Jews along with the local Chabad Shaliach, Rabbi Eliezer Gurary, were expelled from a shul in Krakow, as several local thugs assisted nefarious individuals in taking over the area’s only chareidi shul.
Security guards barred worshipers affiliated with Chabad Shaliach from entering the Shul amid a property dispute between the Chabad Shaliach and the city’s separate Orthodox Jewish community.
According to published reports, the Jewish community positioned local non-Jewish thugs at the entrance to the shul to watch the site and prevent Chareidim and those affiliated with the Chabad Shliach from entering the Shul.
According to some residents, it reminded them of some dark days in Jewish history.
According to a report by BeChadrei Chareidim, the shul is the only religious one in the area and the local kehilla that controls considerable property in Krakow did not agree to leave the shul to Rav Gurary – who is the area rav and Chabad shaliach – since he did not agree to permit using the site for business, but insisting it remain a shul and beis medrash.
Members of the Jewish community on Monday morning hired a number of Polish thugs to make sure no one entered the shul. They changed the locks and eventually, surrounded the building to make sure it was under control.
Ovadia Tschafsky, a businessman and Krakow resident, is quoted telling BeChadrei about the drama taking place. “I daven in the shul regularly, and this morning, I was surprised to find it was closed. Last Shabbos, they cut off our electric to force us to leave the place, the only chareidi Shul here”.
Ovadia added “the contract to use the shul ended a year ago, and there is an ongoing case in a court regarding how much the rav has to pay to use the building, but they simply threw us out and brought thugs to guard the place so we do not enter. They are demanding 50,000zloti (NIS 47,799) a month while others are paying half that sum and they are only asking other synagogues to pay NIS 2000 zloty. This is simply because we refuse to convert the shul to a debauchery”.
Rav Gurary released the following message: “We did not wish to have this story publicized but certainly it will be read from another source. We had a rent contract with the Jewish kehilla for ten years, for Beit Knesset Isaac in Krakow, and the contract states that after ten years, if there are no violations of the contract, it automatically renews for another ten years.
“The kehilla has decided that it now wants a very high rent, of 25,000 zloty a month, and we of course refused. The attorney who we have hired told us that we do not have to pay the sum because it is an illegal request. This morning, the kehilla hired thugs and locked the doors of the shul”.
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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17 Responses
Don’t get it. At one point the article says “dispute between the Chabad Shaliach and the city’s separate Orthodox Jewish community” indicating there is an Orthodox community other than Chabad. Then the article states “the shul is the only religious one in the area”. Which is it? Is only Chabad considered religious and no one else?
I suppose religion is a sport. the battles and wars are continuing to the chagrin of go-d or to the happiness of go-d
Regardless unification requires agreement and abide
Hence the prayers and times to pray are supposed to have enough uniformity for all of the community to be on the same page
Shame on the landlord and whomever else is causing a chilull hashem
Long life and kiddush hashem is all our actions should before !
Shalom
Seems like overkill against some chareidim. Maybe Chabad should hire their own thugs and let the shkatzim fight it out.
if they have full rental of the shul just call in the police
I was just there recently. I davened in the Ramah’s shul which is a 5 minute or less walk from this Chabad shul. There is however a small grocery store in the Shul which could be based on the article the point of contention? There is a desk right after the entrance that sells little Jewish trinkets. Based on what I read it seems that it was only supposed to be used as a Shul for Davening. There are meals served in the back room.
It is common for there to be disputes between Habad-Lubavitch and local kehillos like this.
What is actually going on needs to be investigated. One cannot rely on sensationlistic “shocking” reports and images from just one side.
May we be zoche that the truth is soon revealed and peace is achieved.
This Shull is not a Chareidim shull it’s a business shull
Chabad makes mix concerts there
Sales tickets for shows and for entering the shull
Chabad didn’t pay the rent for the space
There is the ramu shull and it is open for Davening all the time
Don’t believe a word from this article
“Chabad should hire their own thugs and let the shkatzim fight it out.”
Chabad already has their “own” thugs. They’re called tzfatim. Maybe they could leave 770 and put down their yellow flags and go help out Rabbi Gurari.
But that won’t happen because I know Rabbi Gurari and he is a choshuva yid.
I’m crying, what a chilul Hashem. And YWN once again your headline is misleading!!
Unfortunately, this is not the only place in the world where Chabad has come in and clashed with an existing community. Often the locals simply do not understand what Chabad perceives its mission to be. To the locals, a Synagogue is just that, a place to hold services, not a catering business or a place where tourists can buy otherwise unavailable kosher food, or a venue for “cultural events”, aka lectures, aka shiurim. There are Chabad Houses all over the world that are effectively businesses, except that the profits go to the shaliach, not the locals.
