Police Rule Out Hate Crime Motive in Assault on Bergenfield, NJ Rabbi; Say it Was a Random Attack

By: Ariella Haviv

In an incident that initially stirred fear across northern New Jersey’s Orthodox community, Rabbi Avraham Wein, the assistant rabbi at Congregation Keter Torah in Teaneck, was assaulted Sunday afternoon outside his Bergenfield home in what police now describe as a “random act of violence.”

According to a report that appeared on Wednesday at The Jewish News Syndicate (JNS), Bergenfield authorities have determined that the assault was not motivated by antisemitism or bias. In a statement released Monday, Bergenfield Police Chief Mustafa Rabboh said that the attack, while violent and deeply unsettling, “was not a hate crime or bias-related incident.”

“This was a random act of violence,” Chief Rabboh emphasized. “No words were exchanged prior to the assault, and there is no indication that this attack was motivated by race, religion, or ethnicity. It was simply an act of unprovoked violence, and the suspect will be charged as such.”

The conclusion, while relieving to some, has not fully eased anxiety in Bergen County’s close-knit Jewish neighborhoods—particularly in Teaneck and Bergenfield, where Orthodox institutions and schools are woven into daily civic life.

JNS reported that the assault occurred in broad daylight, shortly after 2 p.m. on Sunday, outside Rabbi Wein’s home on a quiet residential block. Police say Jeffrey Zicchinella, a 40-year-old resident of Ridgefield Park, stepped out of his vehicle and, without warning or apparent provocation, physically attacked the rabbi.

A nearby resident intervened to help, tackling or restraining the assailant until police arrived, according to local accounts gathered by JNS. Both the neighbor and Rabbi Wein sustained minor injuries in the altercation and were treated at the scene.

Zicchinella was taken into custody without incident and later charged with two counts of simple assault. He is being held in the Bergen County Jail pending a court appearance. Police have not yet identified a motive for the assault, leaving the community searching for clarity.

The lack of an antisemitic motive does little to blunt the emotional impact of the attack. As the JNS report noted, Bergenfield and neighboring Teaneck are home to one of the largest and most vibrant Modern Orthodox communities in the United States, where Jewish residents make up nearly half the population.

For many, the attack on Rabbi Wein struck at a sense of security that has already been frayed by rising incidents of antisemitism across the nation. “Whether or not this particular act was bias-related, it adds to a climate of fear and vigilance that Jewish communities everywhere are feeling,” a Bergenfield resident told JNS, requesting anonymity.

Synagogues and Jewish day schools in the region have long operated under heightened security, with the Bergenfield Police Department maintaining an active relationship with community safety organizations. Chief Rabboh confirmed to JNS that “patrols will continue throughout the community, both as a reassurance and as a deterrent.”

Still, many locals have expressed unease. “It may not have been a hate crime, but when a rabbi is attacked outside his home on a Sunday afternoon, you can’t help but feel targeted,” another resident said to JNS, reflecting a sentiment that blends caution with resilience.

Rabbi Wein, a respected young scholar and teacher, serves as assistant rabbi at Congregation Keter Torah, a major Modern Orthodox synagogue in Teaneck, and as a faculty member at the Torah Academy of Bergen County (TABC), a prominent yeshiva high school for boys. His colleagues and students describe him as approachable, kind, and deeply committed to both education and pastoral care.

While Rabbi Wein has not issued a public statement, community sources told JNS that he is recovering at home and has been in contact with congregational leaders and students. “He is shaken but stable,” one TABC parent told JNS. “He’s a teacher who cares for every boy in that school as if he were his own son. The community is rallying around him.”

TABC officials have not yet released an official statement, but the school’s social media pages were flooded Monday with prayers and messages of support.

Although police have ruled out bias as a factor, the timing and nature of the assault—coming amid a documented rise in antisemitic incidents nationwide—has magnified its resonance. The Jewish News Syndicate has extensively reported on the sharp increase in antisemitic vandalism, harassment, and attacks in the United States since October 7, 2023, when Hamas launched its massacre in southern Israel, igniting the Gaza war and a surge of anti-Jewish hostility worldwide.

According to data cited in the JNS report, the Anti-Defamation League recorded a 360% rise in antisemitic incidents in the United States in the three months following the Hamas attack, with New York and New Jersey ranking among the states with the highest number of reported cases.

Against that backdrop, even an apparently random act of violence involving a visibly Jewish figure carries deeper emotional weight. As the JNS report noted, Jewish communities across North America have been living under a “new normal” of security awareness—one in which synagogues employ armed guards, schools practice lockdown drills, and volunteers receive situational-awareness training.

In an interview with The Jewish News Syndicate, Chief Rabboh reiterated his department’s commitment to community safety. “We understand how sensitive and painful an incident like this is,” he said. “We want to assure everyone that we take all acts of violence seriously, regardless of motive, and that our officers will continue to maintain a visible and active presence in the neighborhood.”

The police chief declined to speculate about Zicchinella’s mental state or personal background, but investigators told JNS that there was “no prior connection” between the suspect and Rabbi Wein. The suspect has no known record of antisemitic activity, though local law enforcement continues to review his history.

Rabboh’s statement, published by JNS, stressed transparency: “We will continue to communicate openly with our residents. Safety and trust go hand in hand.”

In the absence of a clear motive, many local rabbis and Jewish leaders have framed the incident as a test of resolve rather than a signal of retreat. “When something like this happens, our instinct is not to hide—it’s to stand together,” one Teaneck rabbi told JNS. “Rabbi Wein is part of a tradition that has faced far greater darkness than one man’s violence.”

Prayer gatherings have been held across Bergen County, with residents reciting Tehillim (Psalms) for the rabbi’s recovery and the safety of the Jewish community. Messages of solidarity have poured in from synagogues as far away as Chicago and Los Angeles.

As one local mother told JNS, “This isn’t just about one rabbi or one town. It’s about every Jewish parent who watches their child walk to shul and wonders who’s driving by. We live with that question every day—but we also live with faith.”

By Monday evening, the street outside Rabbi Wein’s home was quiet once again, marked only by a few lingering reporters and a police cruiser parked at the corner. The calm, residents say, is deceptive—but it is also characteristic of a community accustomed to endurance.

As The Jewish News Syndicate observed in its coverage, Bergenfield’s response to the attack is emblematic of the wider American Jewish experience: shaken, vigilant, yet profoundly steady.

“Every act of violence against a Jew reverberates through our people,” one community elder told JNS. “But our answer has never changed. We strengthen our faith, we strengthen our unity, and we go on.”