Chabad Rabbi Murdered in Terrorist Attack in Beersheva

In his youth, Belarus-born Krivitski was educated in the Nachlas Har Chabad suburb of Kiryat Malachi, in the branch of Yeshivas Tomchei Tmimim that Rabbi Mordechai Kozliner founded when he emigrated from the former Soviet Union, with the help of the lateRabbi Zalman Abelsky, director of Chabad of Moldova.

As a young rabbi, Krivitski devoted himself to caring for and learning from the renowned Chassid, Rabbi Zalman Leib Estulin, who stood on the front lines of preserving Torah study and practice in the former Soviet Union and was known both there, and later in Bnei Brak, Israel, for his extraordinary Torah scholarship, piety and humility.

As a young rabbi, he devoted himself to caring for and learning with the renowned Chassid, Rabbi Zalman Leib Estulin, who stood on the front lines of preserving Torah study and practice in the former Soviet Union, and was known as a model of Torah scholarship, piety and humility there, and later in Bnei Brak, Israel.

In recent years, Krivitski served as the director of Colel Chabad—Israel’s oldest continuously operating charity—in Beersheva and oversaw the day-to-day management of their soup kitchen, in addition to the decade he served as a Chabad emissary and rabbi in the Nachal Beka neighborhood in the city.

“He was the gentlest of souls whose entire life was about giving to others,” said Rabbi Sholom Duchman, director of Colel Chabad. “Each and every day, he would manage Colel Chabad’s local food-distribution service for the needy in Beersheva, distributing thousands of meals over the years, going above and beyond to serve the hardest-hit in his community during Covid.”

“He was a modest, unassuming person,” said Rabbi Zalman Gorelik, director of Chabad of Beersheva. “He was beloved by G‑d and by man, and was completely devoted to the community.”

Duchman called Krivitski “one of the kindest and most compassionate souls,” and prayed that his charitable work with Israel’s most vulnerable would bring a measure of comfort to his family and his community.

Krivitski ran a Colel Chabad soup kitchen for more than 10 years.

Deadliest Attack Since 2016

According to eyewitnesses, the lone assailant intentionally rammed into Krivitsky, who was riding his bicycle, as the terrorist drove away from a gas station near a large shopping center, where he had stabbed three people. He then jumped from his vehicle and ran to two other areas, where he continued to slash at passersby. He was shot and killed by a bus driver and another Israeli civilian at the scene. Also among the victims was Doris Yahbas, a resident of Moshav Gilat and a mother of three; Laura Yitzhak, 43, also mother of three; and Menahem Yehezkel, a 67-year-old resident of Beersheva.

The attacker was a resident of the Bedouin town of Houra. He was released from an Israeli prison in 2019 and was known to have been a sympathizer of the Islamic State, and had unsuccessfully tried to join them in Syria.

The rampage was the deadliest attack on Israeli civilians since June 2016, when two terrorists opened fire at Tel Aviv’s Sarona Market, killing four and wounding 16.

More details will be published when available.

“He was the gentlest of souls whose entire life was about giving to others,” said Rabbi Sholom Duchman, director of Colel Chabad.

“He was a modest, unassuming person,” said Rabbi Zalman Gorelik, director of Chabad of Beersheva. “He was beloved by G-d and man, and was completely devoted to the community.”