JERUSALEM (JTA) — The Jewish man attacked after he left a seder at a synagogue in Kiev regained consciousness at a hospital in Israel.
The man, 25, identified as Aharon Alexander Goncharov, regained consciousness late on April 18, despite doctors’ concern that he would never wake up.
"This is indeed a miracle," said Itzhak Shapira, who heads the Sourasky Rehabilitation Center at Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv, told Israel Hayom.
Ukrainian Jewish officials believe the man was targeted because he was wearing a yarmulke when he left the synagogue.
Goncharov said his attackers yelled "Yid" as they hit him with glass bottles on his head seder night, Israel Hayom reported. He was found unconscious nearly a day after the attack. Two days later he was flown to Israel and admitted to Ichilov Hospital.
Goncharov told Israel Hayom that he has no plans to remove his kipah when he returns to Ukraine. He is scheduled to begin rehabilitation in several days.
