R' Ephraim Klein z"l of Crown Heights, Brooklyn, was
hit by three bullets while moving his van late at night.
Passersby pulled him out of the vehicle after it caught fire,
but he passed away in a Hatzoloh ambulance on the way to
Kings County Hospital. The gunners fled the scene
undetected.
The bullets struck him in the arm and heart, causing him to
lose control of the van and apparently to lose consciousness.
The van sideswiped several parked cars before catching fire.
Two black residents stopped the van, put out the fire and
pulled Klein out onto the sidewalk. They called an ambulance
but resuscitation efforts failed.
Police say he may have been struck by a stray bullet shot
during a gang battle, but eyewitnesses said the shots were
deliberately aimed. Local Jewish residents say there is
constant tension between black and Jewish residents in the
neighborhood, which still has memories of the murder of
Yankel Rosenbaum Hy"d by a black mob in 1991.
The NY Police Department said it would investigate the case
immediately and the Chabad Community Council posted a $10,000
reward for information leading to the arrest of the
murderer.
The 47-year-old was scheduled to fly to Eretz Yisroel
a few days later to attend his only son's wedding.
Also last week Rav Avrohom Hakohen Yagudayev z"l, 33,
who served as a rov beis knesses, a shochet and
a bar mitzvah tutor in Tashkent was found in the street
unconscious, and passed away in the hospital a few days later
due to head injuries.
Family members are convinced the killing was motivated by
antisemitism, but no evidence has been uncovered so far in
the police investigation. The deceased left his home for
Ma'ariv at the Old City's Bukharan Synagogue and after
he failed to return a search began. He was found unconscious
with head injuries from blows.
Rav Yagudayev was placed in charge of the old beis
knesses he attended after his father, who served as the
gabbai, passed away. His brother disappeared under
mysterious circumstances 12 years ago. Rav Yagudayev
z"l is survived by his wife and four children.
Tashkent is the capital of Uzbekistan, one of the Muslim
countries that withdrew from the former Soviet Union. The
country has diplomatic ties with Israel and the US and
antisemitism is almost unknown. The majority of Uzbekistan
Jews are from Bukhara or the Caucasus, in addition to a small
number of Ashkenazim. Today a few thousand Jews live in
Uzbekistan. The majority of the Jewish community moved to
Israel during the 1990s.
