A Baltimore rabbi was punched in the face on Saturday night near his house, but successfully ended the attack by drawing his handgun on his attackers, he told The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday.
Rabbi Emanuel Goldfeiz, who leads the Beit Yaakov Sephardi synagogue in Baltimore, was in the parking lot at 11pm on Saturday night when a masked individual “sucker punched [him] in the face,” he told the Post.
“It was so hard, my glasses fell off, my yarmulke fell off.
Rabbi Goldfeiz, 62, was knocked to the ground by the man, who then began striking him and snatched his car keys.
The suspect and his accomplice then attempted to start Goldfeiz’s vehicle but were unsuccessful. After being unable to start the car, the suspects tried to assault him again, [but] Goldfeiz drew his firearm and pointed it at one of the men.
“I told them don’t come close,” he recalled. “At that moment, I had a choice to shoot him, but I had rachmonus [pity] and decided he can live.”
Despite knowing Goldfeiz had a gun, the attacker hit him again, and then both fled on foot.
“The whole thing took under two minutes,” the rabbi told the Post.
Goldfeiz agreed with the police’s assessment that it was an attempted carjacking, and not racially motivated, given the individuals went straight to his vehicle. Carjackings are common, he said, and the “Jewish community is easy prey.”
Baltimore Jewish community should arm themselves, whatever it takes
He added that the community should arm themselves or whatever it takes to protect the community, but added that the community was lucky to have a local shomrim.
Baltimore Police said that Rabbi Goldfeiz possesses a valid handgun permit.
Baltimore Councilman Isaac Schleifer told Fox that the incident is being investigated by the police as an attempted carjacking, however, he added that “people feel emboldened to be committing these kinds of violent acts and attacks against Jewish people, and that needs to stop.”
The councilman also condemned the “brazenness of the incident” in a conversation with News 11. “They have no problem going and attacking, you know, an older person, somebody clearly who’s a person of faith. He was still dressed in all of his attire coming from synagogue and so it’s really very upsetting.”
Baltimore Rabbi Velvel Belinsky told News 11, “he was punched very, very hard, and I’m wishing him a speedy recovery.”
Schleifer also told Fox that there has been a surge of vehicle-related crimes in the area, with carjackings up by more than 20% compared to this time last year.
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