Orthodox rabbi beaten with baseball bat in New Jersey town

[Behind the Aegis]

LAKEWOOD, New Jersey - A man wielding an aluminum baseball bat attacked an Orthodox Jewish rabbi walking to synagogue last week, critically injuring the 53-year-old man and threatening to strain the already tense ethnic relations in a New Jersey city, officials and residents said.

The beating of Mordechai Moskowitz, reportedly at the hands of am African-American man, has put residents on edge in Lakewood, a diverse city of 70,000 near the Jersey Shore that is home to a large Orthodox Jewish population, as well as black and Hispanic communities.

An Orthodox Jewish middle school teacher was found not guilty this summer of assaulting a black teenager. And a few weeks ago, a group of Orthodox Jews was pelted with eggs by teenagers from another town, The New York Times reported Thursday.
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Authorities have arrested no one and have no motive in the beating of the rabbi, police Lt. Joseph Isnardi said.

There's a very, very strong feeling of revulsion and horror that this attack happened here, said Rabbi Moshe Zev Weisberg, who belongs to the council of local Jewish leaders called the Vaad.

more...

[Ian David]

1. I'm sure Al Sharpton will show-up to help heal the wounds in the community.

:sarcasm:

[NOLALady]

2. Do you believe this because a black person was involved?

Who do you think would show up if the perpetrator was white? Or do you think that no one should try to help heal the wounds?

[liberaldemocrat7]

11. I called the Rabbi who leads the Rabbinical Council in Lakewood NJ

and expressed my outrage at the crime of beating a person and I also expressed a hope that Rabbi Moskowitz recover quickly and my sympathies to his family.

I left this message with a person who works with the Rabbi who leads the Rabbinical council.

[Ian David]

16. I grew-up watching Al Sharpton's handiwork. I know where of I speak.

Sharpton will go in there and throw fuel on the fire, as usual.

[dflprincess]

3. Is this what Coulter meant when she said Jews needed to be "perfected"?

n/t

[ikojo]

4. OMG!!! This is a very orthodox area of

New Jersey. I hope the rabbi comes through this OK and that the guy who beat him is prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law and that includes prosecuting it as a hate crime, if such statutes exist in Jersey.

Isn't this area near the Five Towns or part of the Five Towns? I know of Lakewood only because I am on an orthodox/baal teshuvah email list and one of the regular posters lives in that town.

[flyarm]

7. it is near Toms River, Bricktown, Seaside Heights, in Ocean County NJ

i live in Ocean county but further south.

so sad..so very sad.

and this is a hate crime!

fly

[flyarm]

8. Oh and yes it is a very orthodox Jewish area...eom

[rockymountaindem]

5. Holy cow

This is the first I've heard of any of this.

[roguevalley]

6. this is horrifying. just what we need. pogroms.

[AspenRose]

9. Totally unacceptable.

:mad:

[NorthernSpy]

10. this follows an assault by a group of Jews against a black honor student...

That attack went unpunished because the only witnesses were other Haredim, and they wouldn't testify against each other.

[liberaldemocrat7]

12. I don't care about the religion or race of the people in both crimes

and to refuse to testify based upon kinship appears criminal and immoral in my view.

[ikojo]

13. Not that it is right but refusing to talk to the cops

is not found only in this community. Here in the St Louis area cops are finding it very difficult to get people who witness shootings or are victims of shootings to say what they saw or who did the shooting. Perhaps not talking is out of fear of retribution.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

14. It's Sad To See Tension Between Two Historically Close Groups

Whatever the answer is I don't have a clue...

[NorthernSpy]

17. blacks and the Haredim aren't historically close...

In fact, the Haredim and other Jewish communities aren't necessarily on the best of terms, either.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

18. No... They Are Sadly At Each Others Throats

But Jews and African Americans have had historically good relations...

[LeftishBrit]

15. Horrible.