Chabad Rabbi Placing Tefillin Punched In The Eye At Mahane Yehuda: ‘It Won’t Deter Me’

JERUSALEM (VINnews) — In the wake of unprecedented incitement against charedim in Israeli media outlets in recent months, the number of physical attacks on charedim has also seen a worrying rise.

On Monday, Rabbi Ariel Yehuda Leshem, a chabad chasid, was placing Tefillin at a booth in the Mahane Yehuda market when he was assaulted without any provocation and punched in the face, causing him to suffer an eye injury. After he was transferred to the opthalmology department in Hadassah hospital, he was described in good condition and was set to be released Wednesday.

Rabbi Leshem was formerly a tank commander and outstanding combat soldier who served in special tasks in Lebanon. In 1987, a terrorist fired a shot right above his head in Lebanon and Rabbi Leshem says the punch “won’t deter me, I’ve seen worse and more scary things.”

Rabbi Leshem says that the man had been leaning on the booth table “very hard” and he had asked him politely not to lean so that the table wouldn’t fall over. “In response the thug punched me in the left eye and ran away…I went by myself to the hospital.”

Rabbi Leshem added that his eye had “suffered damage but doctors say that with rest it will pass.” He insisted that “we will not be deterred and will continue our work. Here in the hospital I continued to place Tefillin on Jews.