Rabbi Rafi Goodwin was evacuated to the hospital after being attacked outside his shul in Chigwell, a town northeast of London, on Sunday, Erev Shavuos.
Goodwin, the assistant Rabbi at the Chigwell & Hainault United Synagogue, was attacked by two young thugs who ambushed his car and shouted anti-Semitic epithets, the police said. He suffered cuts to his head and a suspected concussion after being assaulted with an “unknown item.” His phone was also stolen during the attack.
The two assailants, 18 and 25, were arrested by police on Sunday afternoon.
“Please pray for my dear friend and colleague Rabbi Rafi Goodwin who has been brutally attacked this morning near to his synagogue in Chigwell,” tweeted Rabbi Moshe Freedman, the shul’s security officer. His name for tefillah is Yirmiyahu Pesach ben Kreina Devorah b’toch sha’ar cholei Yisrael.
The assault happened on the same day that an anti-Semitic convoy decorated with Palestinian flags drove down a street in North London blasting extremely offensive anti-Semitic messages, including calling for the murder of Jews and assault of Jewish women.
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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3 Responses
I live there. It was a road rage, not an antisemitic attack. Except, of course, if every attack that’s carried out against a “Semite” counts as an Antisemitic attack.
And they shouted antisemitic epithets
Seems antisemitic to me
And road rage is perfectly safe? And calling for the attack of women?
This young rabbi spent 2 day significant holiday in the hospital. Concussion how awful! Wishing him a speedy and full recovery. So sorry for his wife and children enduring this.