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To: MNDude
This is an outrage and vile, but not in the way that conspiracists think. Since the death of the "Lubavitcher Rebbe," Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the Chabad-Lubavitch movement have been deeply divided between his chosen successor who follow his teachings and a group, who believed that Schneerson was somehow the Messiah. Radicals from this Messianist group illegally burrowed into the Chabad-Lubavitch main synagogue at 770 Eastern Parkway.
Here is an explanation from another conservative alumni of Columbia. Elie is an Orthodox Jewish lawyer, who has done work in the community.
THERE IS NO TUNNEL {complex}! The videos were wild, so the sensationalist media blew it way out of proportion. I really don't want to share this in public, but given the situation, I feel it's better if people know the truth. Here's the whole story:
1. There is a building behind 770 Eastern Parkway [usually referred to as just "770"] that used to house mikvah, a ritual bath. It's been abandoned for close to 20 years. [This may be inaccurate; I have seen a claim it was open until 2020 for women.] At some point (no one knows when), some young men snuck into the building and broke through the wall into the crawl space between the building and 770, digging out a small space for themselves under the women and children's synagogue, alongside the main synagogue's Southern wall.

2. [There is a dispute between followers of Chabad Lubavich regarding the status of their late leader, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson. During his lifetime many if not most Lubavitch Hassidic Jews believed he was the messiah, and some non-Hassidic Orthodox Jews believed he might be. Even after his death, many Lubavitch Jews continued to believe he was and is the messiah, and that he is still alive, at least in some sense. They are known as "Meshichists" in English from the Ashkenazi Hebrew "Moshiach." {Messiah} They insert the line "Long live our master, our teacher, and our rabbi, the King Messiah, forever and ever" at several times during the prayer service. NB: the English word "Christ" comes from the Greek translation of the word "Moshiach" in the Hebrew Bible, while the word "Messiah" derives from the Greek transliteration in the Gospels. "Meshichist" is a synonym for "Messianist," although the "Messiah" is not Jesus but the late Lubavitcher Rebbe. There has not been a formal schism between the Meshichist and Anti-Meshichist factions, although one will sometimes find Chabad missions in one area of different orientations. It's complicated, but theology isn't really relevant to this story.]
There is a longstanding dispute between the Anti-Meshichist corporate Chabad (Agudas Chasidei Chabad [Chabad Hassidic Union], which owns the 770 building together with Merkos L'inyanei Chinuch [Center for Educational Affairs], and in Modern Hebrew the first word would be transliterated "merkaz"], which own the 788 [Eastern Parkway] building, which most of the synagogue is under), governed by self-perpetuating boards, and the synagogue caretakers elected by the (mostly Meshichist) community. This dispute goes back many decades, but until a few days ago, it was kept in check. Approximately 20 years ago, some young men destroyed a memorial plaque that Merkos [Center for Educational Affairs] had placed on the building's cornerstone [which acknowledged Rabbi Schneerson's death]. Merkos went to court, claiming control of the synagogue, and the synagogue caretakers intervened, arguing that while Merkos owns the building, they're in charge of the synagogue and its signage. (They proposed a neutral plaque that wouldn't upset the Meshichist or Anti elements of the community.) Merkos and the Chabad Hassidic Union then preceded to bring an eviction proceeding against the synagogue, which has been litigated for ~20 years now and will never be resolved in the courts, as no court is interested in having police evict a synagogue, so they'll keep punting it down the road. Although this should obviously be resolved in Jewish religious courts, unfortunately, Merkos/Union claim extraterritoriality and have their own religious courts, the Va'ad Rabbonei Lubavitch [the Lubavitch Rabbinic Council], which generally resolves disputes among missionaries and institutions. Thus, they claim they are not subject to the jurisdiction of the Crown Heights religious courts [separate from the Lubavitch Rabbinic Council]. Needless to say, the Crown Heights community feels otherwise, as this is a matter pertaining to the synagogue that serves the community. The caretakers obviously won't submit to Merkos's internal religious court, so that's why it's in civil court.

