Two unidentified men have attacked a Lubavitch rabbi in the central Russian city of Nizhniy Novgorod.
The men attacked Rabbi Zalman Yoffe, 31, on Thursday near his home in the city, which is located 250 miles east of Moscow.
After the assailants fled, Yoffe called the police and was taken to a hospital with serious head injuries.
According to Yoffe’s wife, Yael, his condition was described as stable but doctors said he should stay at home under medical surveillance for at least one week.
The rabbi, who could not speak on the telephone, said through his wife in an interview that the incident was clearly an anti-Semitic act.
Police in Nizhniy Novgorod said they would take all necessary measures to find the assailants.
The city has the third-largest Jewish community in Russia. The Ukrainian-born Yoffe has served as the city’s rabbi since 1996.
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