A Queens rabbi showed up at a historic synagogue to pray — that is, until a group of “radical students” tore down an interior wall, eventually leading to the discovery of an underground tunnel, officials said. fox news digital.
The underground space in question was allegedly created by a small group of Orthodox Hasidic students who believed they were making a religious call to expand Chabad-Lubavitch's world headquarters in Brooklyn.
Six members of the small movement reportedly began digging the tunnel in secret.new york post report of tunnel dimensions, it was a “tunnel three feet high, twenty feet wide, and fifty feet long.” Members excavated using their hands and crude equipment.
Officials in the Orthodox community said believers were stuffing their pockets with the dirt they had dug up so that no one knew what they were doing.
“Have you ever seen the movie “The Shawshank Redemption?'' said Eitan Kalmowicz, a member of the Lubavitcher community in Crown Heights.
After the men started the project, Kalmowitz said, they eventually raised enough money to hire a group of immigrant workers called “Mexicans.” However, it is unclear whether the workers actually came from Mexico.
The hired workers reportedly lived in an abandoned building during the work period. The building was located at 770 Eastern Parkway, according to the report.
“Mexicans lived in this building for three weeks during construction,” Kalmowicz said. He went on to say that workers had done the work “correctly,” including installing support beams. “It was a covert operation, so they slept and ate there.”
Another member of Chabad said he was shocked at how a group of young men were able to hide the project for so long.
“I was surprised by the stealth and secrecy of it all,” said a Chabad member who requested anonymity. “I can't believe they kept it a secret. Yeshiva boys are very idealistic and extreme.”
A Chabad rabbi, who did not wish to be named, said some of the students had visas from Safed. Safad is a holy city in Israel that is generally considered to be the birthplace of Kabbalah, a form of Jewish mysticism known as Kabbalah.
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