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By: Meyer Wolfsheim
A Brooklyn judge sharply criticized a group of Hasidic Jewish students on Monday after they were charged with digging a clandestine tunnel beneath a prominent Crown Heights synagogue. Four of the students rejected plea deals and demanded a trial, potentially facing prison time if convicted.
“If these young gentlemen, these kids, think they’re exercising power over this court, they are sadly mistaken,” Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Adam Perlmutter declared. “You’re a shame to your family. You’re a shame to the worldwide Chabad movement.”
Two of the students had their cases adjourned, with charges to be dismissed if they refrain from further tunneling beneath the Chabad-Lubavitch world headquarters at 770 Eastern Parkway and remain out of legal trouble for the next six months. The New York Post reported that most others pleaded guilty to reduced criminal mischief charges.
These students agreed to avoid “destructive activity” at the synagogue for three years and to pay $200 in restitution. However, four of the accused—Yisroel Binyamin, Yerachmiel Blumenfeld, Menachem Maidanchik, and Yaakov Rothchild—refused the plea deals. They now face trial and potential incarceration.
At an earlier court hearing, Rothchild told the New York Post that a three-year ban from the synagogue, which prosecutors initially offered as part of a plea deal, was unbearable. “Being banned from 770 for three years is worse than jail,” he said.
The bizarre case gained attention in January 2024 when news of the secret tunnel beneath the synagogue surfaced. According to the New York Post, when police arrived, they found the students attempting to conceal themselves in the underground passage. A scuffle ensued as officers worked to remove them.
The students claimed they were acting on a vision set forth by the late Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the revered Chabad “Rebbe,” who had called for expanding the sanctuary before his passing in 1994.
“The goal of everything was to expand 770,” said Mendel Gerlitzky, one of the accused, during Monday’s hearing. “We weren’t successful. We were hoping to expand or at least draw attention to the cause.”
Gerlitzky also accused certain individuals within the community of obstructing the expansion due to their own “selfish purposes.” He claimed these individuals wield power in the legal system but do not represent the Chabad movement.
Justice Perlmutter rejected the students’ rationale. “It is not becoming of followers of the Jewish faith in a synagogue,” he said in court. “If you want to expand 770, they know how to do it. They’ve built buildings all over the world. It involves raising money, getting building permits, and adjusting zoning laws.”
The judge further condemned the students’ actions, calling them “a blemish on the Chabad movement.”
The plea agreements offered by prosecutors forbid the students from continuing to dig beneath the synagogue and an adjacent area reserved for women. However, they do not prohibit the students from entering the building.
The New York Post noted that the judge warned any violation of the plea terms would result in a five-year ban from the synagogue.
This contentious case highlights deep divisions within the Chabad community and raises broader questions about the intersection of religious devotion and legal compliance.
