Police are searching for two suspects who shot and killed a Brooklyn rabbi while he was walking to Shul in North Miami Beach on Shabbos morning.
Miami-Dade Police said 60-year-old Joseph Raksin was walking on the 800 block of NE 175th Street around 9 a.m. when two young males approached him. Raksin was shot during the altercation.
Raksin was airlifted to Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center where he died.
Police said Raksin was heading to Bais Menachem Chabad, a synagogue located a few blocks away from where he was shot. The rabbi, who lives in New York, was in town visiting his daughter and grandchildren, who live in the neighborhood.
The two suspects fled the scene, one on a bike and one on foot, according to police. Police do not yet have a good description of the shooters, and say there are no signs that this was a hate crime.
Neighbors, however, think this could have been racially motivated, referencing a swastika that had been painted on a synagogue down the block two weeks ago.
The neighborhood is in a heavily-populated orthodox Jewish community with 11 synagogues in the area.
(Source: NBC New York)
Join the official YWN WhatsApp status
24 Responses
Baruch Dayan Emes!!
This is ridiculous you can’t even breathe anymore
BDE.
Please correct headline, last name is Raksin not Raskin.
The local police refuse to follow up on all crime, against jews including armed robberies – I can name two armed robberies and 10 home invasions that they’ve explicitly said “no” to actually following up. This was bound to happen. There is zero follow up and When the perps are indeed caught red handed – zero consequences.
There is free reign for crime down here
we don’t know why this happened but anti-semitism is rising rapidly
Maybe Start shomrim
ArmedJew: Please disarm – yours is not the way of the Torah.
The idea that this is the fault of local law enforcement is in direct conflict with our emunah and bitachon. Of course, this is a horrific incident, which serves to remind us (apparently, we need a reminder) that we are still in galus.
The fact remains that Rabbi Raksin’s time had come.
This is not my view; listen to the words of Rav Moshe Feinstein.
A butcher in the Lower East Side of Manhattan had been brutally murdered in his butcher shop. At the levaya, one of the maspidim blamed NYPD for the crime, since they did not provide adequate protection. Rav Moshe followed that speaker, and denounced their view. He stated quite forcefully (at the levaya, in public) that the butcher’s death had nothing to do with the police – if he had not been murdered in his store, he would have died AT THE SAME TIME in a different way.
Of course, this is a devastating story; our reaction, however, should not be to arm ourselves or blame others. We should respond (as the NMB community has already begun to do) with a strengthening of Torah and Mitzvos. “ArmedJew” is not our way; אם השם לא ישמור עיר שוא שקד שומר. Our way is introspection and real self-improvement, along with tefillah. אחינו כל בית ישראל וכו.
any description of the perps yet? i’m sure we’re all gonna be shocked when the sketch comes out.
Baruch Dayen HaEmmes.
I pray that Hashem give the family the strength and courage to get through this period.
May his neshomo have an aliyah.
HaShem Yakum damov.
Since YWN repeats, rather than reports, the news, why isn’t it mentioned here that the murderers were black?
BDE
Not a hate crime? If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck then it must be a …..chicken?
/
#7 Please go back and read #4 comments and notice he didn’t mention that “the police are at fault for the murder.” He said there is not “follow up”.
Also you have real chutzpa to tell someone living in a very dangerous neighborhood to not arm and protect himself and family when someone has been gunned down on the street, when armed robberies and burglaries are happening every day and Jewish youth are being held up at gun point (happened 3 weeks ago on my block).
Like my self and #4, do you live in North Miami Beach????
If not then please go back to bed and stop giving mussar handouts OR perhaps be really productive and contact your local shmira or even hatzala and tell them to stop and put down their sirens and walkies because they are wasting their time and effort at trying to be proactive in their histadlus to protect and save Jewish lives because its all a “direct conflict with our emunah and bitachon.” I think Israel, the IDF and the mistara over there have lesson’s to learn from you and the totally out of context hesped you are using from Harav Moshe Feisenstein.
Rav Moshe said its not right to blame anyone, he didn’t say not to try and protect ourselves.
And if you do live in NMB you still have no right to tell your neighbors how to try and protect themselves.
