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Aguch Library Broken into, Two Bochurim Arrested

The library of Agudas Chasidei Chabad (Aguch), located adjacent to 770, was broken into this past Friday night by two Lubavitcher Bochurim. The Aguch Library houses a priceless collection of books and artifacts vital to Chabad history, most of which was amassed by the Lubavitcher Rebbes over several generations.

The break in was discovered Shabbos morning by a group of worshippers who conduct a minyan in the Previous Rebbe’s apartment during the high holidays. The perpetrators entered the premises by breaking through an upper floor window, cutting themselves in the process.

The two bochurim, one a Crown Heights local and the other Israeli, left a fairly large amount of blood and bloody fingerprints at the scene, making their identification an easy task for investigators.

They were arrested this morning and face charges of break in and entry.

Chabad officials said this is the first break-in the Aguch library experienced since Barry Gurary, the Previous Rebbe’s grandson, infamously smuggled away many of its books in the mid ‘80s.

The motivation for the break in is still unclear and is being investigated. Nothing is missing from the library’s collection and no sign of any intentional vandalism has been found.

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51 Comments

  • Show the faces

    Why don’t you show their faces? Others that will attempt this in the future will think twice before doing so! The kids who did this have no morals or respect for the Rebbe or Chabad.

  • Congradulation!

    Thanks to Crownheights.info for finally blurring the faces.

    No benefit will come out of ruining peoples names.

    • What is wrong with you???

      We SHOULD know who these lowlives are. I want to know their names, where they live, everything. They are nothing but common criminals & because they dared to attack the Rebbe’s library, presumably intending to steal (can these guys READ??) they deserve to be shamed. I think Crownheights.info is 100% wrong on this. They should be in cherem as well as in a jail cell.

  • from the info i got

    the bochrim themselves stepped forward on yom tov day and apologized for what they did, offering to pay for the damage they caused. they god drunk , :(, did something stupid, regretted it, and they apologized. let’s let them move on.

  • Why....

    Why would they do that to themselves?? And 2 the Jewish nation – what a chilul HaShem!

  • i dont understant

    because it aseres yemiai teshuva thats why we should ahve the names put up? to add to your losohn hara?

  • CHLEAKS.COM

    For more details go to chleaks.com

    The truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

  • No

    Dont post names and yes blur faces. These Bochurim may have done a terrible wrong but usually an arrest is enough to shake someone up to do serious Teshuva. If they make a turnaround there is no reason for their names to be completely ruined.

    What I dont get is, how were they identified by blood and prints? Is their DNA and fingerprints in the police system already?

    • In the know

      They were caught on video, fighting over a towel to stop the blood when these two losers cut themselves. Then they started throwing chairs & having a fight. Apparently it was hilarious! So that’s how the cops got the blood samples & DNA.

  • ??

    Why is it so easy to break in? The collections inside are priceless why is there no minimum security in place? An alarm? Something?

  • paul

    is that my soninlaw ephrayim the ganif satton ?? it sure looks like him and when he came for kiddush on shabbos to my barn his claws were bandaged

  • Unless these Bochrim

    have a very good reason for this they should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

  • the equalizer

    tell the community what braun told the baal tokeah on the second day of rosh hashana, a charpah and busha,find out people, ask for all the protim ,kick this sick man out of crown heights now.

  • moshe

    THIS IS A WAKE UP CALL # 16 IS CORRECT !00%

    WHAT”S GOING ON TWO KIDS ARE ABLE TO BREAK IN! JUST IMAGINE IF THEY BROKE IN WITH REAL INTENTIONS TO STEALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL

    WHERE IS THE LIBRARIAN AND ADMINISTRATION TO SECURE THE PLACE? MAYBE THEY SHOULD CHECK THEIR MEZUZOS?!

  • ch res

    number 6 .. please explain what does chilul hashem and crown heights have to do with each other ??? …
    any time a jew does something in any part of the world it is bad … the jewish people are the chosen people … when a jew does something they say ”’ that jew ”’ … not that person …
    so i feel you are making fun of crown heights and not because it is a jew …
    so maybe yes it is thank gd you do not live in crown heights …
    may be it is better you stay where you are ..
    the rebbe’s shechnah does NOT need people like you

  • ch res

    number 8 … if so why were they then arrested ??? … why was the apology not accepted ??? .. are we missing something from what you are trying to say ??

  • yea

    Blur the jewish faces but not the blacks.

