UES Rabbi Says He Was Victim Of Anti-Semitic Threat: Report

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — An Upper East Side rabbi said he was the victim of an attempted anti-Semitic attack while he walked to morning prayers at his synagogue, according to reports.

Rabbi Uriel Vilger of Chabad Upper East Side told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that an unknown man called him a "f****** jew" and followed him as he walked to Chabad's East 77th Street synagogue before 7 a.m. Tuesday. At one point the man lunged at Vilger, but backed off when he noticed the synagogue's security guard, according to the report.

Vilger uploaded a video of the man he says threatened him to Facebook. In the video, which does not capture the complete interaction, Vilger asks the man to repeat what he told him, points him out to congregation security and calls the man an anti-Semite. As the man walks down the street he turns around and shouts "devil!" at the rabbi.

At no point during the video does the man try to physically attack Vilger. The rabbi told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that he felt he would have been attacked if it were not for security and that he plans to file a police report.

The rabbi told the Jewish news agency that the incident will not prevent him from continuing his work at the Upper East Side Chabad's Israel Center on the Upper East Side.

New York City's Jewish population has been disproportionately targeted as hate crimes occur more frequently in the city. Jews were the targets of more than half the 352 hate crimes reported in 2018 as of late December.