U.S. Report

NEW YORK (JTA) -- A stabbing attack against four Chassidim by a group of Latinos in Brooklyn is being investigated as a hate crime by New York police because the victims reported anti-Semitic remarks were made.

One man is in critical but stable condition, and three are in stable condition, following the Sunday morning incident on the Coney Island boardwalk.

Police have not yet made arrests in the attacks against the Bobover Chassidic community members.

Shavuot candles spark deadly fire

NEW YORK (JTA) -- Investigators said candles lit for the holiday of Shavuot started a Brooklyn fire that killed a mother and her baby.

The deceased were the granddaughter and great-granddaughter of Rabbi Moses Teitelbaum, the revered leader of the Satmar Chassidic group.

"Everybody is walking with their heads down," said one resident of Williamsburg, where Sara Blima Halverstam and her 5-month-old daughter were killed last Friday.

House intervenes for human rights

WASHINGTON (JTA) -- Some 21 members of Congress wrote a letter expressing concern about a recently released Russian Jew who was jailed for not serving in the war in Chechnya.

Dmitry Neverovsky was released in April after pressure from human rights groups. But his case has still not been closed, raising the possibility that new charges may be brought against him.

In addition, the court has ordered Neverovsky, who was jailed for several months after he insisted upon his constitutional right to alternative national service, to undergo a psychiatric evaluation.

Boston Jew ponders gubernatorial race

BOSTON (JTA) -- A former chairman of the America Israel Public Affairs Committee and a major player in the city's Jewish federation is exploring a run for the Massachusetts governor's office this year, according to Boston's Jewish Advocate newspaper.

Steve Grossman, 54, has served as national chairman of the Democratic National Committee and has been a key fund-raiser for the Clinton administration.

If he opts to run, Grossman would be the first Jew in more than 40 years to run for the state's office.