    So let’s shame ppl who are not us, but hey, some jewish kids committed a crime, let’s blur them out and keep their names hush hush etc…

    This is completely racist and insensitive.

    • Milhouse

      Um, yes, there is a mitzvah of ahavas yisroel; perhaps you’ve heard of it in some obscure chassidisher sefer?

  • to #2

    we just passed rosh hashana and now ur saying that we should show the faces of two boys who didnt even think about what they were doing
    yes they should be ashamed and yes they have to think before they act but there is no reason to embarrass them in public
    you should always think before you speak because u never know what ur words can do to another person!!

  • not funny at all

    This past Friday night? Lubavitcher Bochurim?
    Not only were they drunk – against the Rebbe’s instructions, but they were so drunk that they were mechalel shabbos too?
    I hope they did teshuva and will educate other bochrim about the absolute STUPIDITY of drinking to drunkeness!
    Parents – teach your kids to drink responsibly – or it cv”s it could be your son next.

    • Milhouse

      Mashke is an essential ingredient at a farbrengen. How can you farbreng without it? Mashkin es habeheima lifnei hashchita. But one must not go overboard. The Rebbe said mashke is like spring water, and is metaher bemashehu. But you must have that mashehu!

  • Ohev Sholom

    To 16: yes there is an alarm, and it went off and alerted people from the library and the police right away. You want to donate to secure it like fort Knox? Contact Aguch.. ..

    • .16

      I obviously don’t know what actually happened, I was basing on this paragraph of the article:
      “The break in was discovered Shabbos morning by a group of worshippers who conduct a minyan in the Previous Rebbe’s apartment during the high holidays. The perpetrators entered the premises by breaking through an upper floor window, cutting themselves in the process.”

  • to # 2

    you want to know why they didn’t show there faces or who ever want to know \
    b\c those people don’t need there life to be ruined so they try to still book they stole book BAD but doesn’t mean they couldn’t change right? and they cant get married or live a life with nobody knowing the wrongs they have done

  • Play with Fire and You Will Get Burned

    My goodness, do they not realize one cannot steal the blessings! When you try, you make one “bloody” mess. If Jacob was given the wrong wife for his foolishness, can you imagine what these boyz will get in return for their desires? And, can you imagine what Gd was thinking when He was watching that foolisneness!

    It is much easier to get away with things when it is daddy but mess with Gd and things that are holy and you are playing with fire that will burn to the core.

    I’ve never met the Rebbe but I doubt he would have been angry over this incident and I imagine facing his kindness would probably be worse than anything the legal system could possibly do to these foolish ones!

    No need to get angry, Gd will handle it.

    Can’t help but wonder what Gd thinks when we act just as foolish.

    I say, let them spend a few days/nights in the Rebbe’s study with no alcohol. That will be worse than jail!

  • suri

    alcohol makes people do things they would not do if they were not drinking, I am sure they didnt mean to break in to the library, I am sure they learned there lesson by now, just going to jail is enough punishment for them, and I am sure they are doing tsuvah for what they did.

  • If drunk, is it murder?

    In late 2010, I was summoned to the jury pool – not picked, so I went home the same day. Years ago, you could be waiting there for 5 days, before getting picked.

    Anyway, the case involved a 16 year old kid (John Katehis), who murdered ABC radio host, George Weber. See –

    http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-20021060-504083.html

    The defence wanted to know the potential juror’s marital status and if they have children (When I answered,”ONLY five,” everyone chuckled, including an African security guard).

    It was interesting. The defence did not deny that his client commited the crime. The lawyer argued like this:
    “Have you ever been drunk? Have you ever seen your kids or your friends drunk? You know that when people are drunk, they are not themselves. What would you or your kid be like when drunk? You or your kid might do the same thing!”

    He was kind of putting the blame on Weber for getting his client drunk. “So, is it fair to ruin my client’s life by finding guilty of murder?”

    • Milhouse

      The answer is that it depends how drunk you were. If you were completely unaware of what you were doing, it’s not murder. But that wasn’t the case in that situation.

  • Okay, but...

    Okay, let’s say that someone was so drunk that it would not be considered murder, nor vandalism. Do we let the culprit(s) just get away with it?

  • YMSP

    Even with Barry Gurary, no one tried to ch”v arrest, just to get the books back. The lax way in which people treat mesirah today and ch”v ch”v arresting another yid – no matter how low or crazy – is the worst machaleh today by far. Rachomo Litzlan.

  • who says they were drunk

    This is their story. Does the video collaborate their version? It could very well be a (lousy) alibi. Odom muad liolam.