Wild scenes broke out on Monday at a synagogue in Brooklyn after construction workers arrived to fill in a tunnel illegally dug into the earth – and young Orthodox Jewish men climbed into the path to block its closure.
Ten people were arrested, local media reported, when the New York Police Department was called to quell the uprising, with video cameras rolling to capture the chaos as cops clashed with the community.
The rabbi who runs the synagogue, Yosef Braun, said the actions of the young men were ‘horrid’ and a disgrace to the holy site.
The dispute is believed to stem from a decades-long schism within the Chabad – one of the largest groups of Hasidic Jews in the world – which pitches the Chabad-Lubavitch movement against the synagogue leadership.
The two sides disagree over who legally owns the hundred-year-old house and serves as the World Headquarters of the Chabad-Lubavitch.
Members of Chabad-Lubavitch have been digging tunnels under the synagogue at 770 Eastern Parkway, in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn, for many months.
The purpose of the tunnel is unclear: the website forward.com , reported it was designed to reach an abandoned women’s mikvah, or ritual baths. The website said the tunnel had been dug to ‘expand’ the synagogue, although it was unclear how it would do so.
The tunnels were discovered in December, and the synagogue’s leaders called in structural engineers to assess the damage.
On Monday, cement mixers arrived to fill the tunnels in, and the young Orthodox men reacted with fury – many of them ripping away the wooden walls hiding the entrance to the secret tunnels, and running into them to prevent them being filled.
Video shared on social media showed dozens of NYPD officers attending the site, and trying to push the irate young men back from the entrance to the tunnel.
Videos that have gone viral on social media show them ripping down wood paneling on a wall in the synagogue, with several men seen sitting or standing in the space behind it in an apparent attempt to stop the tunnel from being sealed off with cement. Other clips show them turning over wooden furniture in the building and clashing with officers.
Some of the men attempt to charge back through the tunnels, as a large crowd jeers the police.
Outside the synagogue, NYPD officers held the men back.
One man challenges the NYPD officer, who replies: ‘We don’t do that in America.’
Hasidic news site COL Live reported many of the young men were from Israel.
After several hours, NYPD officers were seen bringing handcuffed men out from the tunnels. Videos also showed at least one community members using the tunnels to reach the sidewalk outside the building.
A NYPD spokesman said “On Monday, January 8, 2024, at approximately 1530 hours, police responded to 911 calls of a disorderly group outside of 770 Eastern Parkway, within the confines of the 71 Precinct.
‘Upon arrival, officers were informed that a group of individuals unlawfully entered 770 Eastern Parkway by damaging a wall.
‘At this time, it is known that a number of individuals were taken into custody. Charges are pending.
‘No injuries were reported as a result of this incident.’
Braun, the rabbi of the synagogue, condemned the young men.
He said they arrived at the site ‘ready to destroy and deface the Holy Walls,’ and urged other members of his community ‘to call them out in all possible ways and strong terms.’
Braun said he was horrified they vandalized the ‘shul’, or synagogue.
He said to ‘demolish and destroy a Shul – never mind the dangerous aspect, never mind the religious aspect – it’s mind-boggling.’
Braun said the actions of the young men was ‘painful’ for his community.
‘They need to be put in their place, put in their place, in so many meanings of the word,’ he concluded.
Peoplesmind
