Jewish Agency Emissary Killed in Ukraine During Altercation

A Jewish Agency emissary in Ukraine was killed over the weekend, after he allegedly squabbled with a neighbor about the playing of loud music.

Shimon Feingold, a 49-year-old married father of two, died in Kiev on Saturday.

His death did not occur as a result of anti-Semitic motives, said Yoseph Tropiansky, head of Jewish Agency operations in Ukraine.

According to Agency reports, Feingold was in his fifth-floor apartment Saturday afternoon, when he heard loud music and noise from an upstairs floor. Shortly after he went upstairs to ask the neighbors to turn down the music, Feingold’s wife, Chava, heard yells followed by a loud bang.

She rushed out to find her husband lying on the steps with a serious bleeding injury to the head. Attempts to revive Feingold failed, and he died soon after.

A fight had apparently broken out between Feingold and his neighbors, during which Feingold was allegedly pushed down the stairs to his death.

After the incident, the neighbors fled the apartment, but Kiev police tracked them down and where questioning them.

Fingold’s autopsy showed that he had received a powerful blow to the jaw prior to his fall.

In Jerusalem, Avraham Burg, acting chairman of the Jewish Agency, expressed shock and deep sorrow over the tragic death and contacted the family to convey his condolences.

He called a special meeting of Jewish Agency officials Sunday to discuss the incident and its ramifications.

Feingold had arrived in Kiev in last year for a two-year stint representing the Youth Department of the Agency. He was working with pupils, organizing summer camps and youth clubs.

Fingold’s body was scheduled to be flown to Israel on Monday, and the funeral was to take place later in the day at Kibbutz Hazerim, near Beersheba, where the family had lived.