After a chaos broke out at the Chabad Lubavitch World Headquarters in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, a lot of mystery and speculation hit the internet over the discovery of a secret tunnel . Viral videos of the unrest showed Jews demolishing wooden structures and mysteriously entering from a hidden subterranean tunnel.
The Chabad students, who were all in their late teens and twenties, were the ones who initiated the mayhem in response to cement trucks that had arrived to cover the hidden mysterious passageway, according to the Jewish news organisation, Forward. Many refused to come out of the tunnel, and as a result, the New York Police Department arrested 10 people, Crown Heights reported.
Netizens stunned at the events that unfolded at Chabad-Lubavitch HQ
Meanwhile, the viral footage of the chaos and the passageway has sent shockwaves across the internet, prompting people to speculate what the tunnels were used for. A couple of pictures from the tunnel showed a baby rocker and a stained mattress in the passageway.
While the incident has enraged the Chabad community who is now calling for prompt action, one user on X (formerly Twitter) shared the video of the tunnel and asked – “Why is their a baby highchair in that tunnel?”
“Is that A STAINED MATTRESS PULLED FROM A SECRET TUNNEL BEHIND A SYNAGOGUE WALL in NYC????” another user wrote.
Why was the tunnel dug?
The Chabad-Lubavitch movement against the synagogue leadership involves the two sides disagreeing over who owns the hundred-year-old house legally. The Chabad is one of the largest groups of Hasidic Jews in the world. The reason why the tunnel was being dug is unclear.
However, the website Forward.com reported that the tunnel was meant to be used to reach an abandoned women’s mikvah, or ritual baths. It added that the tunnel was meant to “expand” the synagogue, but it is unclear how that could be done.
After the incident, an NYPD spokesperson told the Daily Mail, “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,” the spokesperson added.
