Rabbi Goldstein was always prepared with a candy in his pocket when he asked, “What mitzvah (act of charity) have you done today?” After I answered, he would beam a big smile and reward me with a jolly rancher, a licorice, or, my personal favorite, a bag of M&Ms. On Saturday, while at Passover service, Rabbi Goldstein and the Chabad of Poway were targeted in a horrific and senseless act of terror. Lori Gilbert-Kaye, an integral and long-standing member of the community, was killed. Rabbi Goldstein lost a finger and two other victims who were injured by shrapnel.
I spent four years in preschool at Chabad of Poway and six years doing weekly Hebrew School in preparation for my Bar Mitzvah. This sanctuary served as both a school and a spiritual home. I distinctly remember the morah and rabbi teaching us the golden rule, the Ten Commandments, the Talmud and other lessons which are fundamental to my own personal beliefs about the inherent value of others. This is the place in which I learned the necessity of caring and doing good for others, but now I have to reconcile my belief in the value of others with the shooter’s denigration of others.
Every day, we receive news alert about horrible tragedies and acts of terror and, quite frankly, it can be overwhelming and become easy to turn into white noise. But when it happened to my own community, this was not just another news alert about another anonymous stranger somewhere out in the world. This was about the rabbi who taught me the value of mitzvahs, about the loving woman who invited my family and the rest of Chabad into her sukkah during Sukkot and about the wider community with whom I worshipped and learned. This act of terror will forever exist as a scar on the otherwise positive memories I have from Chabad. But, by recounting these memories, I might be able to show what was lost by this horrific act of terror and hopefully help to sensitize us again to this senseless violence.
On the first night of Shavuot, Jews stay up and study the Torah together in a half-asleep, half-awake trance. For children, we stay up late and basically have a sleepover in the synagogue. Every Purim, the Chabad hosts a massive carnival where children can dress up, play games and eat hamantaschen. Growing up, this Purim carnival was one of the most joyous events every year. Once I was older, I would spend my Wednesday afternoons with Rabbi Mendy studying the Torah and Talmud, playing video games and doing service projects around the synagogue. These are some of the fondest memories of my childhood, and now they have been tarnished. My previously joyful community now has a deep wound in it. So, please take a moment and share a thought or prayer in any language for Lori Gilbert-Kaye, a hero who will be missed, and for other victims of senseless violence.
If you would like to help our community at this time, please consider donating for victims’ families and synagogue repairs at chabadofpoway.com/standwithpoway. Most importantly, speak up in your everyday life against hatred wherever it may appear. When someone, whether that be our friends, family, elected representatives or teachers, makes a remark which diminishes the value of others, it is on us to hold them accountable. Creating a culture in which prejudice cannot prosper is an integral first step in preventing these acts of terror.
Mendel Baljon is a member of the Class of 2021.
A Plea to Sensitize Gun Violence Again
Comments