Yeshivishrockstar: “Chabad already has their own thugs. their called tzfatim”
Your statement is a סתירה מיניה וביה – On the one hand you write “Chabad”, and on the other, you write “tzfatim” indicating yourself that they are not by definition ‘Chabad’ (by giving them a different name) the truth is, that it is debatable whether they in fact Lubavitchers…. they do not come from Lubavitch families, they have never seen the Rebbe, and most of them don’t follow the Rebbe’s most basic horoas such as Shlichus or Mivtzoim etc. but this isn’t the correct place to elaborate….
And for anyone who wants a more comprehensive treatment of this story (of the eviction from the Chabad House) , you can get more details on Collive or Chabadinfo.
ובכן, אלו הטענות שמציגים אנשי הקהילה, על ידי בא כוחם עורך הדין איתן צחי:
לטענת אנשי הקהילה, “הרב המקומי לא גורש, יהודים לא גורשו, הפולנים אינם מעורבים בסכסוך זה, שהינו כספי ותו לא, סכסוך בין הקהילה ולבין חב”ד ובראשו הרב אליעזר גוראריה. עניינו של הסכסוך בהקשר אי תשלום דמי שכירות, וזכות הארכת תקופת שכירות”.
זאת ועוד, “הטענה כי בית הכנסת שהחזקה בה חזרה לקהילה, היא היחידה הפועלת אינה נכונה, תפילות מתקיימות יום יום ובשבתות בבית כנסת הרמ”א, בית כנסת אורתודוכסי המיועד מאז ומתמיד לתפילת יהודים דתיים, מסורתיים, וחרדים, מוזמנים להיווכח”.
עוד טוענים אנשי הקהילה, כי “המקום שהושכר לחב”ד שימש על ידם בין היתר לפעילות עסקית, מסעדות פיצה ופלאפל, וגביית דמי כניסה מתיירים, הם לא העבירו שקל לקהילה”.
“השוכרים, חב”ד, לא שילמו דמי שכירות, לא חיובי מים – חשמל, ועוד”, הם מוסיפים לטעון.
לסיום, טוענים אנשי הקהילה בפולין כי “משהפנו המשכירים את השוכרים לעובדת הפרת ההסכם, עם דרישה ולהתדיין בפני בית דין יהודי הפוסק כפי ההלכה, חב”ד סירבו ופנו לבית משפט מקומי, אשר פסק כי עליהם לשלם דמי שכירות ואף דחה תביעתם בהקשר תקופת השכירות”.
Jerusalem observer – so in other words, we should have like nothing. Either reform, conservative or orthodox. No kosher food if there isn’t any. No community events. No learning. Just an empty shul that a few seniors show up to, and then whine and accommodate intermarriage before everything else starts looking exciting?
zvimalik:לא לפי “ג’רוזלם פוסט” או “ערוץ שבע”, הטוענים כי הקהילה היהודית סוגרת את החשמל והמים וכו ‘כדי להדיח את היהודים.
jdf007: No, I am not saying that at all. What I am saying is that sometimes when you muscle in on other peoples territory they resent it. Many of the “Shluchim” in Europe, West and East, are Israelis who simply do not accept that there are societal rules that need to be kept. If the Chabad contract in Krakow said no business activity in the building, that was what it meant. If you want to start a restaurant business, or open a food store, rent commercial premises next door and carry on your business there. Same goes for a souvenir shop. The Rema Shul nearby is open and has orthodox minyonim. It is also not part of a messianic cult.
chabad has had a number of run-ins as they have been known to try to claim ownership of Jewish properties throughout Europe and elsewhere. their reputation on these matters is not stellar
@Jerusalem Observer: Wow, I never would’ve guessed that so many people are jealous of Chabad Shluchim – but then again, this is after all a Litvishe forum so I should’ve expected it…. Maybe, before believing all the lies you hear about Chabad in The Mir, or whatever Yeshiva it is that’s pretentious enough to give you the impression that you’re a “Jerusalem Observer”, you first research things yourself and learn the truth – unless of course it’s below your dignity to step out of your stuck-up bubble and learn things the way they really are…. the Chabad that you don’t believe in, is not the same Chabad as the one I do believe in.
You have a perverted mindset, the product of an indoctrinated education. Open your eyes and see the truth. Chabad does and has done so much for the world for the past 50+ years, and understandably, there are those that will refuse to appreciate it, regardless of all the proof that is laid out on the map. Just make sure that next time you’re stuck somewhere, to attend the nearest reform temple, because, of course, anything is better that davening by a “messianic cult”….