'NY Post': Rabbi who was shot in Russia in July attends Chabad pilgrimage in Brooklyn

Ovadia Isakov, seriously hurt in shooting by suspected Muslim extremists, joins 5,000 Chabad emissaries from around world.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
Chabad rabbis pose for group photo in Brooklyn 311 (photo credit: Reuters)
Chabad rabbis pose for group photo in Brooklyn 311
(photo credit: Reuters)
The Chabad rabbi who was shot and seriously wounded in the Russian Republic of Dagestan in July by suspected Muslim extremists attended the annual Chabad Lubavitch pilgrimage in Brooklyn on Sunday, the New York Post reported.
Rabbi Ovadia Isakov, 40, was wounded in the lung, shot from behind by an unidentified assailant not far from his home in the city of Derbent, and was subsequently airlifted to Israel for medical care. He was released from the Rabin Medical Center - Beilinson Campus in Petah Tikva in August after undergoing surgery.
“My doctor thought it would be a good idea to [attend the Chabad event] after hearing how inspiring it was for me,” Isakov told the Post Sunday.
“Thank God I can say that I’m doing very well,” Isakov said. “If I strain myself too much, I have pain. But I rest as much as I can.”
Russian security forces killed the suspected leader of an armed group who was reported to have been "directly involved" in the shooting of Isakov during a shoot-out in Derbent in September. The mostly Muslim Dagestan is plagued by bombings and shootings that mainly target police, state officials and moderate clerics.
More than 5,000 Chabad emissaries from around the world attended Sunday's pilgrimage event at the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal near Crown Heights, the Post reported.
"I found that rabbis from around the world were putting their arms on my shoulder and telling me I was inspiring them — something I never expected,” Isakov told the Post.
“I believe that there is a God, and that good overpowers evil,” Isakov said about the killing of his suspected shooter, Sherif Akhmedov, who had been wanted since 2011 for involvement in bombings and attacks on law enforcement officers.
Sam Sokol, Reuters and JTA contributed to this report.