Monsey, New York, stabbing: Another apparent anti-Semitic hate attack. When will it stop?

Lighting the menorah candle is an act of celebration in the Jewish faith, central to the eight days of Hanukkah, the festival of lights.

Late Saturday, during the midst of that simple act of tradition and fellowship, a man wielding a long knife entered the home of Rabbi Chaim Rottenberg, the Kossoner Rebbe of Monsey, New York, and launched a vicious attack on those who had gathered inside, wounding five people, and at least two critically.

Horribly, unbelievably, Saturday’s attack comes on the heels of a spate of recent acts of violence in the New York metropolitan area that may be viewed as anti-Semitic or of targeting Jewish communities, and in a time when home-grown domestic terrorism is on the rise.

Indeed, New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal said suspects in a shooting at a kosher deli in Jersey City earlier this month that left three victims dead “held views that reflected hatred of the Jewish people, as well as the hatred of law enforcement.”

When, we wonder, will it stop? When will we come to a better place, a place where groups, faith-based and otherwise, are able to go about their life and religious activities without being targeted by violence?

Forshay Road in Monsey, near where several people were stabbed at a synagogue Dec. 28, 2019. (Photo: Peter Carr/The Journal News)

Buildup of hate

Moses Kahan, an Orthodox Jewish community activist in New York and New Jersey, acknowledged that there’s been a buildup of hateful words across the region.

“The hate, negativity and lies targeting Orthodox Jews is part of the problem, as is anti-Semitism in general,” he said. Kahan expressed frustration with New York City authorities, saying they had not taken the threat as seriously as they should.  

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who said Sunday that Rottenberg’s son was among the victims of Saturday’s incident, rightfully denounced the attack, which he described as the 13th incident of anti-Semitism in the past few weeks.

“This is an intolerant time in this country,” Cuomo said. “We see anger, we see hatred exploding. It is an American cancer in the body politic.”

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