Is this part of the Ikvisa Di Mashiach! Every Jew when they wake up in the morning should be ready to give up there life to sanctify the name of Hashem! NOW WE MUST SCREAM בוראה עולם! This is a WAKE UP CALL! We must continue to strengthen our אמונה and do מצות and learn the תורה! WAKE UP! ה׳ הוא האלוקים! אין עוד מלבדו
In reply to catch yourself-
Lets not get ahead of ourselves. While I trust that Rav Moshe ztl said that, I think you are jumping to assume you know the meaning. Te rambam in his letters criticized the Jews for not learning to fight and defend themselves. Avraham avinu used military strategy and defeated the kings , he didn’t just daven. Time after time after time in tanach and chazal we see the concept of preparing and also davening. Yaakov avinu prepared for war with his brother but also davened, was yakov wrong? Was avraham wrong? Should the idf not exist because we can just daven?
Before attacking Armed Jew consider that he is in line with this concept and he was not taking davening out of the equation. The aibishter runs the world and we still have to do our hishtadlus.
Another NMB hate crime. Our car was swastika’d just saw it.
The way of the Torah is to fight Amalek. You don’t fight Amalek by davening that they should go away. Yes, Moshe Rabeinu (and only Moshe) did that but that’s because his davening actually meant something instead of simply saying words in Hebrew without much thought.
“There is free reign for crime down here”
I was quite surprised when I looked up the crime statistics for Miami Beach. Compared to New York City, it has a higher homicide rate, roughly double rates of assault and robbery, and triple rates of sexual assault. This despite a police force that is larger per capita.
To Catch Yourself:
You are totally off base. Yes, everything is from HKB”H. Ultimately it was so ordained by Hashem. Nobody questions that. But to say that we should not demand answers, police protection, investigations or blame the police if they are neglecting their obligations is ridiculous. When there was a kidnapping and murder in Williamsburg a few months ago, there were also blame and demands for investigations by the Rabbonim of the community. Evidently they don’t agree with you.
The Torah tells us ushmartem es nafshoseichem. We must demand the proper protections of the police and government, do what we can ourselves to live right, watch ourselves and protect ourselves. Not to stick our heads in the sand and just throw our hands up and say it was Hashem’s decision. I don’t negate that ultimately it comes down to that, but we need to get angry and put blame, if required, where it belongs.
Would you leave your doors unlocked, let your kids roam the streets unsupervised etc… and say – it is okay if Hashem wants it to happen it will happen anyway!. The gemoreh tells us repeatedly not to be somech al hanes. We have an obligation on this world to do everything we can to safeguard ourselves and protect Jews everywhere, and where tragedies happen to demand answers. The rest is in HKB”H’s hands.
His last name is RASKIN, not Raksin.
Catch Yourself: I don’t think there was anything wrong with what ArmedJew said. ArmedJew did not say to arm yourself against these people or that the police caused his death. He said they don’t follow up after when these incidents happen. I am happy that you wrote the insightful words of Rav Moshe that we should not blame others for the death of someone else but instead we should know that “it was their time” to go and it would have happened either way. We do not know the situation with the butcher and what the relationship this one Maspidim had to the Niftar but I must say this is a very high level to attain so quickly for the average peron who has lost someone close to them. The emotions and thoughts that the mourner and even close relatives and friends have for the loved one usually goes through many days of anger, sadness, guilt and regret. Obviously we know whatever happens is Hashem’s will but for most people this level takes a while to attain.
I’m sure that commenter meant well. His comment was just not very applicable to my post or this situation.
This whole town is ma’aminim b’nei ma’aminim, each on their own madreiga, you don’t have to worry about bitachon here. We live under seige, and everyone knows who really protects us.
But there’s also hishtadlus. You don’t have to have an arsenal of various weapons to do your histhadlus – a mere handgun will do. A cell phone is NOT sufficient here. The police here will NEVER prevent a crime here. (nor do they have to according to the SCOTUS)
And when chas veshalom it does happen, and hashem sends the boat and then the helicopter – as per the well known mashal – you’ll deny both in the name of “it was meant to happen”? I don’t think so.
When it looks like rain, you bring an umbrella with you.
It doesn’t look like rain down here, it is pouring.
TO asw: Actually, the Torah does not tell us anywhere “ushmartem es nafshoseichem”, as you state.