NEW YORK – A young Chabad rabbinical student returned to Manhattan’s Diamond District on Thursday, less than 24 hours after a woman allegedly followed him and pricked him in the back with a needle in an incident being investigated as a possible hate crime.
Yosef, 26, a Brooklyn resident who recently received rabbinic ordination, asked that his full name not be published. He was walking along West 47th Street shortly before 6 p.m. Wednesday when he noticed a woman following him, according to Chabad.org.
I spoke to the victim’s family today. They’re longtime Crown Heights residents with deep roots in NYC and are shaken by what happened. It appears he was pricked with a syringe. There are cameras all around the area, and they’re confident police will find the attacker. https://t.co/OEfHiYoWAs— Yaacov Behrman (@ChabadLubavitch) October 22, 2026
Surveillance footage reportedly shows the woman staying close behind him as he tried to put a parked car between them. As he stepped into the street, Yosef felt a sharp pain in his lower right back.
He was taken to Bellevue Hospital for treatment. Police are searching for the suspect, who was also reportedly seen following another visibly Jewish man before the attack.
Despite the frightening experience, Yosef returned to the neighborhood Thursday to continue visiting Jewish-owned businesses, helping Jewish men put on tefillin and sharing Torah teachings.
“I never imagined I’d be stabbed simply for being Jewish, right here in New York City,” Yosef told Chabad.org.
He said the experience brought to mind his grandparents, who survived the Holocaust and went on to build a proud Jewish family.
“Their answer to hatred was more Jewish life. Mine will be too,” he said. “We’ll never back down. We’ll just keep spreading more light.”
Police continue to investigate the incident as a possible hate crime and are searching for the woman.
As reported by VINnews