They didn’t dig being cramped.
The band of “rogue” Orthodox Jews who dug New York City’s most bizarre tunnel did so to send a message to “geezers” in their sect that they needed more room to pray, one of the excavators exclusively told The Post.
The 30-year-old, who requested anonymity for fear of legal consequences, said he and at least 50-like-minded members of the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic movement took to shoveling as a brazen statement to their community’s elders — to get off their tuchuses and expand the sanctuary at their Crown Heights headquarters.
“We were sick and tired of being stuck in a cramped synagogue that could take 15 minutes to leave during the high holiday services,” said the member, whose family has been praying at the synagogue at 770 Eastern Parkway for generations.
“The point was to start an initiative on our own and then we put the old geezers in a spot where they . . . can take the initiative and go ahead” to complete the expansion, he added.
The Chabad group, made up mostly of teens and 20-somethings, began planning their “chunnel” excavation as early as 2020, driven by a mix of boredom and desire to fulfill what they believe was a goal by the late Lubavitcher Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson to expand the synagogue, he said.
Schneerson died in 1994, but today, the renowned holy site’s size has remained unchanged, leaving congregants packed like a tin of smoked kippers, the digger kvetched, explaining that the room can comfortably hold a few hundred people, but can swell to thousands trying to squeeze in during the high holidays.
“You can’t fit a broomstick in there,” he said. “Imagine an emergency and everyone running — I don’t want to think what can happen.”
By the time the man joined the digging project in September 2022, a third of the tunnel — or about 20 feet — had already been completed, he said.
A text viewed by The Post and interviews with two others in the Chabad community corroborated the man’s involvement in the project.
The excavation was supported by a “silent majority” in the Chabad community who believed the synagogue desperately needed to be expanded, he claimed.
“The thing was way overdue,” he said, insisting that “90% of Chabad agrees expansion [of the synagogue] needs to happen, and quickly.”
Rabbi Motti Seligson, a Chabad spokesperson, bashed the radical member’s claim that he and other diggers represented a “movement” in Chabad.
“There is no righteous justification, theological or otherwise, for the violent and reckless behavior of these young agitators,” Seligson told The Post, calling any attempt to link their underground activity with the wishes of the Rebbe “an abomination.”
“This is a small group of rogue, and frankly, unwell youths who in their delusion demolished a potentially load-bearing wall, desecrated a synagogue and caused an enormous amount of pain and damage.”
Donations covered the group’s tools as well as other necessities like support beams, while Hasidic professional contractors were brought in to ensure the excavation “was done safely,” the digger said.
The Talmudic tunnelers managed to hollow out 40 feet over three-and-a-half years, but in November, the group hired “Spanish-speaking” migrants to “finish the job,” the 30-year-old said.
“The migrants were brought in to give the project a punt,” he said, admitting that they worked harder and more frequently than the Chabad men, but also made more noise, which ultimately tipped off the neighbors and synagogue elders.
The covert construction exploded into the public’s eye when the Chabad’s leaders attempted to bring cement workers to fill in the tunnel. On Monday, chaos broke out when police were called in after some extremists attempted to fend off the cement laborers from entering the hollowed-out space, resulting in cops arresting nine men ages 19 to 21.
Four of the men were charged with obstruction, with two facing an additional charge of criminal mischief for allegedly destroying a synagogue wall in front of police. A fifth youngster was charged with obstruction for interfering with police attempts to arrest his fellow rebels, according to the complaint
An investigation by the city Department of Building found that the amateur diggers did not properly shore up the tunnel, leading the city to issue a partial vacate order for two single-story extension buildings connected to the synagogue complex over concerns about their structural stability.
DOB also issued a full vacate order for a two-story building after inspectors discovered fire-rated walls had been torn down in the cellar as well as the first floor.
On Wednesday, concrete was poured into affected areas “to shore up the damaged walls” in coordination with city inspectors, Seligson wrote on X.
“We look forward to the sanctity of the synagogue being restored, and it returning to a place of prayer, Torah study and inspiration, so that its light can continue to emanate to the world.”
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January 13, 2024 at 07:50PM
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Brooklyn synagogue tunneler says excavation was done to send message to 'geezers' to expand crowded holy site - New York Post
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