"I turned around to see what that was, and I saw this rotzeiach standing there. He started to shoot right at me. I just threw my hands up trying to protect myself. He shot my finger, which was over my heart. And he then shot my other hand”
Photos: AFP/ImageBank, Family archives
R
eading the haftarah on Acharon shel Pesach had always been a big deal to Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein. Long before he founded the Chabad of Poway 33 years ago, the sobs that accompanied the Lubavitcher Rebbe’s recital of Yeshayahu Hanavi’s vision for the days of Mashiach rang in his ears.
Between the fourth and fifth aliyos this past Acharon shel Pesach, Rabbi Goldstein left the sanctuary of the shul he led in the San Diego suburb and went to wash his hands in preparation for reciting the haftarah. He was stopped by Lori Gilbert-Kaye, a longtime member of the Chabad congregation and someone he and his family considered like a sister.
“Rabbi, when is Yizkor?” she inquired. Her mother had just passed away, and this would be her first time memorializing her at the Yizkor service.
“In 20 minutes,” he responded.
Those were to be her last words. John Earnest, a 19-year-old white supremacist who had just posted an anti-Semitic manifesto online, stepped into the lobby with an assault rifle in his arms and wordlessly began shooting.
Create a free account to keep reading.
