Jewish couple in California speak out after being assaulted
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (NBC, KYMA/KECY) - A Jewish couple is speaking out after they say they were attacked in what's being investigated as a hate crime in Beverly Hills.
Devouted to both each other and their Orthodox Jewish faith, Rebecca and Raphy, who did not reveal their last names, were on their weekly walk to Beverly Hills synagogue Saturday morning when a man ran up behind them near the intersection of Rexford Drive and Santa Monica Boulevard.
"All of a sudden, I saw the guy hitting my husband with the belt screaming, 'Give me your earrings, Jew,'" Rebecca spoke.
The attacker hit Raphy again and again, and thought the belt's buckle left his face and clothes drenched in blood.
"At first, it was a shock. It was a huge hard knock on my forehead here...I decided we cannot just let it go," Raphy shared.
Arrest
The couple, in their 70s, started chasing the attacker.
"He took off his shoes on Rexford drive. He was running I guess better without shoes," Rebecca added.
Luckily, a Beverly Hills police officer spotted the commotion.
"It was within a few seconds, there were police cars from all sides," Rebecca further added.
And just after 9:00am officers caught and arrested 44-year-old Jarris Jay Silagi.
"I was really engraged, not because of the thing, but because I was hit as a Jew," Raphy expressed.
Faith not forgotten
Another moment earlier this week evoked flashbacks of childhood in a post-World War II Austria.
"And our grandson is turning towards me and he said, 'Should I take off my kippah?' And that for me, that was a shock. If a 13-year-old boy already understands that there might be danger in wearing part of what we are supposed to wear proudly," Rebecca remarked.
But even in chaos, their faith was not forgotten, and Raphy returned to synagogue just in time for his reading from the Torah.
"I know Raphy. I knew he was coming back. He's a hero. His wife Rebecca is a hero. These are the types of people that we all look up to," said one person who knows the couple.
The menorah for many Jews holding extra hope this Hanukkah.
"So, I hope that with the help of God and everybody who is at the head of states and communities, they will bring down evil, and the light will shine and next year on Hannukah. It will be a very bright light," Rebecca expressed.
