A Chabad-Lubavitch mitzvah mobile was targeted by pro-Palestinian Authority antisemites in New York City for a second time in just a few months.
Our Mitzvah Tank was once again hatefully vandalized. Same location (Manhattan's busiest traffic corridor). @NYPD detectives are investigating and we hope that this case is taken very seriously. For more information, please reach out to [email protected] #LoLefached pic.twitter.com/vCUg9uTW3v
— Rabbi Yehuda Pevzner (@MitzvahTankNYC) February 3, 2023
Chabad-Lubavitch volunteers found the word “PALESTINE” was painted on to the side of the mitzvah tank in big black letters when they went to start up the mitzvah tank on Friday.
“Our Mitzvah Tank was once again hatefully vandalized. Same location (Manhattan’s busiest traffic corridor),” Chabad-Lubavitch emissary Rabbi Yehuda Pevzner wrote in a tweet. “NYPD detectives are investigating and we hope that this case is taken very seriously,” he added.
The previous attack took place on October 31, 2022. Police believe the same person was responsible for both attacks.
SoHo, NYC – Mitzvah Tank is a vehicle used by the Chabad Jewish movement as a portable educational and outreach center.
It has nothing to do with 'Palestine' but that didn't stop some antisemitic bigot from spray painting that onto the truck. pic.twitter.com/K8pkF6oxa3
— StopAntisemitism (@StopAntisemites) October 31, 2022
Rabbi Pevzner, who runs the mitzvah tank, noted that the phenomenon of antisemitism has been “raising its profile lately, even in the modern world.”
But Pevzner vowed to “stand firm in the mission of the Lubavitcher Rebbe and spread Torah and Judaism with our heads held high.”
The mitzvah mobile operates on a daily basis at several intersections in the center of the city, offering tefillin, Shabbat candles, a mezuzah and even a cup of coffee or tea on a cold day.
NYPD police officers called to the scene scoured the area for security camera footage. The NYPD has opened an investigation into the vandalism.
