Second attack on Jewish man in Kiev in one week

(JTA) — A Jewish man from Kiev sustained serious injuries in a knife attack by three men in the second assault on a Jewish person in the city in one week.

The victim of the stabbing on Saturday night was identified by Ukrainian media as Dov Ber Glickman, 28, student at a local kollel — a school of Talmudic studies for married men.

Glickman was attacked after exiting the Podolski synagogue. After the stabbing, he returned to the synagogue and was rushed to the hospital, where he is recovering, according to Rabbi Moshe Asman, a chief rabbi of Ukraine. Asman told the Israeli daily Maariv that Glickman suffered a massive loss of blood.

Police are searching for the attackers, who fled.

Last week, four unidentified men were involved in an assault on an Israel-born Hebrew teacher from Kiev, whom they followed from synagogue to his home. Three of the men attacked the teacher in the vestibule until neighbors responded to his cries. One of the men is in custody.

Mark Levin, executive director of NCSJ: Advocates on Behalf of Jews in Russia, Ukraine, the Baltic States & Eurasia, strongly condemned the violent attacks in Kiev targeting Jewish individuals.

“It’s disturbing that the incidents have happened on back-to-back Friday nights,” Levin told JTA Sunday. There is “growing concern” throughout the Jewish community in Kiev, he said, adding: “The atmosphere has certainly been changing over the last couple of months.”

Levin said the government and police must be convinced to provide greater security around synagogues and other Jewish sites in the city. He said he has spoken to the U.S. ambassador in Kiev, who is in touch with the Ukrainian government on the issue.

Levin said that following the most recent attack, the kollel students organized their own security patrol.