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The ‘tunnel’ controversy at Chabad’s Brooklyn headquarters, explained
(New York Jewish Week) – On Tuesday, a group of Jewish men gathered to pray under a leaky white tent in the drizzling rain outside the Chabad-Lubavitch movement’s world headquarters in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, draping their wet jackets over portable bookshelves and talking about what had happened there the previous afternoon.
As for the building itself, it was closed off. Outside the entrance to the complex’s main synagogue, a line formed in the rain, with Chabadniks waiting patiently to retrieve personal belongings from a storage room. They chatted with police officers — trying to explain to them what tefillin is — who were standing behind metal barricades and blue and yellow tape, letting the men and boys in one at a time.
The headquarters at 770 Eastern Parkway — a symbol of Chabad that is usually bustling with prayer and Jewish study — has been shuttered for nearly two days and counting. On Monday, a small group from the Hasidic movement, acting independently, attempted to break through a synagogue wall — a last-ditch attempt to connect part of the sanctuary to a building next door in order to expand the complex. The incident ended with shouting, scuffles and arrests, as well as concern about the building’s structural integrity.
Leading Chabad officials condemned the tunneling effort as the work of an extremist fringe. But the saga has spread far beyond Brooklyn — drawing global attention to internal Chabad disputes, generating international headlines and turning into fodder for antisemitic conspiracies.
“The Chabad-Lubavitch community is pained by the vandalism of a group of young agitators who damaged the synagogue,” said Rabbi Yehuda Krinsky, a prominent community leader, in a public statement. “These odious actions will be investigated, and the sanctity of the synagogue will be restored.”
Here’s what you need to know about the chaos in Crown Heights this week and its aftermath.
Police block the entrance to the main synagogue of Chabad headquarters due to safety concerns, Jan. 9, 2024. (Luke Tress)
What exactly happened at Chabad’s headquarters on Monday?
Last month, reports surfaced about unauthorized attempts to “tunnel” into a synagogue housed at the 770 complex from a Chabad-linked office building next door. By Monday, said witnesses to the day’s events and a Chabad spokesperson, the construction project had broken through the basement walls of the office building, and a cement truck was called in to repair the damage.
When the group responsible for the unauthorized construction realized the cement would block their attempt to gain access to the 770 complex, they ripped down wood paneling in the crowded subterranean floor of the synagogue. Videos from the scene showed a chaotic crowd of young men shouting, arguing with police, being handcuffed and being removed from the building. Several had retreated into a dark, concrete cavity that had been exposed behind the wood panels.
Around 3:30 p.m., police were called to the synagogue to deal with what an NYPD spokesperson called “a disorderly group” at the synagogue “who unlawfully entered the premises and damaged a wall.”
The NYPD spokesperson said police arrested 12 people and that there were no injuries. Charges include criminal mischief, reckless endangerment, disorderly conduct and attempted hate crimes — though the spokesperson did not have further information on the nature of the alleged hate crimes. The suspects were all between 19 and 22 years old.
The city’s Department of Buildings, which is inspecting the damage, told the New York Jewish Week on Tuesday that “forensic engineers remain on site at 770 Eastern Parkway, and their investigation is ongoing.”
Chabad Headquarters at 770 Eastern Parkway in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, Jan. 9, 2024. (Luke Tress)
What is 770 Eastern Parkway and why is it important to Chabad?
The construction project that came to light Monday is the latest in a number of controversial battles over Chabad’s headquarters at 770 Eastern Parkway. Known to Chabadniks simply as “770,” the building and its address have taken on symbolic significance for the movement and its worldwide network of emissaries.
Replicas of the stately brick three-gabled building can be found across the globe, from Australia to Argentina to a rural Chabad village in Israel. In 2022, a digital version went up in the metaverse. The number “770” has likewise become a calling card of the movement, sometimes literally — it is featured in some Chabad emissaries’ phone numbers.
The building holds meaning for Chabad Hasidim because it served as the office of the late, deeply revered Chabad leader Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, known as the Rebbe. Previously, it was the home of Schneerson’s father-in-law and predecessor, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn. Today, 770 is connected with adjoining buildings on its block and houses a synagogue, spaces for Jewish study, offices and a library.
