A rabbi was killed in Florida while visiting his family, some are wondering if it was a hate crime. A New York rabbi, named Joseph Raksin was murdered by two individuals as he was walking to a synagogue in Miami, Florida over the weekend. The rabbi’s family strongly believes that Raksin was killed because he was a Jew, but Florida authorities do not think it was a hate crime. They say it was a robbery gone wrong. The suspects of the shooting are described as two young well-dressed men.
Saturday morning at around 10 AM, Orthodox rabbi Joseph Raksin (pictured on the right), was killed by a single gun shot as he was walking to Bais Menachem Chabad synagogue in Miami, Florida to attend Sabbath services.
The Jewish leader was aided by a Good Samaritan named Jean Louis Denis who called for help after witnessing the shooting.
Raksin was airlifted to Jackson Memorial Hospital, where he died due to the injury.
According to sources, the religious man was brutally murdered by two young men who fled the scene of the crime, one on foot and the other one on a bicycle.
The killers looked like they were from rich families because they were sporting formal dress shirts neatly tucked in their pants.
The father-of-six who is originally from Brooklyn, New York was in the Sunshine State for 14 days visiting two of his daughters (Shuly Labkowsi from Miami and Mrs. Mushky Ezagui residing in West Palm) and numerous grandchildren.
The Miami-Dade police, which is handling the investigation say the 60-year-old man was killed during a failed and violent robbery.
Raksin’s family, especially his daughter Shuly Labkowsi and son-in-law rabbi Leib Ezagui say that it was a hate crime, because everybody knows that “orthodox rabbis do not carry bags of money when they are going to pray.”
Mrs Labkowsi explained that recent anti-Semitic crimes in the area corroborate her theory that her father was assassinated just for being a Jew.
According to the woman, several of her Jewish neighbors had their homes robbed in the past months.
Additionally, in late July, the Bais Menachem Chabad synagogue was vandalized and spray-painted with swastikas.
Shuly Labkowsi and The Anti-Defamation League are calling on the authorities to investigate the murder as a hate crime.
Raksin’s funeral is set for Monday.
