Videos posted on social media show a chaotic scene as police try to keep the group away from a damaged synagogue wall that led to the passageway, with people yelling and some pushing wooden benches toward officers. Yellow caution tape was set up inside the synagogue Monday, and white cloths were draped in front of the damaged wall, which people used to “unlawfully enter” the building, police said.
Nine people between the ages of 19 and 22 face charges in the incident, including criminal mischief and reckless endangerment, according to police.
Seligson said the passageway was built by a “group of extremist students” not formally affiliated with the Chabad movement. The building has since been closed while it undergoes a structural safety review, he said.
“This is, obviously, deeply distressing to the Lubavitch movement and the Jewish community worldwide,” Seligson said. “We hope and pray to be able to expeditiously restore the sanctity and decorum of this holy place.”
Police have not provided details about when or why the tunnel was built. The clash illustrates a long-standing divide within the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, said Rabbi David Bashevkin, who hosts the “18Forty” podcast about the Jewish faith. The Chabad-Lubavitch movement is one of the fastest-growing Jewish organizations in the United States.
Menachem Mendel Schneerson, a movement leader considered by some to be the most influential rabbi in modern history, worked at the Brooklyn synagogue, located at 770 Eastern Parkway and known as “the 770.” His death in 1994 brought on a period of deep mourning for the movement, Bashevkin said. But it also led to disagreement over its future because there was no successor, he added.
While many in the Chabad movement are focused on Schneerson’s work to make Judaism more accessible, Bashevkin said a much smaller group tends to use disruptive tactics in an effort to expand the 770 building.
Those who support the expansion said the building has long been overcrowded, according to the Associated Press, which reported that some in the community felt that plans to create additional space were taking too long.
Seligson told The Washington Post that the national Chabad movement became aware of the passageway’s existence over the past few weeks after local reports surfaced online. When repairs were attempted Monday, “extremists” broke into the synagogue, “vandalizing the sanctuary, in an effort to preserve their unauthorized access,” Seligson’s statement said.
An official with New York City’s buildings department told the AP that as of Tuesday evening, the inspection results on the synagogue were still pending.
Rabbi Yehuda Krinsky, chairman of the Chabad-Lubavitch headquarters, said in a statement Monday that although the movement’s community was pained by the damage to the building, it has also been moved by an outpouring of support.
“The sanctity of the synagogue will be restored,” Krinsky said.