Since Schneerson’s death in 1994, the movement has been without a leader, and authority over his former office has come under dispute. For more than a decade, two different Chabad organizations have battled in court over who controls 770 — with one side appearing to win only for the legal proceedings to continue.
Police block the entrance to the Chabad headquarter’s main synagogue due to safety concerns, Jan. 9, 2024. (Luke Tress)
Part of the Chabad movement has been pushing to “expand 770.”
Monday’s incident is one of a number of efforts to enlarge the building that is not part of the legal disputes detailed above. An initiative founded about a year ago called Expand 770 aims to drum up support to augment the building, citing a call by Schneerson in 1991 regarding the “need and duty to expand and broaden” the movement’s headquarters.
A rendering of the proposed expansion on the initiative’s website shows the original 770 flanked by two large conference center-style halls.
“Everyone wants to come daven, learn and visit in 770, but 770 is way too small for what it needs to be,” the initiative’s founder, Levi Jacobson, said in a video message posted last February. “The Rebbe urged that each and every Jew should participate physically and monetarily with expanding 770.”
Jacobson did not reply to a request for comment and there was no indication that he was connected to the unauthorized construction.
But on Tuesday, standing outside of 770, members of Chabad continued to argue over whether the building should be enlarged. Based on videos of Monday’s incident, the group involved in the construction effort appear to come from a faction of Chabadniks who believe Schneerson is the messiah, known as “meshichists.” A sign with a slogan declaring Schneerson to be the messiah hung on the wall of the synagogue, and multiple people involved were wearing kippahs bearing the same slogan.
Zalmy Grossman, a student from the United Kingdom who lives in Israel, said he had been in the synagogue during Monday’s incident and supported the effort. Grossman did not identify as a meshichist but was wearing a yellow badge associated with that group.
Worshippers line up to retrieve items from a storage room outside the main synagogue at Chabad headquarters, Jan. 9, 2024. (Luke Tress)
“As the holiest place in the world, we have to expand,” Grossman told the New York Jewish Week, saying that he had not been a part of the group that broke down the walls. “The Rebbe, the words of the rabbi, says they need to expand it. The Rebbe is the one in charge. He is Chabad.”
He added, “He’s the only one we listen to, nobody else. The Rebbe’s Chabad and what the Rebbe says — that’s what we do.”
A passerby, holding a black umbrella against the rain, stopped to vehemently disagree.
“What these people did was a travesty. It does not represent Chabad on any single level whatsoever,” shouted the man, who identified himself as Sholom and declined to give his full name, adding that he was at the sanctuary during the incident. “Attacking cops is not endorsed by Judaism. They took holy, sacred Jewish text books, threw them at cops.”
Indicating Grossman, he said, “This guy doesn’t represent anybody.”
Rabbi Yaacov Behrman, who lives in Crown Heights and works in public relations for the movement, said that the vandalism was carried out by a fringe group and applauded the NYPD’s handling of the incident.
“We appreciate the incredible sensitivity shown by the New York Police Department and their response,” he said. “This is really an example of good police community relations.”
The entrance to a building adjacent to Chabad headquarters that was used for unauthorized excavations, Jan. 9, 2024. A man was seen fleeing from the metal grating to the left of the door during the incident. The grating has since been patched up. (Luke Tress)
The fracas has sparked a wave of antisemitic conspiracies online.
While Chabad representatives have stressed that the construction was the work of a renegade fringe of the movement, the fracas at 770, and false rumors of a “tunnel” network underneath the synagogue, have fed into a ream of jokes — as well as antisemitic conspiracy theories online.
The false claims include baseless allegations that the tunnels were used for trafficking children, echoing centuries-old antisemitic blood libels. In one widely circulated video, a Jewish man seen emerging from a sidewalk grate is said to be part of a secret tunnel network. On Tuesday, the grate had been resealed, and a look inside revealed a well-lit basement filled with stacks of blue plastic crates and wooden planks.
More broadly, the closure of the synagogue and the resulting antisemitism have caused anguish in the Chabad community.
