Shliach Vows to Return to Dagestan Despite Danger

Rabbi Ovadia Isakov, who was shot by “a member of one of the most extreme Islamic terrorist groups in the Chechnya-Caucasus area,” according to the President of Dagestan, Russia, and recovering on Sunday, in “satisfactory condition,” at the Beilinson hospital in Petach Tikva, Israel, said he hoped to return to Dagestan, despite the anti-Semitic violence, according to Israel Channel 2, reporting from the rabbi’s bedside.

“All the time, such things as this happen,” Rabbi Isakov said, after regaining consciousness, referring to the anti-Semitic atmosphere of his city. “At Sukkot, they threw a bomb into the women’s mikvah of our synagogue, at our house, they threw a large stone, and now look what they did to us.”

But the Rabbi said that he and his family do not live in fear because they are used to living in the city, and that he would love to return to the mission: “There’s a good community, a lot of families.”

Doctors said that Rabbi Isakov, who has been hospitalized in intensive care since Thursday, was saved because of the quick work of airplane, ambulance and other medical professionals who have been supervising his care.

Rabbi Isakov’s doctor in Israel, Dr. Ilya Kagan, said: “I’m really excited to see how the situation of the Rabbi is improving after we saw him sedated and on a respirator after surgery in Russia. We flew him by helicopter to the airport and within 3-4 hours we were in the country.”

Matthew Goldstein, head of the ZAKA emergency response organization, which supplied the medical plane, said: “This was a very complex flight, with the Rabbi still sedated and on a respirator and in critical condition, during the whole flight, the team of doctors treating the rabbi did not stop. An ambulance was waiting [for the plane] near the runway, and took him directly to the hospital.”

The private plane was sponsored by Lev Leviev, the billionaire diamond mogul, investor and president of the JFC, Chabad’s Russian arm.

Watch a video of the bedside interview with the recovering Chabad rabbi below:

Update from Chabad.org:

Rabbi Ovadia Isakov, Chabad-Lubavitch emissary and chief rabbi of Derbent in the Republic of Dagestan, gave his first account of a shooting that he said was “motivated by anti-Semitism” as his condition continued to improve following emergency surgery in Israel.

Although Isakov had trouble speaking, he briefly confirmed that he was returning from performing a ritual slaughter for kosher meat when he was attacked late Thursday evening. “There was one man waiting for me,” Isakov said, “and as I was entering my house he shot me. He did not say anything and did not ask for anything. I do not remember anything after the shooting.”

“This is not the first time such attacks have occurred,” Isakov continued. “There have been attacks during Jewish holidays, and they even threw a bomb at our mikvah.”

Despite the shooting and other assaults, Isakov claimed that Jewish community members in Derbent do not live in fear. The rabbi says he is looking forward to returning home and continuing his work as a Chabad-Lubavitch emissary. “Life goes on as usual. I really want to go back there and continue my shlichus. There are many good people there and very good community.”