The Shaloh House Jewish school in Brighton, Massachusetts. Photo: Google Street View

Boston Jewish organizations are bolstering their security arrangements following the stabbing of a rabbi by an antisemitic attacker and a shooting that may have targeted a synagogue in addition to two Black victims.

Rabbi Shlomo Noginski was stabbed multiple times outside Shaloh House school in the Boston neighborhood of Brighton last Thursday.

The assailant, Khaled Awad, attempted to abduct Noginski, and stabbed him as the rabbi fought him off. He was apprehended by police and is facing several charges.

Awad, who is originally from Egypt, was reportedly in the country illegally, having overstayed a student visa.  His roommates and friends have testified to violently antisemitic prior behavior.

Robert Trestan, New England regional director of the Anti-Defamation League, told the Boston Herald, “When a rabbi is stabbed in a Jewish neighborhood in the middle of the day, it sends shockwaves of fear.”

Rabbi Dan Rodkin of Shaloh House said the school’s security will be strengthened, even though the institution already has security cameras, panic buttons, and bulletproof doors.

“It’s impossible for anyone to get into the building,” he told the paper.

He described the attacks as an “alert” that showed security must be a “top priority.”

In the Winthrop shooting, a racist gunman murdered two Black people before stealing a truck. Though he quickly crashed the vehicle, law enforcement officials believe he may have been heading for the nearby synagogue Tifereth Israel.

Josh Schreiber, a rabbinic intern at the synagogue, said, “We understand that we were probably the original target, but we actually didn’t get hit.”

He told the Herald that the synagogue has received a $10,000 grant from the Center for Jewish Philanthropies for security purposes, part of a larger initiative to enhance “security education, training, consultations, and assessments.”

Rabbi Noginski spoke to the public on Sunday, saying he considered his survival a “miracle” and believes he was saved by his “trust in God.”

Although he remains in pain, Noginski said, he was comforted because “every person in this world has a mission, and it was my mission in this moment to be there and to protect children.”

He added that he had told his 12 children to remain visible Jews and not to hide their kippot or other signs of Jewish identity.

Instead, he said, they should “continue our obvious Jewish pride. We should be very proud that we are Jewish and not to be scared.”