Residents in Monsey are taking a page from the battle-hardened Israeli military to learn self-defense in the wake of the recent machete attack and other anti-Semitic incidents, according to a report.
Congregants packed a synagogue Wednesday in the Rockland County community, where Israeli veterans who run Cherev Gidon, a Pennsylvania-based training academy, taught them how to use a variety of firearms.
Yonatan Stern, the academy’s director, told The Post that he wants people to carry guns openly in shul, saying, “You as Jews have to start defending yourselves because others are not gonna do it for you.”
He said the course by Cherev Gidon — Hebrew for “sword of Gideon” — has been met with “unprecedented demand” since the Dec. 28 machete attack on celebrants at a Hanukkah party.
“We can’t be sheep at the slaughter,” he told the 150 or so Jewish men and women, many of whom came up from Brooklyn and beyond.
About a dozen attendees got handgun and rifle permit applications after the training.
Yonatan Stern (right), director of the Cherev Gidon Israeli Tactical Training Academy, demonstrates weapons to congregants at a synagogue in Monsey.Christopher SadowskiWhen asked about the possible danger posed by people taking up arms, Stern told The Journal news/lohud.com: “Quite the opposite, in fact. As long as these people get proper firearms training (either from us or from other instructors) and are obeying all relevant laws, this will undoubtedly make the community much safer.”
“When Jews are being murdered in the streets and in our synagogues, we can no longer afford to be helpless victims!” read a flier calling on people to sign up for “Israeli counter-terror firearms training.”
The man accused of the machete attack, Grafton Thomas, 37, has been indicted on six counts of attempted murder, as well as multiple counts of assault and burglary in the hate crime at a rabbi’s home.
Cherev Gidon has been providing free training on how to use a gun.Christopher SadowskiMonsey resident Rivkie Feiner said she has already felt the changes to her neighborhood since the attack: A guard is now stationed outside her child’s school and she must show ID before making a pickup.
“We’re the largest Jewish community per capita in any county in the entire country. It’s a horrific wake-up call. People are not going to sit around and do nothing,” she told lohud.com. “As Orthodox Jews, we believe prayers protect us, and helping people is another form of protection, (but) you don’t bury your head in the sand.”
