In the 17th century, the Zohar became the focus of study for a group of Jewish mystics who gathered in the Galilean city of Safed (Tzfat). Their innovative teachings about this text would, in turn, inspire the founders of Hasidism in 18th-century Poland. One of the most important treatises the Hasidim produced was the Tanya, an extended mystical discourse—deeply rooted in the Zohar and the teachings of the Safed school—composed by Shneur Zalman of Lyady, founder of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement.

Fast-forward to last week, when pictures and videos circulated on the Internet of a tumult taking place at 770 Eastern Parkway in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn, where the last of Shneur Zalman’s successors had a synagogue and office, and which remains a central and sacred site for his followers. The images of chaos—eventually diffused by the arrival of the police—and reports of subterranean tunnels played into the febrile imaginations of social-media anti-Semites. The fact that Hamas too has used tunnels, the QAnon-inspired obsession with (imaginary) secret child-sex-trafficking rings, and the age-old blood libel quickly fused into predictably deranged fantasies.

Chananya Groner lays out what actually happened, and the underlying religious dispute—which is far more benign and far more theologically interesting than an outsider might expect:

The incident involved an unauthorized and haphazard attempt by a group of students to expand the main Chabad synagogue, commonly referred to as “770.” . . . The tunnels, [perhaps better described as holes in basement walls], were access points to an area the students had been excavating. In subsequent statements, synagogue officials referred to the students as “young agitators” and “extremists.” Several well-placed sources within the Crown Heights Chabad community, however, have identified the tunnel-diggers as having a more distinct identity: the “Tzfatim.”

Named after the city of Tzfat—or Safed, Israel—from which many of these students hail, the group, and some others aligned with it, have a three-decade reputation for numerous incidents of violence and mayhem in and around the Chabad headquarters at 770. In the parlance of Chabad factionalism, they are said to be the most extremist among the meshikhist—or messianist—faction, believing that their late leader, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, is the messiah, and despite his death in 1994, is still meant to reappear as the long-awaited redeemer of the Jews. In fact, some deny his very death.

The underground excavations, it now appears, are the latest in a long string of incidents of anarchy and lawlessness by this group.

They are, needless to say, rejected by the group’s mainstream leadership, which has only partial control over the building itself.

Israel’s goals of freeing the hostages and defeating Hamas (the latter necessary to prevent further hostage taking) are to some extent contradictory, since Yahya Sinwar, the ruler of the Gaza Strip, will only turn over hostages in exchange for concessions. But Jacob Nagel remains convinced that Jerusalem should continue to pursue both goals:

Only consistent military pressure on Hamas can lead to the hostages’ release, either through negotiation or military operation. There’s little chance of reaching a deal with Hamas using current approaches, including the latest Egyptian proposal. Israeli concessions would only encourage further pressure from Hamas.

There is no incentive for Hamas to agree to a deal, especially since it believes it can achieve its full objectives without one. Unfortunately, many contribute to this belief, mainly from outside of Israel, but also from within.

Recent months saw Israel mistakenly refraining from entering Rafah for several reasons. Initially, the main [reason was to try] to negotiate a deal with Hamas. However, as it became clear that Hamas was uninterested, and its only goal was to return to its situation before October 7—where Hamas and its leadership control Gaza, Israeli forces are out, and there are no changes in the borders—the deal didn’t mature.