A driver sped toward a Jewish couple as they crossed Washington Street in Brighton to attend Shabbat services last Friday evening, then yelled an antisemitic slur at them, according to community leaders. The couple, one of whom had recently moved to Boston from out of town, jumped out of the way to avoid being hit and then hurried into Congregation Kadimah-Toras Moshe, shaken by what had just happened.
The incident happened around 7:30 p.m. last Friday at 101 Washington St., the address of the Orthodox synagogue, as first reported by Boston.com. The couple was crossing at the closest crosswalk to the synagogue, both wearing visible religious head coverings known as a kippah or yarmulke, when the driver sped up toward them before shouting the slur. Rabbi Dr. Daniel Aldrich, who speaks on behalf of the congregation, said he spoke with the couple afterward and that the synagogue immediately called police.
Aldrich, a tenured professor of political science and public policy who directs the Security and Resilience Studies Program at Northeastern University, told the outlet the driver's hostility was triggered by a visible sign of Jewish identity. He characterized the incident as clearly antisemitism and said he believes it was a deliberate target rather than an accident. Per Boston.com's report, Aldrich said the couple's wife had viewed Boston as a place of acceptance.
Police Confirm Civil Rights Unit Is Investigating
The Boston Police Department received a report of the incident at 101 Washington St., and its Civil Rights Unit is investigating whether bias indicators were involved, the outlet's report notes. No arrest had been made as of the report. The department's Civil Rights Unit coordinates all bias-related crime investigations across the city and maintains a 24-hour reporting hotline for residents, according to The Boston Bulletin.
Should investigators identify a suspect, Massachusetts law offers a specific framework for prosecuting bias-motivated attacks on pedestrians. Under Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 265, Section 39, assault or battery committed with intent to intimidate someone based on religion carries up to 2.5 years in a house of correction and fines up to $5,000, rising to five years in state prison if bodily injury results, per the Massachusetts General Court. Middlesex prosecutors have separately backed legislative proposals, H.1589 and S.1056, that would amend that statute by removing a property-ownership requirement currently seen as a gap in prosecuting hate incidents that occur in public spaces, according to the Middlesex District Attorney's Office.
A Neighborhood Still Shaped by 2021 Stabbing
Congregation Kadimah-Toras Moshe traces its roots to 1941, when it was established as Brighton's first Orthodox synagogue, later merging with Congregation Toras Moshe of Roxbury in 1964 before relocating to its current Washington Street building in 2021. The shul serves roughly 75 to 120 affiliated families, according to the congregation's own history.
Brighton has been the site of anti-Jewish violence before. In July 2021, Rabbi Shlomo Noginski was stabbed eight times outside Shaloh House Jewish Day School on nearby Chestnut Hill Avenue, an attack that led to felony hate crime charges from the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office. That history has left the neighborhood particularly sensitive to threats against its Jewish residents, and Aldrich said the driver's conduct sends Jews the message that they are not safe walking in public or heading to synagogue. He said he felt sad for the couple.
Part of a Wider Pattern, Community Leaders Say
Aldrich said antisemitic incidents have become more common since the Israel-Hamas war began in 2023, and he said the Orthodox community is especially targeted because its members are visibly Jewish. He added that people can disagree with Israeli government policy without targeting Jewish people, and said he hopes Boston police and city officials recognize a pattern of antisemitism directed at synagogues across the city.
Anti-Defamation League audits recorded 440 antisemitic incidents in Massachusetts in 2023, ranking the state fifth nationwide, and while regional incidents dropped by 37% in 2025, totals remained well above pre-2023 levels, according to GBH News. Nearby communities have seen their own recent incidents, including anti-Jewish flyers distributed in West Roxbury in April and swastika vandalism discovered at a Natick elementary school in May — a case Hoodline previously covered.
State Response Still Taking Shape
In late 2025, the Massachusetts Special Commission on Combating Antisemitism, the first statutorily created state body of its kind in the country, issued a final report recommending mandatory educator training, workplace policies, and a unified statewide bias-reporting system, GBH News reported. That followed an earlier state push, detailed in Hoodline's prior coverage of Massachusetts officials launching security seminars and a centralized reporting portal for houses of worship in November 2025.
For now, the Brighton incident remains under investigation, with no suspect publicly identified and no charges filed. Boston police have not said whether they have identified the driver involved.