“This is, obviously, deeply distressing to the Lubavitch movement, and the Jewish community worldwide,” said Motti Seligson, a Chabad spokesperson, wrote in a post on X.
“The police department and the city recognizes that this is a fringe group of people that don’t represent the vast majority of the community,” Behrman said. “We’re all pained that we have to deal with this.”
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The post The ‘tunnel’ controversy at Chabad’s Brooklyn headquarters, explained appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Harvard Faculty Oppose Deal With Trump, Distancing From Hamas Apologists: Crimson Poll
Harvard University president Alan Garber attending the 373rd Commencement Exercises at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, US, May 23, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Brian Snyder
A recently published Harvard Crimson poll of over 1,400 Harvard faculty revealed sweeping opposition to interim university President Alan Garber’s efforts to strike a deal with the federal government to restore $3 billion in research grants and contracts it froze during the first 100 days of the second Trump administration.
In the survey, conducted from April 23 to May 12, 71 percent of arts and sciences faculty oppose negotiating a settlement with the administration, which may include concessions conservatives have long sought from elite higher education, such as meritocratic admissions, viewpoint diversity, and severe disciplinary sanctions imposed on students who stage unauthorized protests that disrupt academic life.
Additionally, 64 percent “strongly disagree” with shuttering diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs, 73 percent oppose rejecting foreign applicants who hold anti-American beliefs which are “hostile to the American values and institutions inscribed in the US Constitution and Declaration of Independence,” and 70 percent strongly disagree with revoking school recognition from pro-Hamas groups such as the Palestine Solidarity Committee (PSC).
“More than 98 percent of faculty who responded to the survey supported the university’s decision to sue the White House,” The Crimson reported. “The same percentage backed Harvard’s public rejection of the sweeping conditions that the administration set for maintaining the funds — terms that included external audits of Harvard’s hiring practices and the disciplining of student protesters.”
Alyza Lewin of the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law told The Algemeiner that the poll results indicate that Harvard University will continue to struggle to address campus antisemitism on campus, as there is now data showing that its faculty reject the notion of excising intellectualized antisemitism from the university.
“If you, for example, have faculty teaching courses that are regularly denying that the Jews are a people and erasing the Jewish people’s history in the land of Israel, that’s going to undermine your efforts to address the antisemitism on your campus,” Lewin explained. “When Israel is being treated as the ‘collective Jew,’ when the conversation is not about Israel’s policies, when the criticism is not what the [International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism] would call criticism of Israel similar to that against any other country, they have to understand that it is the demonization, delegitimization, and applying a double standard to Jews as individuals or to Israel.”
She added, “Faculty must recognize … the demonization, vilification, the shunning, and the marginalizing of Israelis, Jews, and Zionists, when it happens, as violations of the anti-discrimination policies they are legally and contractually obligated to observe.”
The Crimson survey results were published amid reports that Garber was working to reach a deal with the Trump administration that is palatable to all interested parties, including the university’s left-wing social milieu.
According to a June 26 report published by The Crimson, Garber held a phone call with major donors in which he “confirmed in response to a question from [Harvard Corporation Fellow David M. Rubenstein] that talks had resumed” but “declined to share specifics of how Harvard expected to settle with the White House.”
On June 30, the Trump administration issued Harvard a “notice of violation” of civil rights law following an investigation which examined how it responded to dozens of antisemitic incidents reported by Jewish students since the 2023-2024 academic year.
The correspondence, sent by the Joint Task Force to Combat Antisemitism, charged that Harvard willfully exposed Jewish students to a torrent of racist and antisemitic abuse following the Hamas-led Oct. 7 massacre, which precipitated a surge in anti-Zionist activity on the campus, both in the classroom and out of it.
“Failure to institute adequate changes immediately will result in the loss of all federal financial resources and continue to affect Harvard’s relationship with the federal government,” wrote the four federal officials comprising the multiagency Task Force. “Harvard may of course continue to operate free of federal privileges, and perhaps such an opportunity will spur a commitment to excellence that will help Harvard thrive once again.”
