Thirteen members of the Hasidic Jewish community plead not guilty this week to charges stemming from their alleged role in a dispute over an illegal tunnel built beneath a historic Brooklyn synagogue.
The defendants, some of them international students from Israel, appeared in Brooklyn court yesterday on charges of reckless endangerment, criminal mischief and obstruction of governmental administration. They were issued a limited protection order that bars them from making any excavations or alterations to the building.
Prosecutors say the defendants — who ranged in age from 19 to 26 — were involved in a January 8 melee in the basement of the global headquarters of Chabad-Lubavitch. The dispute erupted after the discovery of an underground passage connecting four buildings within the famed Jewish complex.
When Chabad leaders moved to seal the tunnel, characterizing it as a rogue act of vandalism, a group of young men fought back, ripping the wooden siding off the synagogue and refusing to leave the dusty passage. Their protest escalated as police arrived, leading to a chaotic scuffle and more than $1,500 in property damage, according to court papers.
It's not (only) about you.
Supporting The Times of Israel isn’t a transaction for an online service, like subscribing to Netflix. The ToI Community is for people like you who care about a common good: ensuring that balanced, responsible coverage of Israel continues to be available to millions across the world, for free.
Sure, we'll remove all ads from your page and you'll unlock access to some excellent Community-only content. But your support gives you something more profound than that: the pride of joining something that really matters.
Join the Times of Israel Community
Join our Community
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
You're a dedicated reader
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you,
David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
Join Our Community
Join Our Community
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
From the Liveblog of
Thursday, April 11, 2024
