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770 Eastern Parkway

(Redirected from Lubavitch World Headquarters)

770 Eastern Parkway (Yiddish: 770 איסטערן פארקוויי), also known as "770" ("Seven Seventy"), is the street address of the World Headquarters of the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic movement, located on Eastern Parkway in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. The building is the center of the Chabad-Lubavitch world movement and considered by many to be an iconic site in Judaism.[1]

770 Eastern Parkway
Agudas Chasidei Chabad
Yiddish: 770 איסטערן פארקוויי
Religion
AffiliationHasidic Judaism
RiteNusach Ari
Ecclesiastical or organizational status
Ownership
Year consecrated1940 (5700)
StatusActive
Location
Location770 Eastern Parkway, Crown Heights, Brooklyn, New York City, New York
CountryUnited States
770 Eastern Parkway is located in New York City
770 Eastern Parkway
Location in New York City
Geographic coordinates40°40′08″N 73°56′34″W / 40.669021°N 73.942870°W / 40.669021; -73.942870
Architecture
Architect(s)Edwin Kline
TypeResidence and synagogue
StyleCollegiate Gothic Revival
FounderThe Previous Lubavitcher Rebbe - Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok Schneersohn
Completed1920

History

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The house, in Collegiate Gothic Revival style, was built in 1920, designed by Edwin Kline, and originally served as a medical office.[2] In 1940, with the assistance of Jacob Rutstein and his son Nathan Rothstein, the building was purchased by Agudas Chasidei Chabad on behalf of the Chabad Lubavitch movement and as a home for Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok Schneersohn when he arrived in the United States in 1940.[3] Because Rabbi Schneerson used a wheelchair, a building with an elevator needed to be purchased for his use as both a home and as a synagogue.[4]

The building, which soon became known as 770,[5] became the hub and central location for Chabad during the 1940s.[6] It served as the main Chabad synagogue, a yeshiva, and offices for the Merkos L'Inyonei Chinuch. Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn lived in an apartment on the second floor.[4] When Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson arrived from Vichy France to New York in 1941, his father-in-law appointed him as chairman of Merkos L'Inyonei Chinuch. The younger Rabbi Schneerson's office was located on the first floor of 770, near the synagogue.

After Yosef Yitzchok's passing in January 1950, his son-in-law and successor, Menachem Mendel Schneersohn, continued to use his own office on the main floor to lead the movement, while maintaining his personal residence on President Street, several blocks away.[7] Yosef Yitzchok's wife remained resident in her apartment on the second floor until her death. Her two daughters would often visit her in her apartment, and during her lifetime the new Rebbe would conduct semi-private meals there for the family and selected visitors on festive occasions. Today, the previous Rebbe's apartment and office are closed to the public. Since 1994, Rabbi Menachem Mendel's office on the first floor is used on Shabbat and Jewish holidays as an additional prayer room open to the public during prayer times.

From its inception the synagogue has served three parallel purposes. It is a place of daily prayer services, a study hall for advanced students, and an assembly hall for Chabad gatherings, known as Farbrengens. Here the Lubavitcher Rebbe or elder Chassidim would address Chassidim and other visitors about Torah observance and Chassidic philosophy and practice.[8]

As the Lubavitch movement grew in the United States, the original synagogue became too small to house the chasidim and students who came to pray and study there. The synagogue was expanded in several stages. The first annex was added in 1960, with subsequent expansions taking place in the late 1960s and again in the mid-1970s. The synagogue then reached its current size. The original synagogue remains as a small study hall used by rabbinical students during the week. In 1988, Rabbi Schneersohn laid the cornerstone for an ongoing renovation project.[9] In 1991, 770 was the site of the Crown Heights riot between Orthodox Jewish residents and African American residents.[10]

Usage

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The original building is part of a larger block maintained by the Agudas Chasidei Chabad. This block includes the larger synagogue, a Kollel (Kollel Tiferes Zekeinim), and the community's library. It also houses the offices of the secretariat of the Lubavitch Movement and other offices.

770 is an iconic site considered holy by members of the Chabad movement. It attracts thousands of visitors from around the world every year.[1][11] The building is recognized as an Orthodox Jewish synagogue, which is open to all people, with a men's section on the ground floor and a women's section on the floor above it. On Shabbat and holidays, smaller prayer groups can be found congregating throughout the building, including the lobby and office used by the Rebbe within the original 770 building.

The synagogue's official name is "Congregation Lubavitch of Agudas Chasidei Chabad".

