A group of "rogue" Orthodox Jews erected the secret underground tunnel connected to a historic Brooklyn synagogue in New York City in an attempt to send a message to "geezers" in their sect that they required more rooms to pray, NY Post reported.
A historic Brooklyn synagogue that serves as the powerful Hasidic Jewish movement was thrashed this week, leading to a brawl between worshippers and police after the discovery of tunnel.
One of the excavators on the condition of anonymity told The Post that at least 50 other like-minded Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic movement members took to shoveling as a bold statement to their community's elders "to get off their tuchuses" and widen the sanctuary at their Crown Heights headquarters.
“We were sick and tired of being stuck in a cramped synagogue that could take 15 minutes to leave during the high holiday services,” said the 30-year-old member, whose family has been offering prayers at the religious site in Eastern Parkway for generations.
“The point was to start an initiative on our own and then we put the old geezers in a spot where they . . . can take the initiative and go ahead” to finish the expansion, he added.
{{/usCountry}}“The point was to start an initiative on our own and then we put the old geezers in a spot where they . . . can take the initiative and go ahead” to finish the expansion, he added.
{{/usCountry}}The Chabad group started excavating tunnel as early as 2020, believing that the late Lubavitcher Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson wanted to expand the synagogue.
“The thing was way overdue,” he asserted, insisting that “90% of Chabad agrees expansion [of the synagogue] needs to happen, and quickly.”
The group received donations for tools and other supplies, such as support beams, and Hasidic professional contractors were called in to make sure the excavation "was done safely," according to the digger.
Over the course of three and a half years, the Talmudic tunnelers succeeded in hollowing out forty feet. However, in November, the group hired migrants who spoke Spanish to "finish the job," he said.
He acknowledged that the migrants worked harder and more frequently than the Chabad men, but they also produced more noise, which eventually alerted the neighbours and synagogue leaders.
Also Read: Brooklyn synagogue: Orthodox Jewish students hired 'Mexicans' to dig secret tunnel ‘Shawshank’ style
Brooklyn synagogue tunneler's claims bashed by Chabad spokesperson
Rabbi Motti Seligson, a Chabad spokesperson, slammed the 30-year-old member’s claim that he and other diggers were part of a “movement” in Chabad. He called their attempt to associate their underground ‘illegal’ activity with the desires of the Rebbe “an abomination.”
“This is a small group of rogue, and frankly, unwell youths who in their delusion demolished a potentially load-bearing wall, desecrated a synagogue and caused an enormous amount of pain and damage,” he said.
Brooklyn synagogue tunnel was constructed without permits
The 60 feet long illegal tunnel -- dug under the Chabad-Lubavitch headquarters at 770 Eastern Parkway in Crown Heights -- was inadequately fortified and jeopardised structural integrity of two buildings, NY Times reported.
According to New City building inspectors, the tunnel was constructed without approval or permits.
On Monday, the Jewish youth staged a protest when the leader of the group tried to seal it off. The protest gradually escalated as police moved in to make arrests. The officials stated that young men in the community recently built the passage to the sanctuary in secret.
The Chabad-Lubavitch headquarters is a highly respected Jewish facility that welcomes thousands of visitors annually, including religious leaders and international students.
However, police barricades kept the synagogue closed on Tuesday while building safety inspectors examined whether the illegal tunnel may have caused structural damage to the renowned site.