The Trump administration ratcheted up pressure on Harvard again on Wednesday, reporting the institution to its accreditor for alleged civil rights violations resulting from its weak response to reports of antisemitic bullying, discrimination, and harassment following the Oct. 7, 2023 massacre.
Citing Harvard’s failure to treat antisemitism as seriously as it treated other forms of hatred in the past, The US Department of Educationthe called on the New England Commission of Higher Education to review and, potentially, revoke its accreditation — a designation which qualifies Harvard for federal funding and attests to the quality of the educational services its provides.
“Accrediting bodies play a significant role in preserving academic integrity and a campus culture conducive to truth seeking and learning,” said Secretary of Education Linda McMahon. “Part of that is ensuring students are safe on campus and abiding by federal laws that guarantee educational opportunities to all students. By allowing anti-Semitic harassment and discrimination to persist unchecked on its campus, Harvard University has failed in its obligation to students, educators, and American taxpayers.”
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.
The post Harvard Faculty Oppose Deal With Trump, Distancing From Hamas Apologists: Crimson Poll first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Balancing Act: Lebanese President Aoun Affirms Hope for Peace with Israel, Balks At Normalization
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun attends a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, March 28, 2025. REUTERS/Sarah Meyssonnier/Pool
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun on Friday carefully affirmed his country’s desire for peace with Israel while cautioning that Beirut is not ready to normalize relations with its southern neighbor.
Aoun called for a full Israeli withdrawal from Lebanese territory, according to a statement from his office, while reaffirming his government’s efforts to uphold a state monopoly on arms amid mounting international pressure on the Iran-backed terror group Hezbollah to disarm.
“The decision to restrict arms is final and there is no turning back on it,” Aoun said.
The Lebanese leader drew a clear distinction between pursuing peace and establishing formal normalization in his country’s relationship with the Jewish state.
“Peace is the lack of a state of war, and this is what matters to us in Lebanon at the moment,” Aoun said in a statement. “As for the issue of normalization, it is not currently part of Lebanese foreign policy.”
Aoun’s latest comments come after Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar expressed interest last month in normalizing ties with Lebanon and Syria — an effort Jerusalem says cannot proceed until Hezbollah is fully disarmed.
Earlier this week, Aoun sent his government’s response to a US-backed disarmament proposal as Washington and Jerusalem increased pressure on Lebanon to neutralize the terror group.
While the details remain confidential, US Special Envoy Thomas Barrack said he was “unbelievably satisfied” with their response.
This latest proposal, presented to Lebanese officials during Barrack’s visit on June 19, calls for Hezbollah to be fully disarmed within four months in exchange for Israel halting airstrikes and withdrawing troops from its five occupied posts in southern Lebanon.
However, Hezbollah chief Sheikh Naim Qassem vowed in a televised speech to keep the group’s weapons, rejecting Washington’s disarmament proposal.
“How can you expect us not to stand firm while the Israeli enemy continues its aggression, continues to occupy the five points, and continues to enter our territories and kill?” said Qassem, who succeeded longtime terrorist leader Hassan Nasrallah after Israel killed him last year.
“We will not be part of legitimizing the occupation in Lebanon and the region,” the terrorist leader continued. “We will not accept normalization [with Israel].”
Last fall, Israel decimated Hezbollah’s leadership and military capabilities with an air and ground offensive, following the group’s attacks on Jerusalem — which they claimed were a show of solidarity with the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas amid the war in Gaza.
In November, Lebanon and Israel reached a US-brokered ceasefire agreement that ended a year of fighting between the Jewish state and Hezbollah.
Under the agreement, Israel was given 60 days to withdraw from southern Lebanon, allowing the Lebanese army and UN forces to take over security as Hezbollah disarms and moves away from Israel’s northern border.
However, Israel maintained troops at several posts in southern Lebanon beyond the ceasefire deadline, as its leaders aimed to reassure northern residents that it was safe to return home.
Jerusalem has continued carrying out strikes targeting remaining Hezbollah activity, with Israeli leaders accusing the group of maintaining combat infrastructure, including rocket launchers — calling this “blatant violations of understandings between Israel and Lebanon.”
