Rabbi Uriel Vigler of Chabad Israel Center on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, found himself at the receiving end of an anti-Semitic tirade Tuesday morning.
It started as Rabbi Vigler was heading off to Shachris just before 7:00AM. He was confronted on Lexington Avenue by an African American man who began to threaten and verbally assault him.
JTA reported the man first shouted “[EXPLETIVE] JEW” at the rabbi. He then followed Rabbi Vigler across the street where he remarked: “Are you nervous, are you scared?’”
Vigler said the man lunged at him as he neared the Shul. When the assailant noticed the Shul’s security guard, he turned around and called the rabbi “the devil.”
The anti-Semitic tirade did not faze the Rabbi, who began filming the man.
The perpetrator walked away without becoming physical, but the Rabbi did not let the incident go unreported. A police report was filed with the NYPD.
In response to the attack, Rabbi Vigler told the TPS news agency: “I thought we were living in peace and tranquility in Manhattan. We won’t surrender to terror. We will continue to act with alacrity and full of love for every Jew and we will continue to spread light to the world.”
Aside from the Chabad Center, Rabbi Vigler also serves as the director of the “Belev Echad” organization which services IDF soldiers who were wounded while serving in the army.
Rabbi Vigler shared the attached footage to Facebook, and wrote: “I was verbally assaulted (viciously) this morning on my way to pray Shachrit by this “human being.” My only crime is that I look like a Jew. If you know who this person is please let me know so I can include with the police report I will file today”.
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11 Responses
Foolish thing to do. He should have gotten far away as fast as possible from a violent man rather than make a film.
Why is he chasing the guy? And why is it relevant that he is Chabad?
A coward gets as far away as possible –
Someone who cares for others and puts his skin on the line takes a video to show authorities who can possibly prevent this thug from hurting someone else
Good job rabbi
ujm,
This is the only way to prosecute these creeps.
A “hero” can get himself killed. If the threat is to only himself, the most intelligent course of action is to flee the danger zone.
while in theory, I agree with what this Yid did, in reality it was foolish.
What was he hoping to accomplish here? This savage he was following could clearly have physically hurt him, and where would that have left him?
If you can bring a few more friends, and catch this savage in a dark alley, and make sure that only you and your friends walk out, now you’re talking. But this foolishness of running after him alone with a cell phone camera doesn’t help.
Kahane – It doesn’t seem like he was alone at the point of chasing him with the cell ; sounds like he’s already with the guard and pointing out the savage.
Slow, filming should have started from the first second the harrasment started, so far you have no proof to validate your claim.
He obviously only followed the man when he had the security guard at his side. He let the person know that he could get caught. It was a smart thing to do.
Rabbi Vigler was trained on the streets on Johannesburg SA. This won’t scare him.
People such as that black guy pick on Jews because they’re usually easy targets who won’t fight back. The Rabbi did the right thing. Maybe the harrasser will think twice before attempting a similar action. And so will others who see this news article or video.