NEW YORK (NewsNation) — Chaos erupted inside a New York City synagogue Monday after a group of students tried to prevent crews from filling a secret tunnel that was illegally dug.
Ten people were arrested after the New York Police Department was called to suppress the uprising at the Chabad-Lubavitch World Headquarters in Brooklyn, according to community news outlet CrownHeights.Info.
According to Jewish publication Forward, several Chabad students, most in their teens and early 20s, mounted a last stand against construction crews called to fill in the tunnel connecting the synagogue at that location.
Videos circulating 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.
Video also shows several men being led out of the building by police officers.
Rabbi Motti Seligson, the media director of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, wrote in a post on X, “Some time ago, a group of extremist students” broke through walls in adjacent properties to the synagogue in order to have “unauthorized access.”
He added: Chabad-Lubavitch officials “have 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.”
Rabbi Yehuda Krinsky, chairman of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, issued a statement thanking the NYPD for their “professionalism and sensitivity.”
“These odious actions will be investigated, and the sanctity of the synagogue will be restored,” he said.
The purpose of the tunnel is unclear. Forward reports it was designed to reach an abandoned women’s mikvah, a Jewish ritual cleansing bath. 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.
The dispute is believed to stem from a decades-long schism within the Chabad which pitches the Chabad-Lubavitch movement against the synagogue leadership. The two sides disagree over who legally owns the 100-year-old house which also serves as the World Headquarters of the Chabad-Lubavitch.
