An Israeli citizen found dead in Berlin over the weekend had approached Chabad of Berlin for food and a place to sleep late last week and had made plans to attend the Passover seder there.

�A man in his early 20s came to us during the day last Friday and didn�t have a place to sleep and didn�t have anything to eat,� Rabbi Yehuda Teichtal, community rabbi of Berlin and director of Chabad-Lubavitch Jewish Education Center told the Associated Press.

Teichtal said a fellow rabbi arranged a place for the man to sleep at a community center near Alexanderplatz�the large public square and transport hub in the central Mitte district of Berlin�less than a mile from where the victim was found Sunday morning.

�We arranged everything for him, but then he didn�t show up again,� reported Teichtal.

The Israeli embassy said it had received confirmation of the man�s identity, but it declined to release the victim�s name or age. A police spokesperson in Berlin confirmed that investigators had found the passport of a 22-year-old Israeli man in the back pocket of the victim�s sweatpants. The man was found by passers-by early Sunday morning with �massive injuries to his head.�

Berlin has a vibrant Jewish community, which, like those of many cities in Europe, has been grappling with growing anti-Semitism. In recent years, a reported 20,000 to 30,000 Israelis have moved to Berlin.

(Source: Chabad.org)