hate crime

'Never Ever Be Afraid': Jewish Leaders Urge Persistence in Wake of NY Attacks

A string of violent, sometimes deadly attacks has the community on edge

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A recent rash of anti-Semitic attacks in New York and New Jersey has the region's Jewish community on edge, but their leaders have a message: keep the faith.

Saturday night's rampage at a crowded rabbi's home in the Orthodox community of Monsey, New York, left five people with stab wounds and a populace of hundreds of thousands struggling for answers.

But a message of hope from a leader of the Chabad movement late Saturday night quickly went viral.

The message from Rabbi Mordechai Lightstone, who handles social media for Chabad, was liked more than 1,000 times in the middle of the night and shared widely.

He was not alone with the message that the Jewish community had to persevere in the face of the attacks -- which have left more than a dozen people dead or injured across New York and New Jersey in just the last three weeks.

"We have to continue shedding light as we celebrate Hanukkah," Chabad Rabbi Shmuel Gancz told the Jerusalem Post in the wake of the attack.

Multiple people were stabbed at the home of a rabbi in Monsey, New York, Saturday

The CEO of the Anti-Defamation League called for increased protection for Jewish communities in the wake of the Monsey attack.

"Whether worshiping in synagogue, shopping in the supermarket or celebrating at home, Jews should be safe from violence," Jonathan Greenblatt tweeted.

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