Machete Attack on Hanukkah Celebration at Rabbi’s Home is Latest Anti-Semitic Attack in New York Area

By The Stream Published on December 29, 2019

A Hanukkah celebration at the home of a rabbi in suburban New York turned to terror last night when a man burst in and began attacking guests with a machete. Five people were injured before the assailant was forced out of the home. The Jewish organization Chabad reports guests threw a table at the man. 

His effort to enter the neighboring synagogue failed. He then fled the scene. The suspect was arrested two hours later in New York City. He is identified as Grafton E. Thomas, 37.

The condition of those injured has not been released. 

“I was praying for my life,” Aron Kohn, who was inside the house, told The New York Times. “He started attacking people right away as soon as he came in the door. We didn’t have time to react at all.”

The machete attack in Monsey, NY is the latest in a rash of anti-Semitic violence in the New York area. In addition to the recent massacre at a Jersey City kosher grocer, numerous Jewish people have been beaten on the streets of New York City. Three in Brooklyn on Friday alone. Friday’s attacked marked the ninth attack in NYC. The Hanukkah attack was the second in Monsey. Last month, a man was beaten and stabbed on his way to synagogue. 

The Hanukkah Celebration Went On

The violence did not deter worshippers. Saturday night’s attack took place at the home of Rabbi Chaim L. Rottenberg. Rabbi Rottenberg and his guests soon gathered at the adjacent synagogue for prayer and to continue commemorating the seventh night of Hanukkah. 

“The grace of God did not end,” they sang, “and His mercy did not leave us.”

We pray for the victims of Saturday night’s attack, protection for the Jewish people and that the rise of anti-Semitism will be stopped dead in its wicked tracks. 

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