As the Jewish world grapples emotionally with another deadly synagogue shooting—and the family of Lori Kaye begins a grievous mourning process—Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein, the indelibly injured yet indomitably spirited founding rabbi of Chabad of Poway, has a personal request for everyone:
Whether it’s mitzvahs like putting on tefillin for men, or lighting Shabbat candles for women and girls, there is one mitzvah that every Jew, regardless of gender or age, can do, he says, in a grand show of unity and steadfast fortitude.
“We’re going to do just like the Rebbe taught us,” Goldstein shared with Chabad.org from his hospital bed earlier this week. “We are going to do something positive. I’m encouraging and I’m pleading with every single Jew that sees this appeal: This weekend, go to your own respective synagogues, fill up the ballrooms, fill up the sanctuaries, let them see that nothing will take us down, let them see that this is not going to deter us; it’s not going to scare us.”
With bandages camouflaging the loss of a finger on his right hand that was hit in the bullet fire during last Shabbat’s synagogue attack and a lump in his throat over the murder of longtime congregant and supporter, Lori (Leah) Gilbert-Kaye, Goldstein, 57, persisted in his appeal, aiming the invitation at Jews of all levels of observance, including the non-affiliated.
“Jewish unity is what we need now,” said Goldstein, who founded the suburban Chabad center, 20 miles north of San Diego, with his wife, Devorie, in 1986. “We all need to stand together, hold hands together, love each other, just like the Rebbe [Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory], taught us, [with] unconditional love. That a little bit of light pushes away darkness, [and] a lot of light will certainly push away this horrific darkness.”
The program is backed by Chabad-Lubavitch emissaries around the world, Chabad-Lubavitch World Headquarters in Brooklyn, N.Y., and Chabad.org. A web page is up and running, inviting all to enter their mitzvah commitments.
Join in the campaign, and Do a Mitzvah for Poway.
To find a Chabad House near you, visit the Chabad Center and Synagogue Directory.
Chabad of Poway attack April 2019 In light of the historic public talks given at the White House, posted in several related articles in the News of Chabad.org,
A serious question may be relevant. Anything written here is with deep consolation to the victims, their families and Am Yisroel.
I saw a beautiful video calling for a moment of silence in public schools by the Rebbi himself. The Rebbi said that a moment of silence would instill within all students the idea that there is a
Creator of the world and would easily lend itself to discussions between children and parents and grandparents on life's many challenges and how solutions to conflicts would evolve into talk-ing about solutions to problems rather than aggressive behavior.
Perhaps a parallel idea will also emerge from these tragic events. The recognition that the Alter Rebbi advocated personal reflection or hisbonenus in Hebrew before prayer...thinking about G-d's greatness before standing consciously before our King and Master of the world. The Rebbe said it.