Grafton Thomas had invaded Rabbi Chaim Rottenberg’s house in Monsey, New York, on December 28, 2019. It was a Chanukah night. Grafton Thomas was carrying a machete, and he started slashing at them. Joseph Gluck jumped into the area to save a child and fight this attacker, chasing him out of the house. As Grafton ran into his car, Joseph Gluck took a picture of the license plate, in which he later gave to the police. The NYC police eventually found Grafton Thomas and arrested him. Joseph Gluck was given $20,000 for his heroic act. But since Gluck is anti-Zionist Jew, he refused the award money because he didn’t want anything from the Zionist Jewish Organizations or Zionist Israel agenda. He felt what he did was an act of God because God gave him the strength and courage to fight back the attacker.
Since Gluck refused the money and didn’t attend the ceremony on February 6th, the New York Community had given Gluck a special award on Thursday, February 13, 2020, where anti-Zionist activists, community activists, and anti-Zionist rabbis got together in Brooklyn, New York with their own ceremony for Joseph Gluck. At another time, State Senator David Carlucci had given Gluck the award—New York State Senate Liberty Medal.