MOSCOW (JTA) — The chief rabbi of a major Russian city was beaten and robbed near his home.
Isroel Zilbershtein, an American citizen and Chabad rabbi, was walking home Nov. 13 in Vladivostok when a man hit him in the head three times. The rabbi was knocked unconscious and found when he awoke that his laptop had been stolen.
Police in Vladivostok, Russia’s main port city on the Pacific Ocean, have opened a criminal case.
The rabbi said he did not think the attack was related to anti-Semitism, only that the attacker wanted his laptop computer.
After the attack, Zilbershtein made his way home and called an ambulance. He was taken to a hospital and treated for a broken nose and other injuries.
The next day he left Vladivostok for Moscow and then on to Paris, according to Jewish.ru.
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