ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar (JTA) — A nascent Jewish community was officially born ... Touvya, a self-taught cantor, davens devoutly and sports peyot, the traditional sidelocks mentioned in Leviticus.

As soon as he was thrown into Moldovan prison, the religious young Jewish man with peyot and a fearful look in his eyes had a target on his back. It didn’t take long for the threats to start.

A 20-year-old resident of east Jerusalem was arrested on Wednesday night after physically and verbally assaulting an orthodox Jewish passerby ... he pulled the victim's peyot (sidelocks), spat ...