770: A Mikdash or a Madhouse? Rabbonim Must Act Now

What happened today in 770 is beyond embarrassing. It’s a chillul Hashem of the highest order. Not once, but twice — in Shacharis and again in Mincha — the Rebbe’s shul was hijacked by fighting, screaming, and even punching. Yes, punching, inside the daled amos of tefillah, in the very place the Rebbe davened. The aron kodesh was closed mid-psicha, the gabbai stood helpless, mispallelim stood in shame, and police marched into 770 as if it were a street brawl.

Is this what we’ve come to? Is this the kavod of 770? Is this the kavod of the Rebbe? Every time this happens, every time the Tzfatim decide their shtick matters more than tefillah, the whole world sees Chabad as a laughingstock. What should be a place of kedusha has become a circus, and the price is the Rebbe’s honor.

Let’s stop pretending. This is not “mesirus nefesh.” It’s ego. It’s power. It’s selfishness dressed up in chassidishe slogans. To sing Yechi during psicha and then start fights when told to stop? That’s not love of the Rebbe — that’s spitting in the face of the Rebbe’s kavod.

And we, the community, stand by while 770 becomes a battleground. Guests walk in and see chaos. Bochurim grow up thinking violence in a beis midrash is normal. The chillul Hashem echoes around the globe. Enough is enough.

This is no longer just “bochurim shtick.” This is no longer just noise. When mispallelim cannot finish davening without a police presence, when an aron kodesh is opened and closed in chaos, when fists fly where tefillos should rise — we must admit: the situation is out of control. And it cannot continue.

So we are asking — no, we are demanding: where are the rabbonim? Where are the leaders? How many more days can 770 run like a hefker beis ha’medrash, without order, without discipline, without responsibility? How long will the name of Chabad be dragged through the mud while the Rebbe’s mikdash me’at is turned into a boxing ring?

The Tzfatim have proven, time and again, that they will not stop themselves. They do not respect the gabbai, they do not respect tefillah, and they do not respect the kehilla. They shout “mesirus nefesh,” but what they practice is selfishness, arrogance, and violence.

It is time — past time — for our rabbonim and our battei dinim to come out with a clear, united psak and a firm reprimand. Not vague statements. Not soft words. But a declaration that this chillul Hashem, this fighting, this disrespect for tefillah, is assur and will not be tolerated.

And words must be followed by action. Real enforcement. Real accountability. If necessary, trained personnel to keep order. Because without order, 770 will not be a mikdash me’at. It will be remembered as a madhouse. And that is the greatest chillul Hashem of all.

We owe it to the Rebbe, to ourselves, and to klal Yisrael to restore kavod and kedusha to 770. The time for silence is over. Rabbonim, hanhala, leadership: the kehilla is waiting for you to stand up and act.