Each of the explosions took place in front of the rabbis’ family homes, just a block away from one another.
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Police are investigating after fireworks exploded outside the homes of two rabbis in Rockland County this week, police say.
According to reports, at about 10:30 p.m. Tuesday, a device exploded in New City under a auto parked outside the home of Rabbi Simcha Morganstern, an associate rabbi at the Chabad of Rockland.
“It’s obviously premeditated”, Rabbi Avremel Kotlarsky, whose home was also struck, told Hamodia. One of the males, the resident told police, threw a firework toward the front of her home.
Those remarks and reward were announced this afternoon during the Rally Against Hate on the steps of the old Rockland County Courthouse in New City. “We have not ruled out the possibility, but we do not have enough information at this juncture to declare this to be a hate crime or motivated particularly because the religious affiliation of the targets”, Clarkstown police Sergeant Glenn Cummings said.
Rockland County has seen an uptick in anti-Semitic rhetoric since the election three years ago of County Executive Ed Day. No suspects were spotted, and a fragment and partial label from the firework were recovered from the scene and secured as evidence for further processing. “We condemn this apparent hate crime in the strongest terms possible”.
The rally was put on by Rockland Commissioner of Human Rights Penny Jennings after a series of small explosions, possibly firecrackers, occurred around 10:30 p.m. Tuesday near the Chabad Lubavitch of Rockland, at 315 N. Main St.
Police patrols will be increased around houses of worship, including the Chabad, Hoehmann said.
Clarkstown Police are investigating the bombings. “It will not be silently condoned”.
“We are outraged by this shocking incident in what appears to be the alleged targeting of two prominent rabbis”, Evan R. Bernstein, ADL New York Regional Director, said in a statement. “We will work to deepen community relationships based on trust, tolerance and shared goals”.
The ADL of NY said Wednesday that it is working closely with law enforcement as an investigation continues. The department has asked that anyone with information about the incident contact the Clarkstown Police Detective Bureau.
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According to Rockland County Legislature Chairman Alden Wolf, the attacks are a result of, “The climate of hate that has been created on both the national stage and here in Rockland”, which is “unacceptable”. Legitimate policy issues are continually being mixed in with antisemitic rhetoric. “Words have consequences. A climate of hate has consequences”.
