The Rav of the city of Orléans, about 74 miles southwest of Paris, was violently attacked in front of his son while returning from shul on Shabbos, French media reported.
The reports said that Rabbi Aryeh Engelberg was on his way back from the shul at 1:30 p.m., accompanied by his 9-year-old son, when the assailant attacked him, kicking and punching him and biting him on his shoulder.
A passerby intervened, and the attacker left the scene. Rabbi Engelberg filed a complaint at the Orléans police station, and the Orléans prosecutor opened an investigation for “intentional violence committed because of the victim’s religious affiliation.”
Yan, a resident of Orléans who witnessed the attack, said he saw the assailant giving the Rabbi “three or four violent blows.”
“I saw the attacker kicking the Rabbi’s hat,” he said. “He had blood around his neck, it looked like he was injured in his hand because he fought back.”
French police arrested the assailant, a 16-year-old minor, at 9:45 p.m. on Motzei Shabbos.
Orléans Mayor Serge Grouard condemned the attack in a statement he published on X and expressed his full support for the Rabbi, his family and the entire Jewish community.
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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3 Responses
European Jews should move to the United States.
Nu, we are in galus. It’s all OK
they should follow proper procedure following a rabid attack: the rabbi should be given a rabies shot, and the dog must be put down. there’s no way to cure a rabid animal, and no other way to prevent the spread of the disease.