, very difficult.
The rabbi himself has said that it needs to be extended. Now there are ifs and things that prevent expansion, the different policies and different things that prevent expansion. But all of the rabbi's followers want it expanded. The question is how? When will it happen?
“Everyone knows that the expansion will ultimately go in this direction, all the way to Union.”
While it is well known that Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson issued the expansion doctrine, and online videos show hopes being placed on the expansion, on Tuesday Chabad leaders acknowledged no ambitions to expand the sanctuary and blamed the young men , extremists to be vandals.
Zalmy Grossman, one of the Chabad members, agreed with Baruch and was even upset when he witnessed Chabad media director Motti Seligson deny that the group was seeking an expansion of 770 because, as he explained, that was one of its core beliefs.
“There's a big hole in the ground that we can use to connect the two buildings from both sides, and it becomes a big, huge place, the whole underground – to connect them together, to get bigger, bigger, bigger” said Grossman 770 ago.
The synagogue in question is known as 770 because of its address at 770 Eastern Parkway in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn. It is the world headquarters of the Chabad-Lubavitch sect
Seligson had previously issued a statement denouncing the young men he described as a minority in the synagogue.
“Students broke through some walls in adjacent properties to the synagogue to gain unauthorized entry,” Seligson posted on X.
“A concrete truck was brought in to repair these walls. “These efforts were interrupted by the extremists, who broke through the synagogue wall and destroyed the sanctuary to prevent their unauthorized access.”
A dozen young men, all Chabad students, were arrested on Monday but released shortly afterwards. According to the NYPD, three people received citations and six were charged with mischief and reckless endangerment.
A parishioner who disagreed with the boys' actions told the Daily News that while they believed in the expansion of the sanctuary, they did not believe in the manner in which it was done.
'[Rabbi Schneerson] “During my lifetime, I expressed the desire that this synagogue, which is running out of space, should undergo an expansion – but a legal and orderly expansion under the leadership of Chabad,” said Berel Bendet.
Chabad leaders rejected plans to expand the sanctuary and accused the young men of being extremists and vandals.
The synagogue is closed until inspectors determine its structural safety
“There is a possibility that they misunderstood this as a call for them to pick up the shovel, if you will.”
Chabad Chairman Rabbi Yehuda Krinsky said in a statement: “The Chabad-Lubavitch community is pained by the vandalism of a group of young agitators who damaged the synagogue.”
“These heinous acts will be investigated and the sanctity of the synagogue will be restored.” Our thanks go to the NYPD for their professionalism and sensitivity.”
The synagogue is closed until inspectors determine its structural safety.
The building at 770 Eastern Parkway was once the home of the movement's leader, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, and attracts thousands of visitors each year. Its neo-Gothic facade is instantly recognizable to followers of the Chabad movement, and replicas of the revered building have been built around the world.
Schneerson led Chabad-Lubavitch for more than four decades before his death in 1994, revitalizing a Hasidic religious community that had been devastated by the Holocaust.
The headquarters was also the epicenter of the Crown Heights riots in 1991, which began after a seven-year-old boy was struck and killed by a car in the rabbi's motorcade.