Stabbing incident

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On December 9, 2014, a little after 1:00 am, an individual with a documented history of mental health issues entered a synagogue and assaulted a student with a knife. Another student present reported that the assailant yelled threats during the incident. A police officer at the scene engaged with the assailant in an effort to detain him. The confrontation resulted in the officer discharging their weapon once, which resulted in the death of the assailant.[12][1][13]

Ownership dispute and discovery of unauthorized underground expansion

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Main article: New York City synagogue tunnel incident

Since at least the 2000s, the synagogue, located under 784 and 788 Eastern Parkway, has been subject to a dispute between the Agudas Chasidei Chabad (the umbrella organization for the worldwide Chabad-Lubavitch movement) and the Gabbaim, who are Messianic Chasidim and control day-to-day operations of the main synagogue.[14] Though a court ruling in 2006 decided that full ownership of 770 belongs to Agudas Chasidei Chabad, ongoing legal disputes have prevented either party from altering the structure.[14]

In December 2023, an unauthorized underground digging was discovered connecting the main synagogue to a nearby unused mikveh.[15][16] The New York Times reported that the tunnel was part of an attempted expansion of 770.[5] In response, Chabad leadership closed the women's balcony on the floor above until the tunnel could be filled in[16] and called in construction crews to flood the expansion with concrete.[17] When workers tried to fill the tunnel on January 8, 2024, clashes broke out between Chabad messianists, who tried to prevent the tunnel from being filled,[18] and the New York City Police Department (NYPD).[18] The NYPD arrested nine people,[19][20] and the building was temporarily closed pending a structural safety review.[21] Footage of the January 8 incident and tunnel went viral on social media.[22]

Building

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770 is the backdrop for the photo of Chabad rabbis taken annually during the Kinus

Main synagogue

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The building contains a stairway that leads to the main synagogue. The synagogue is underground, and is considered part of 770, although it technically is mostly under 784 and 788.

Central Lubavitcher Yeshiva

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The building contains a Yeshiva with approximately 1,000 students. The Yeshiva is a part of a group of Yeshivot called Tomchei Tmimim, started by the 5th Chabad Rebbe Sholom Dovber Schneersohn of Lubavitch.

Replicas

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Lubavitch Chassidim attach great significance to everything that played a role in the Rebbe's life; therefore, Lubavitch Chassidim all over the world have built replicas or near-replicas of the building.[23] These include replicas in Ramat Shlomo in Jerusalem and Kfar Chabad in Israel.[24] Other replicas include UCLA Chabad House at UCLA Los Angeles, California; Moshiach Center In Fort Lauderdale Fl, Chabad House at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey; Congregation Ahavat Shalom in Ocean City, Maryland; in Los Angeles, California; in St Kilda East, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne, Australia; in Milan, Italy; in Brazil; in Argentina; in Chile, in Kamianske, Ukraine; in Camp Gan Israel in Montreal, Quebec and most recently in Baltimore, Maryland.[citation needed] The Forward wrote in 2021 that there were an estimated 35 replicas of 770, most of which were Chabad Houses.[23]

Tzedakah boxes and mezuzah cases have been decorated with pictures of the building. Joseph Zakon Wineries in New York City makes a wine called "Seven-seventy". In the early 1990s, Chabad bar-mitzvah boys began using tefillin bags with an embroidered picture of seven-seventy.[25]

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    The Rebbe's place in the main synagogue at 770
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    Partial view of interior synagogue
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    Chabad Hasidim in the main synagogue at 770
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    The parochet at 770 Eastern Parkway
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    770 replica in Kfar Chabad, Israel
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    770 replica in Ramat Shlomo, Jerusalem
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    770 replica in Melbourne, Australia
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    Replica of 770 Eastern Parkway in Mitzpe Ramon, Israel
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    Replica of 770, Congregation Ahavat Shalom in Ocean City, Maryland
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    Replica of 770 at Chabad of Flushing under construction; Rendering on right.


