Hundreds of Boston residents gathered on Friday for a vigil and unity rally at the park where Shliach Rabbi Shlomo Noginski was stabbed the day before. Rabbi Dan Rodkin, director of the Shaloh House, asked participants to do eight good deeds, “one for each wound the rabbi sustained.”
By Anash.org reporter
Hundreds of Boston residents gathered on Friday for a vigil and unity rally at the park where Shliach Rabbi Shlomo Noginski was stabbed the day before, just feet away from the ‘Shaloh House’ Chabad House and school.
“The stabbing happened right here, where you stand,” said Shliach Rabbi Dan Rodkin, director of the Shaloh House. He was speaking to a crowd of Boston residents, elected officials, Jewish community leaders and Shluchim from across the city.
According to a report, Noginski was sitting on the front steps of the Shaloh House on his cell phone. The suspect approached him, drew a gun and asked Noginski to take him to his car. When the suspect attempted to force Noginski into the car, the rabbi tried running across the street to a small park called Brighton Common, where the suspect stabbed Noginski multiple times in the arm. As the rabbi tried to fend off the attacker he raised a commotion, finally causing the suspect to flee. The suspect was apprehended by police almost immediately.
The rally the next day had speakers denouncing the attack, and demanding that the Jewish people be afforded the same rights to freedom and safety as all Americans.
“Hate won’t divide us,” Kim Janey, Mayor of Boston, declared. “This is July 4 weekend, when we celebrate our independence and freedom. We all deserve the opportunity to live freely, and that is certainly true for our Jewish brothers and sisters.”
“The brutal stabbing of Rabbi Noginski was an act of hate and darkness,” Shira Goodman, the head of Combined Jewish Philanthropies, Boston, said, stressing that “this attack happened at a school where parents bring their most precious children.”
She continued: “This attack intends to scare us away from Jewish life, but it’s not gonna work. We will continue to lead a Jewish life, attend our synagogues and schools, and continue our important work to rid our great country of hatred and violence towards minorities, including the Jewish community.”
Also addressing the crowd were Rabbi Hirschy Zarchi, shliach to Harvard University and Rabbi Chaim Prus, Director of Chabad of Eastern Massachusetts, who led the participants in reciting Tehillim.
During his talk, Rabbi Rodkin asked participants to respond to the stabbing with acts of kindness.
“The motive of the attacker is still under investigation, but it was clearly an act of hate. He wanted to stab Rabbi Noginski many times, and he managed to stab him eight times,” he said. “I would like to ask everyone, that in the response to the eight wounds that Rabbi Shlomo received, each one of us should do eight good deeds.”
“It can be as simple as reaching out to a lonely neighbor,” he said. “If it ends up being more than eight that is no problem.”
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