Yosef Gluck, Man Who Faced Down Forshay Stabber, Receives Award
Joseph (Yosef) Gluck, the man who threw a table on the Monsey stabber Saturday night, has been recognized as a hero.
Congresswoman Nita Lowey (D-NY17/Rockland-Westchester), Chairwoman of the House Appropriations Committee, joined Michael Specht, Town of Ramapo Supervisor, and American Jewish Committee’s (AJC) chief executive, David Harris, to honor Joseph Gluck for his bravery and quick response during Saturday evening’s attack in Monsey at the home of Rabbi Chaim Leibowitz Rottenberg.
Joseph Gluck was at the Hanukkah party when a man entered wielding a machete. After attempting to move people towards the back of the house away from the attacker, Gluck threw a coffee table to end the heinous stabbing. As the attacker left, Gluck followed him outside and took down his license plate. Gluck is likely the reason the suspect of Saturday night’s attack was caught so quickly.
“Thank you, Joseph,” said Congresswoman Lowey. “Without you, we would have never caught him as quickly as we did. What New York is experiencing can only be called an epidemic. In the past year, anti-Semitic crimes in New York City have increased by 21 percent. The attack here in our backyard was the 13th anti-Semitic crime in the New York City area just last week. We must seek long-term solutions to this age-old problem.”
“The Town of Ramapo is honored to have Congresswoman Lowey join us in support of our community, to oppose anti-Semitism and to honor Joseph Gluck, our American hero, on his bravery,” said Michael Specht, Town of Ramapo Supervisor.
“I’m honored to join Congresswoman Nita Lowey today in paying tribute to Joseph Gluck, who exemplified such heroism in the face of the horrific anti-Semitic attack in Monsey on December 28,” said American Jewish Committee CEO David Harris. “In the face of a veritable epidemic of anti-Semitic assaults, all people of goodwill must stand together to affirm our shoulder-to-shoulder solidarity and shared common destiny.”
Lowey is the co-chair of the House Bipartisan Task Force for Combating Anti-Semitism. The Task Force is made up of 176 members of Congress who come from across the country, from all religions, and from both sides of the aisle. Since 2015, the Task Force has worked to ensure that Congress plays an integral role in condemning and spearheading initiatives to combat anti-Semitism, both domestically and abroad.
Additionally, as Chairwoman of the House Appropriations Committee, Lowey led the Congress in increasing vital security funding. In 2018, she established a nonprofit security grant program for those outside of UASI regions, and in the most recent federal spending package, she successfully increased funding for that program by 300 percent from $10 million to $40 million. That federal spending agreement also included $10 million to reestablish the Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention Grants program at DHS and an additional $7.5 million to fund the grants.
“I condemn in the strongest words the anti-Semitic attack at Rabbi Rottenberg’s home,” said Congresswoman Lowey. “I continue to keep the victims of the attack and their families in my prayers.”