References

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  1. ^ a b c Berger, Joseph (December 9, 2014). "Officer Fatally Shoots Man After Stabbing in Brooklyn Synagogue". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on June 16, 2022. Retrieved September 30, 2023.
  2. ^ Gopnik, Blake (October 17, 2006). "Illustrating That Looks Aren't Everything". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on October 25, 2012. Retrieved May 12, 2010.
  3. ^ "Friday, August 16, 2024 / Av 12, 5784 - Jewish Calendar - Hebrew Calendar". chabad.org. Archived from the original on December 20, 2014. Retrieved December 14, 2014.
  4. ^ a b Eldredge, Barbara (June 7, 2016). "This Crown Heights Building Has Doppelgängers All Over the Globe". Brownstoner. Archived from the original on May 22, 2022. Retrieved January 9, 2024.
  5. ^ a b Shapiro, Eliza; Rosman, Katherine (January 9, 2024). "Secret Synagogue Tunnel Sets Off Altercation That Leads to 9 Arrests". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on January 10, 2024. Retrieved January 9, 2024.
  6. ^ Young, Michelle; Pasquet, Augustin; Rives, T. M. (2017). Secret Brooklyn: An Unusual Guide. Versailles: Jonglez publishing. ISBN 978-2-36195-167-2.
  7. ^ Ehrlich, Mark Avrum; Ehrlich, Avrum M. (2004). The Messiah of Brooklyn: understanding Lubavitch Hasidism past and present. Jersey City, NJ: KTAV. ISBN 978-0-88125-836-3.
  8. ^ "Farbrengen Highlights: 10 Shevat 5732 - The "Farbrengen": A Chassidic Gathering with the Rebbe". chabad.org. Archived from the original on December 20, 2014. Retrieved December 14, 2014.
  9. ^ "Placing of the cornerstone at 770 - Program One Hundred Seventy Eight - Living Torah". chabad.org. Archived from the original on December 20, 2014. Retrieved December 14, 2014.
  10. ^ Mintz, Jerome R. (1992). Hasidic People: A Place in the New World (3. printing ed.). Cambridge, Mass London: Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-38115-5.
  11. ^ Mahler, Jonathan (September 21, 2003). "Waiting for the Messiah of Eastern Parkway". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on August 31, 2013. Retrieved September 30, 2023.
  12. ^ "Rabbinical Student Released From Hospital After Stabbing Inside Brooklyn Synagogue - CBS New York". www.cbsnews.com. December 17, 2014. Archived from the original on January 14, 2024. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  13. ^ Mitnick, Josh (December 10, 2014). "Victim in Synagogue Stabbing 'Feels Good,' Says Father". Archived from the original on January 14, 2024. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  14. ^ a b Gillott, Hannah (January 9, 2024). "Jewish tunnels: Why are Chabad hasidim digging under New York shul?". The Jewish Chronicle. Archived from the original on January 9, 2024. Retrieved January 10, 2024.
  15. ^ Keene, Louis (January 9, 2024). "Arrests at Chabad's iconic headquarters after students thwart attempt to fill secret tunnel". The Forward. Archived from the original on January 9, 2024. Retrieved January 9, 2024.
  16. ^ a b Rahman, Khaleda (January 9, 2024). "Secret tunnel under New York synagogue sparks chaotic scenes". Newsweek. Archived from the original on January 9, 2024. Retrieved January 9, 2024.
  17. ^ "Chaos ensues as NYPD tries to fill in secret tunnel in Chabad HQ synagogue". The Times of Israel. January 9, 2024. Archived from the original on January 10, 2024. Retrieved January 10, 2024.
  18. ^ a b Harpaz, Beth (January 9, 2024). "So why were those yeshiva students digging a tunnel at Chabad headquarters?". The Forward. Archived from the original on January 9, 2024. Retrieved January 10, 2024.
  19. ^ Somasundaram, Praveena (January 10, 2024). "Nine charged in brawl over attempt to close secret tunnel at NYC synagogue". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved January 10, 2024.
  20. ^ Offenhartz, Jake (January 9, 2024). "A secret tunnel in a NYC synagogue leads to a brawl between police and worshippers". AP News. Archived from the original on January 10, 2024. Retrieved January 10, 2024.
  21. ^ Swaminathan, Sneha (January 9, 2024). "US: Secret tunnel found under Brooklyn synagogue, wild riot breaks out as police make arrests. Video". WION. Archived from the original on January 10, 2024. Retrieved January 9, 2024.
  22. ^ Graziosi, Graig (January 9, 2024). "Riot breaks out after NYPD tries to seal secret synagogue tunnels in Brooklyn". The Independent. Archived from the original on January 9, 2024. Retrieved January 10, 2024.
  23. ^ a b Silverstein, Andrew (October 1, 2021). "How 770 Eastern Parkway became the world's most-recognizable Jewish building". The Forward. Archived from the original on July 28, 2023. Retrieved September 30, 2023.
  24. ^ Weingrod, Alex (1993). "Building 770 in Kfar Chabad: Changing Israeli Landscapes: Buildings and the Uses of the Past". Cultural Anthropology. 8 (3): 370–387. doi:10.1525/can.1993.8.3.02a00050.
  25. ^ "COL חב"ד און-ליין | בזכות הריקמה של 770 נמצאו התפילין". Col.org.il. Retrieved May 12, 2010.
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