The post Balancing Act: Lebanese President Aoun Affirms Hope for Peace with Israel, Balks At Normalization first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Peace Meals: Chef José Andrés Says ‘Good People’ On Both Sides of Gaza Conflict Ill-Served By Leaders, Food Can Bridge Divide
Chef and head of World Central Kitchen Jose Andres attends the Milken Institute Global Conference 2025 in Beverly Hills, California, US, May 5, 2025. Photo: Reuters/Mike Blake.
Renowned Spanish chef and World Central Kitchen (WCK) founder José Andrés called the Oct. 7 attack “horrendous” in an interview Wednesday and shared his hopes for reconciliation between the “vast majority” on both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian divide who are “good people that very often are not served well by their leaders”
WCK is a US-based, nonprofit organization that provides fresh meals to people in conflict zones around the world. The charity has been actively serving Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank since the Oct. 7 massacre in southern Israel. Since the Hamas attack, WCK has served more than 133 million meals across Gaza, according to its website.
The restaurateur and humanitarian has been quoted saying in past interviews that “sometimes very big problems have very simple solutions.” On Wednesday’s episode of the Wall Street Journal podcast “Bold Names,” he was asked to elaborate on that thought. He responded by saying he believes good meals and good leaders can help resolve issues between Israelis and Palestinians, who, he believes, genuinely want to live harmoniously with each other.
“I had people in Gaza, mothers, women making bread,” he said. “Moments that you had of closeness they were telling you: ‘What Hamas did was wrong. I wouldn’t [want] anybody to do this to my children.’ And I had Israelis that even lost family members. They say, ‘I would love to go to Gaza to be next to the people to show them that we respect them …’ And this to me is very fascinating because it’s the reality.
“Maybe some people call me naive. [But] the vast majority of the people are good people that very often are not served well by their leaders. And the simple reality of recognizing that many truths can be true at the same time in the same phrase that what happened on October 7th was horrendous and was never supposed to happen. And that’s why World Central Kitchen was there next to the people in Israel feeding in the kibbutz from day one, and at the same time that I defended obviously the right of Israel to defend itself and to try to bring back the hostages. Equally, what is happening in Gaza is not supposed to be happening either.”
Andres noted that he supports Israel’s efforts to target Hamas terrorists but then seemingly accused Israel of “continuously” targeting children and civilians during its military operations against the terror group.
“We need leaders that believe in that, that believe in longer tables,” he concluded. “It’s so simple to invest in peace … It’s so simple to do good. It’s so simple to invest in a better tomorrow. Food is a solution to many of the issues we’re facing. Let’s hope that … one day in the Middle East it’ll be people just celebrating the cultures that sometimes if you look at what they eat, they seem all to eat exactly the same.”
In 2024, WCK fired at least 62 of its staff members in Gaza after Israel said they had ties to terrorist groups. In one case, Israel discovered that a WCK employee named Ahed Azmi Qdeih took part in the deadly Hamas rampage across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Qdeih was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza in November 2024.
In April 2024, the Israel Defense Forces received backlash for carrying out airstrikes on a WCK vehicle convoy which killed seven of the charity’s employees. Israel’s military chief, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, said the airstrikes were “a mistake that followed a misidentification,” and Israel dismissed two senior officers as a result of the mishandled military operation.
The strikes “were not just some unfortunate mistake in the fog of war,” Andrés alleged.
“It was a direct attack on clearly marked vehicles whose movements were known by” the Israeli military, he claimed in an op-ed published by Israeli newspaper Yediot Aharonot. “It was also the direct result of [the Israeli] government’s policy to squeeze humanitarian aid to desperate levels.”
In a statement on X, Andres accused Israel of “indiscriminate killing,” saying the Jewish state “needs to stop restricting humanitarian aid, stop killing civilians and aid workers, and stop using food as a weapon.”
The post Peace Meals: Chef José Andrés Says ‘Good People’ On Both Sides of Gaza Conflict Ill-Served By Leaders, Food Can Bridge Divide first appeared on Algemeiner.com.