This is the truth behind the tunnels at the Brooklyn synagogue: It's not what you think

The recent news about the discovery of a clandestine tunnel beneath the Chabad-Lubavitch world headquarters in New York City and the subsequent arrest of young people trying to prevent its destruction has unleashed major questions about the creation and motivation behind this underground passageway.

After the existence of the secret tunnel was revealed, several rumors emerged regarding child abductions by cults and other theories regarding the supposed motivation behind the construction of the underground space.

However, according to a report from the Daily Mail, none of this is true. Some young followers of the Chabad Hasidic Jewish group in Brooklyn took the initiative to expand their synagogue, located at 770 Eastern Parkway.

According to some young people from the community, who are followers of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson - who was the leader of the Chabad-Lubavitch organization, and who is considered a messiah among his followers - told the Daily Mail that their intention was to fulfill the will of the former leader, who died in 1994.

The young men explained that Schneerson wanted his followers to expand the holy site, which was also his home and is now the synagogue.

Young Chabad members were frustrated by synagogue leaders' perceived unwillingness to expand the site. They began to break down walls independently, connecting the synagogue, which already spans two buildings, with an adjacent third building currently in a legal dispute with Chabad leaders.

The unauthorized project came to light in December after neighbors' complaints and the synagogue leaders' intervention. However, tensions increased recently when workers arrived at the site to fill the illegal tunnel, and several youths tried to prevent it. The situation became so complex that the New York police had to intervene, and several people were even arrested due to the incident.

Shortly after, Chabad communications director Motti Seligson released a statement calling the youth "extremists" and criticizing that because of their actions, the building is now closed and awaiting a structural safety review.

Despite this, a Chabad tour guide noted that most members actually favor the expansion but criticized how the youth carried out the project. "Thousands of people come here every year. It's impossible for everyone to fit, especially during the high Holidays - we're talking about five, 10,000 people squishing into here. I've been here (...) It's very, very hard. Everyone knows that eventually the expansion is going to go this way," he stated.

Before his death, Rabbi Schneerson had left a doctrine for the expansion of the synagogue, which was his residence and today is considered a sacred precinct for the more than 90 thousand members of Chabad-Lubavitch.