Friday, July 02, 2021
Community rallying around rabbi recovering from stabbing in Brighton
Community members are set to rally around a rabbi who is recovering at a hospital after being stabbed several times outside of a Hasidic center in Brighton on Thursday.
Rabbi Shlomo Noginski is said to be in stable condition at Boston Medical Center following the stabbing in the area of the Shaloh House on Chestnut Hill Avenue around 1:15 p.m.
People are set to gather on the Brighton Common at 10 a.m. Friday to show their support for Noginski, a father of 12.
Rabbi Dan Rodkin, who is the director of the Shaloh House, described the moments leading up to the attack of Noginski.
"What happened, he was sitting here at the steps and talking on the phone when the attacker came to him, and asked him to open the car," he recalled.
Rodkin said the alleged assailant, later identified by police as Khaled Awad, 24, of Brighton, took out a gun and tried to force Noginski into his own car. Fearing he might be abducted, the rabbi ran to the park across the street.
"Attacker tried to hit him dozens of times. Rabbi Shlomo was able to wrestle with him and to defend himself," Rodkin said. "He had about eight stabs in the arm and shoulder."
Paramedics responding to the scene rushed Noginski to the hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries, police said.
Officers tracked down Awad after the attack and placed him under arrest, police added.
He is expected to be arraigned in Brighton District Court on charges of assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon and assault and battery on a police officer.
Investigators say they did find a gun and a knife.
The Suffolk County District Attorney's Office released a statement that read, "We are actively investigating and intend to stand in solidarity with the Jewish community tomorrow morning to denounce this attack."
A summer program for elementary student was happening inside the center at the time of the attack but no children were hurt.
The Jewish community says they are shocked but that they are standing together for Noginski.
"We can share light and dispel a tremendous amount of darkness," Shaloh House Rabbi Ilan Meyers said. "We seek to continue to convey that message, especially in a situation of darkness such as this, that for all those out there, to go ahead and do acts of kindness, call up someone you haven't spoken to for a while, just be kind to your neighbor. And for the Jewish folk out there, be proud that you are a Jew."
AJC New England Regional Director Rob Leikind issued a statement adding, "This terrible crime underscores the sense of vulnerability that many in the Jewish community feel today. Anti-Jewish activism has become a viral menace. We are grateful to the Boston Police Department for apprehending the alleged perpetrator of this crime. Whether or not it is determined to have been a hate crime, it is a clear reminder of the mounting peril many of us feel today."
The motive of the attack remains under investigation.
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