3. 770 is in DESPERATE need of expansion/renovation. There isn't nearly enough place for the countless daily prayer servies or for young men to learn (770 also houses a Yeshiva [Jewish religious school]). When the High Holidays and other special occasions come around, you have an extremely unsafe situation, where many, many thousands are jam-packed into a room that can safely hold a fraction of that. The synagogue is also in terrible condition, and does not look like a holy place should. There was a plan and funding in place for a $23-million renovation, but that came to a halt due to the above-mentioned litigation. More recently, some young people undertook a much more modest expansion, getting both the building owner and the caretakers to agree to build a study hall behind one of the women and children's prayer areas, giving more space for students to learn.

4. There is a group of several dozen crazy young men, mostly Israeli (with many more visiting during High Holidays), who do whatever they want and disregard any and all authority. These punks [not a literal translation but that's the thrust] are recognizable by their shabby appearance, Teva sandals [a popular Israeli shoe brand] with white tube socks, and yellow "moshiach" pins on their hats and jackets. Anyone who crosses them is violently assaulted. The rabbis and caretakers have repeatedly attempted to rein them in, but have not succeeded in doing so. These punks have exploited the power vacuum created by the rift between the caretakers and the building owners to do as they please. The police are loathe to get involved, as it's not clear who's actually supposed to be in charge. The mayhem caused most lay congregants to avoid 770 altogether, leaving the loonies to run the asylum. Thus, this group has done as they pleased in 770 for many years, with all sorts of craziness no one could do anything about.

5. After the digging in the crawl space was recently discovered, the caretakers ordered a cement truck to come fill in the space. However, the punks who had occupied it refused to leave, arguing that their rathole heralded the further expansion of 770, and that filling it with cement would halt any such expansion. When the cement truck arrived, the punks responded by breaking through the wall of the synaogue, stating that their little hole was an expansion of the synagogue 🙄. That's when all hell broke loose.

6. The positive side of this is that this forced the [Meshichist] caretakers and [anti-Meshichist] building owners to come together and jointly ask the police to remove the punks and seal the synagogue until repairs are made.

7. I'm optimistic that the horror every Lubavitcher felt watching these events will put pressure on both sides to compromise and settle the litigation. It is now crystal clear that 770 cannot be unowned property, with a handful of violent lunatics doing as they please. The very existence of the synagogue is at stake. The only way order can be restored is if there's a unified leadership of the synagogue, subject to the authority of the communal religious court. Anyone who doesn't comply should be banned from the premises, and if they attempt to enter, prosecuted to the full extent of the law. And as soon as that happens, a massive expansion and renovation will ensue (the funds could be raised in a matter of days) [this is absolutely true, as Chabad Lubavitch is well connected to very high net-worth individuals], restoring the synagogue to a state befitting a holy place.
As for the high chairs and mattresses, these are actually quite normal and innocuous. Hasidic families have a lot of children, a child care and children's programs are part of communal life, as are communal dinners with families.
Many students regularly will spend all night studying the synagogue and during festivals there are foreign visitors causing an overflow. So they sleep in the basements and often eat there. A mattress stained with a Sabbath Stew is unfortunately all too common.
52 posted on 01/12/2024 5:11:28 PM PST by rmlew ("Mosques are our barracks, minarets our bayonets, domes our helmets, the believers our soldiers." )
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To: rmlew

this explanation really takes the cake.

Don’t believe you eyes, that’s not a tunnel you see, that’s just a “synagogue expansion”....A long dirty narrow tunnel shaped underground expansion.

Just like ABC News tried to tell us that Epstein’s Temple was just a gym that he liked to work out in.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/contractor-jeffrey-epstein-quit-concerns-revealing-pictures-topless/story?id=64406022


53 posted on 01/12/2024 5:40:54 PM PST by MNDude
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