By: Fern Sidman

The haunting image of a car repeatedly slamming into the doors of one of the most sacred Jewish institutions in the world has now given way to an equally unsettling courtroom scene—one marked by grief, confusion, and fear for what comes next. As reported by The New York Post on Friday, the mother of Dan Sohail, 36, the troubled New Jersey man accused of ramming his vehicle into Chabad-Lubavitch World Headquarters in Brooklyn, made an emotional plea for her son to be placed in protective custody as he was remanded to jail on a staggering $500,000 bond.

The arraignment in Brooklyn Criminal Court offered a stark and sobering tableau. Sohail appeared disheveled and withdrawn, his stringy hair framing a vacant expression as he stood before the bench wearing an unzipped Dickies workwear jacket. According to information provided in The New York Post report, the scene bore little resemblance to the joyful social media clips that had circulated just days earlier showing Sohail dancing inside the Crown Heights synagogue, seemingly caught up in the celebratory rhythms of a community he claimed to admire.

But whatever illusion of harmless eccentricity may have existed evaporated under the weight of the charges read aloud by Judge Philip Tisne. Addressing the defendant with unmistakable gravity, the judge underscored that the case was not merely about reckless behavior but about something far more corrosive. “It’s not just that you are charged with attempting to seriously injure people with an automobile,” Tisne said, according to The New York Post report, “but you are charged with doing it as a hate crime on their perceived membership of a religious class.”

Those words crystallized the central tension of the case: the intersection of alleged mental illness and an act prosecutors insist was a deliberate, antisemitic assault on a house of worship filled with rabbinical students. The violent episode unfolded Wednesday evening at 770 Eastern Parkway, the global headquarters of the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic movement—a site revered by Jews worldwide not merely as a synagogue, but as a spiritual epicenter.

Assistant District Attorney Adam Ghalmi told the court that Sohail drove his Honda into the entrance of the building no fewer than five times, a relentless sequence of impacts that sent at least one person fleeing deeper into the building in a desperate attempt to escape. “Luckily no injuries were sustained,” Ghalmi said, adding that the incident nonetheless constituted “an unacceptable and brazen attack on the members of the Chabad Lubavitch community.”

Prosecutors initially sought a $1 million bond, emphasizing the severity of the conduct and the potential danger posed by the defendant. Judge Tisne ultimately set bail at $500,000—still an extraordinary sum that ensured Sohail would be jailed pending further proceedings. His next court date has been scheduled for Feb. 3.

Yet the most emotionally charged moment of the hearing came not from the bench or the prosecution, but from Sohail’s mother, whose anguish was relayed through defense attorney Gregory Marshall. According to the information contained in The New York Post report, she described a son who had struggled with mental illness and erratic behavior for at least a decade. She told the court she lacked the means to post bail and feared deeply for her son’s safety behind bars.

Her plea was not for leniency, but for protection. Marshall asked the court to place Sohail in protective custody to ensure “he’s not harmed” while incarcerated. Judge Tisne granted that request, along with an order for a psychiatric evaluation—an acknowledgment that, regardless of motive, the defendant’s mental state would be a critical factor as the case proceeds. The judge also issued a protective order for the synagogue’s director of operations, reflecting ongoing concerns about safety and intimidation.

The courtroom drama mirrored the broader public debate that erupted in the wake of the attack. While city leaders swiftly condemned the incident as antisemitic, reactions within the Chabad community were initially complex. Some congregants noted that Sohail had been a familiar presence—one of many spiritually curious outsiders drawn to Chabad’s famously open doors and welcoming ethos. To them, he appeared less like a hardened ideologue and more like a “loopy religious seeker,” as one observer put it to The New York Post.

Indeed, Sohail’s recent past paints a portrait riddled with contradictions. The Carteret, New Jersey native had reportedly become fixated on converting to Judaism, attending events at 770 Eastern Parkway and elsewhere. A widely circulated video showed him dancing exuberantly in jean shorts during a synagogue gathering, seemingly embraced by the communal joy that defines Chabad life.

But beneath that surface, troubling signs were emerging. A rabbi at a New Jersey yeshiva recounted to The New York Post an unsettling encounter just days before the attack. Sohail allegedly arrived at the yeshiva on Monday proclaiming that “God had sent him.” When asked to leave, he grew agitated. His car became stuck in the parking lot, requiring students to help dig it out—an episode that, in hindsight, reads as a warning signal flashing too late.

Those details have fueled speculation about Sohail’s mental health, but Chabad leaders have been unequivocal in rejecting any narrative that frames the attack as a misunderstood spiritual crisis. Yaacov Behrman, a spokesman for the movement, dismissed claims that Sohail’s actions had anything to do with a sincere desire to convert. “Intentionally ramming a car into a synagogue filled with rabbinical students is antisemitic, period,” Behrman wrote on X, a statement cited by The New York Post. “The act speaks for itself. And last I checked, ramming your car into a synagogue isn’t part of the conversion process.”

That blunt assessment reflects a broader insistence within the Jewish community that mental illness, even if present, does not negate the reality of a hate crime when a house of worship is targeted with such violence. For many, the danger lies in allowing sympathy for a defendant’s personal struggles to blur the moral clarity of what occurred.

The attack on 770 Eastern Parkway reverberated far beyond Crown Heights. The building is not merely a neighborhood synagogue; it is the symbolic heart of a global movement, replicated architecturally and spiritually in Chabad centers from New York to Nairobi. To strike it is to strike at something far larger than bricks and doors—a point emphasized in The New York Post’s coverage of the incident.

The episode also unfolds against a backdrop of heightened concern about antisemitism nationwide. Jewish institutions across the country have reported increased threats, vandalism, and violence, making the Crown Heights attack feel less like an isolated outburst and more like part of a troubling pattern. That context has sharpened demands for accountability, vigilance, and unequivocal condemnation.

At the same time, the case raises difficult questions about the intersection of criminal justice and mental health. Judge Tisne’s decision to order a psychiatric evaluation acknowledges that courts cannot ignore signs of psychological instability. Yet the imposition of a steep bond and hate crime charges signals that mental illness will not serve as a blanket shield against responsibility.

For Sohail’s mother, the path forward is fraught with dread. Her plea for protective custody was rooted in fear—not only of what her son is accused of, but of what might happen to him in jail once labeled as a man charged with attacking a synagogue. Judge Tisne’s decision to grant that protection offers a measure of relief, but it does little to resolve the deeper tragedy of a family confronting the public unraveling of a loved one.

As the legal process grinds on, Crown Heights continues to grapple with the emotional aftermath. Security has been heightened. Conversations about vigilance, openness, and boundaries have intensified. Chabad’s defining mission—to welcome Jews of all backgrounds and seekers from beyond—now exists alongside a renewed awareness of risk.

The New York Post has framed the story not only as a crime report but as a lens into a city wrestling with hate, mental illness, and the limits of tolerance. The next court appearance on Feb. 3 will likely bring further revelations, including the results of the psychiatric evaluation and additional details about Sohail’s state of mind.

But for now, the image that lingers is one of stark contrast: a synagogue built on warmth and outreach violated by violence; a mother pleading for her son’s safety even as the community he terrorized demands justice; and a courtroom where the language of hate crimes collides with the realities of human fragility. In that collision lies the uneasy truth at the heart of this case—a truth that New York, and the nation, cannot afford to look away from.