Say hello to my little mensch.
A 62-year-old rabbi cleverly reversed the situation on two attackers who reportedly assaulted him in an attempt to steal his car. The rabbi drew a gun on the culprits, causing them to flee in panic, a report states.
Rabbi Emanuel Goldfeiz was disposing of trash near his car at his North Baltimore condo. Still wearing his religious attire after the Saturday temple services, he was suddenly confronted by two masked individuals around 11 p.m., as reported by Fox Baltimore.
Baltimore City Councilman Isaac “Yitzy” Schliefer, representing the area where the incident took place, shared with the outlet, “They just approached and punched him in the face.”
The two dopey suspects snatched the rabbi’s car keys and attempted to drive off in the car — but they couldn’t figure out how to start the vehicle, the outlet stated, citing the Baltimore Police Department.
When the suspects walked back to the rabbi to continue their beatdown, they were in for a surprise — Rabbi Goldfeiz whipped out a pistol on the would-be carjacker, who hightailed it to parts unknown, according to cops.
The religious leader has a valid handgun permit for the weapon, cops said.
Goldfeiz is still dealing with the repercussions from the devastating sucker-punch that has fellow Jewish leaders in Baltimore concerned.
“Unfortunately, he’s hurt. He was punched very, very hard, and I’m wishing him a speedy recovery,” Rabbi Velvel Belinsky told News 11.
“When we hear about events like this, it’s definitely very disturbing because safety is a very big concern for us,” Belinsky added.
Carjackings in the North Baltimore neighborhood are up 20% year-over-year, according to Councilman Schliefer — but the attempted theft of a holy man stands out as an emotional low point in the criminal trend.
“Just the brazenness of the incident, where they have no problem going and attacking, you know, an older person, somebody clearly who’s a person of faith,” Councilman Schliefer told News 11.
“He was still dressed in all of his attire coming from synagogue and so it’s really very upsetting,” Schliefer added.
“What we see is that people feel emboldened to be committing these kind of violent acts and attacks against Jewish people, and that needs to stop,” the councilman told Fox Baltimore.
