MONSEY, NY –
The Jewish community in Monsey, NY woke up on Sunday to what some members call a "new reality," hours after a man went on a stabbing rampage during a Hanukkah celebration at a rabbi's home.
There were about 100 people in Rabbi Chaim Rottenberg's home that evening, but luckily many had already left when the attacker came. Several people were injured, and one person remains in critical condition.
"I was praying to God so that my life would be spared," 65-year-old Aaron Cohen told Israel Hayom. "The attacker stormed the house, took out a machete the size of a broom from his bag and just started stabbing people. We had no time to react."
The suspect, who is reportedly mentally ill, was identified as Thomas Grafton, 37. He lives about 20 miles from Monsey, in Greenwood Lake, NY. He was arrested on Sunday.
Josef Gluck, 32, was also at the Hanukkah event and has been hailed as a hero for his quick thinking, which may have saved lives. Realizing that the attacker was after him, he went into the main living room where the celebration was taking place, and shouted, "Run, he's coming after you!"
Rabbi Yisroel Kahan, a local Jewish leader, told Israel Hayom that he was among the first to be called to the scene, as he lives nearby. "People are scared; we are all in shock," he lamented. "We are glad that the police managed to catch him, this means that we can at least sleep at night."
Kahan could not attribute the latest spate of attacks on American Jews to anything specific. "We can't explain this, we have a new reality of anti-Semitic attacks and we have to deal with it by placing cameras, locking the doors to synagogues and beefing up security," he said. "I am constantly in touch with the police, the FBI and the Israeli consulate. It has dawned on all of us that things are different now, and this requires a completely new assessment."
Chaim Cohen, who also lives in Monsey, seemed undeterred. "I am still convinced that the US is safer than Israel, but we have to arm the community with guns," he said.
Yoni Hersch contributed to this report.
