Several devices were detonated outside two rabbis’ homes in Rockland County, New York on Tuesday night and ignited fires.
According to reports, on the evening of August 9, a device exploded in New City under a car parked outside the home of Rabbi Simcha Morganstern, an associate rabbi at the Chabad of Rockland. Moments later, a similar attack took place one block away in front of the home of Avremel Kotlarsky, the director of Chabad of Rockland.
No-one was injured in the small blazes that resulted. Kotlarsky described the explosions as “coordinated” and a “premeditated hate crime.”
About 15 adults and children were gathered at Morganstern’s house when the incendiary device was set off under the gas tank of a parked car at about 10:30 p.m. on Tuesday.
The Anti-Defamation League condemned the incidents. "We are outraged by this shocking incident in what appears to be the alleged targeting of two prominent rabbis, and we join with local leadership, including the Jewish Federation of Rockland County, in strongly condemning this brazen act of violence,” said Evan R. Bernstein, New York regional director of the organization.
