Unraveling the Secret Tunnel Fiasco
A clandestine construction mission at Brooklyn’s Chabad Lubavitch World Headquarters led to a clash with law enforcement. The New York Police Department (NYPD) found four rabbinical students entrenched inside a tunnel that they had secretly dug. Declining to leave the tunnel, the students supposedly aimed to establish a passageway to a vacant building some 55 feet away.
Arrests and Charges
On arriving at the scene, officers found Dov Bear Shenhav, Shmuel Malka, Blumenfeld Yerachmiel, and Henachem Mulakando entrenched in the hole they created in the orthodoxy headquarters’ wall. Despite being ordered by the officials to exit, the students chose defiance. Ultimately, they were taken into custody and charged with obstructing government administration.
Yerachmiel and Muakando attracted additional charges for criminal mischief. The charges followed after secuirty footage revealed them dismantling wooden panels and breaking a concrete wall with a crowbar.
Moreover, a fifth individual, Levi Ytz Lahav was also charged with obstructing governmental administration. He was allegedly caught pulling a friend away from authorities as they carried out arrests.
The Underlying Motive
The students justified their actions as an attempt to expand the house of worship, in accordance with a directive from Lubavitch Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneerson in 1972. Chabad members highly revere Schneerson, considering him a messiah.
The disruptive activity began when the students initiated their effort to prevent the sealing of the tunnel they dug secretly. Chabad administrators had discovered the illicit tunnel and planned to seal it with cement. In an attempt to halt the sealing, the students began damaging the sanctuary wall.
Aftermath of the Tumultuous Incident
The incident resulted in dozen students’ detention as they tried to prevent the tunnel from being sealed. All detainees lived either at the Chabad headquarters or Eastern Parkway dormitories.
Five of the accused were later released without bail following their arraignment at Brooklyn Criminal Court. The remaining students were released on desk appearance tickets after charging for attempted criminal mischief and reckless endangerment.
Chabad leaders showed their disapproval by referring to the students as “messianic student extremists” and expressed their anguish over the synagogue’s vandalism. They lauded the NYPD for their professional handling of the situation, vowing to restore the sanctuary’s sanctity and to thoroughly investigate the incident.
Source: [New York Daily News]