Police Look for Suspect as Frankfurt’s Jews Move Forward With Renewed Vigor

The Frankfurt Jewish community is resolved to expand its programs in the wake of an attack against Rabbi Zalman Gurevitch, co-director of the Chabad-Lubavitch center in the German city.

Gurevitch was stabbed in the stomach Sept. 7 as he was walking home after services at his synagogue. According to police reports, an Arab-looking man shouted an epithet at the rabbi before stabbing him. He then switched to German, threatening "I'm going to kill you," before running off.

Rabbi Yossi Havlin, director of the Lubavitch yeshiva in the city, said that Gurevitch was recovering and is planning to have private Rosh Hashanah services for his family and some yeshiva students from his hospital room.

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"We're of course still having Rosh Hashanah services for the community," reported Havlin. "The community is very shocked, but we're hoping we have more than last year."

This coming Sunday, Havlin will host a shofar-making factory. He said that Gurevitch hopes to be released by Yom Kippur, which begins the night of Sept. 21.

"Hopefully the tragedy will only serve to strengthen us," said Havlin. "Our positive resolution is to be stronger in our Jewish identity."

Earlier this week, members of the board of the Jewish community of Frankfurt joined the city's Mayor Petra Roth and Volker Hoff, minister of federal and European Union affairs for the German state of Hesse, in personally delivering to Gurevitch – co-director of Chabad-Lubavitch of Frankfurt – their wishes for a speedy recovery.

For his part, Gurevitch said in a statement to the Bild newspaper that his condition had improved rapidly.

"I am much better," Gurevitch is quoted as telling Bild, as reported on the English Web site of Der Spiegel. "My wife is by my side all the time."

Police this week also released a sketch of the suspect, who according to reports of witnesses' accounts looked like an Arab. He allegedly stabbed Gurevitch and threatened to kill him before running off. Authorities doubled to 4,000 Euro a reward for information leading to the suspect's arrest.