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September 23, 2009
A 16-year-old student at Rabbi Jacob Joseph Yeshiva in Edison sustained a concussion after being taunted and jumped by a group of teens on Woodbridge Avenue the second night of Rosh Hashana.
Edison police are investigating the incident as a bias crime and have in custody an Edison juvenile who has been charged with aggravated assault, according to Lt. Joseph Shannon.
Shannon said the incident occurred at 7:25 p.m. on Sept. 19 as the youth, an Edison resident, was walking in the area of 1970 Woodbridge Ave. The school is located on Woodbridge Avenue at the intersection of Plainfield Avenue.
The all-male Orthodox school has about 75 students and includes dorms for students from high school age through post-high school. The students, many of whom are engaged in advanced Jewish study, wear the black suits, white shirts, and distinctive fedora hats of the very observant.
Shannon said “a small group” of youths in their mid- to late teens allegedly began to curse at the student as they walked behind him. The arrested youth jumped him, striking him in the head with his fist and knocking him to the ground.
After being called, police found a group of three Edison youths near the school and made the arrest.
Mark Wang, vice president of Edison First Aid Squad #1, said after the incident that the youth came to Engine Company #1, almost directly across the street from the school, where firefighters called the squad and police.
“He had a cut above his right eye and [it] was swollen,” said Wang, who said the youth initially refused to be transported to the hospital because it was Rosh Hashana.
The squad was called again several hours later, Wang said, because the youth complained of a bad headache; he was taken to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick.
Wang said police took the group of three into custody because one had bloody knuckles. They were taken to the firehouse where the boy identified them.
Names were not released because the student and alleged assailant are both juveniles.
Wang said that when he saw no publicity about the incident, he contacted his rabbi, Dr. Bernhard Rosenberg of Congregation Beth-El in Edison, who alerted NJJN on Sept. 22.
“We have to make an example of this,” said Rosenberg, who in 2003 was pelted with eggs as he and his wife walked to synagogue on Shabbat. “I’m concerned about other children in the neighborhood. This is not the first incident. If you don’t punish people they will continue to do it.”
Last year, obscene and anti-Semitic graffiti was scrawled inside the school by an intruder who entered through an unlocked door. At the time, a group of students and a staffer told NJJN they often were taunted with anti-Semitic slurs by neighborhood youths.
The Anti-Defamation League condemned the assault. “This vicious assault came on Rosh Hashanah, a time ordinarily marked by solemnity and festivity, and the timing makes this senseless and brutal crime particularly galling, “said Etzion Neuer, ADL New Jersey Regional Director, in a statement. “We congratulate the Edison Police Department for their swift action in apprehending the alleged perpetrator.”
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Rabbi Dr. Bernhard Rosenberg
September 24, 2009
Please be alert and vigilant as you walk in the area, and remind your children to be careful. I am working with the Edison Police department as Chaplain to insure that patrol cars are making regular patrols in our area in addition to protecting the various shuls. It is imperative that all incidents be reported to the police so they can monitor the neighborhood and provide enough officers to ensure the safety of our children.