'It could've been me': Hundreds turn out at Poway synagogue to mourn Lori Gilbert Kaye, denounce hate
POWAY, Calif. — A standing-room-only crowd of about 700 gathered at Chabad of Poway synagogue Monday to honor Lori Gilbert Kaye, with many of them showing support for a community in mourning and denouncing hate and anti-Semitism.
Kaye, 60, was killed Saturday during an attack on the synagogue near San Diego that also left Rabbi Yishoel Goldstein and two worshippers wounded.
Forty-five minutes before the afternoon funeral, people lined the sidewalk outside the temple, even as rain started to fall. A large screen had been set up to accommodate those who couldn't fit inside.
Danielle Rugoff of San Diego, among those who watched on the screen along with her husband, said she didn’t know Kaye, but the attack still felt personal.
“I think there’s definitely a combination of, ‘It could’ve been me or anyone I know,’ which is terrifying, and that we have to rededicate and double our efforts to stop hate and violence and anti-Semitism and racism,” Rugoff said.
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Howard Kaye, a physician who briefly tended to his wife after the shooting before fainting, said she had erected a peace pole on their property. It says, “May peace prevail on Earth,” in five languages, he said.
"That is the universal message of Lori,” he said.
Their daughter, 22-year-old Hannah, wore her mother’s pink dress as she stood on the lectern and recalled her mother, whom she described as, “my best friend, my greatest advocate and my dance partner.”
Hannah said her mother baked loaves of challah to celebrate Shabbat nearly every week. She often delivered loaves of the braided bread to people’s homes, and left them on people’s cars and inside mailboxes, her daughter said.
“Her light has reached all crevices of our planet,” Hannah said.
Goldstein spoke at the end of the funeral service. On Saturday, “we saw the darkest of humanity,” he said. At the same time, he said, “we saw the heroic efforts of humanity.”
“It’s not going to break us,” he said. “It’s going to lift us up.”
The temple filled to capacity half an hour before the start of Monday's service. Poway Mayor Steve Vaus and Oscar Stewart, a congregant being hailed as a hero for shouting away the gunman, led the full house in singing "God Bless America.''
Representatives from the U.S. and Israeli governments addressed the crowd. Also attending the funeral were California congressional members Scott Peters, Susan Davis and Duncan Hunter, state Sen. Brian Jones, rabbis from across the country and other faith leaders.
More than 300 people traveled from the synagogue to El Camino Memorial Park cemetery for Kaye’s burial. People sobbed audibly as eight men carried her light-colored wood casket from a hearse to the gravesite.
Hannah spoke quickly, eloquently and passionately at the service. She broke down in the cemetery, wailing as her mother’s casket arrived at the gravesite. After attendees shoveled dirt onto the casket, Hannah sat by the grave silently, as if sharing one last moment with her mother.
In the cemetery, Goldstein addressed Kaye: "You’re following the footsteps of great martyrs of all history.”
He said he doesn’t understand the events that occurred Saturday at the temple.
“Your life was sacrificed,” he said. “My life was spared. I promise, Lori, it wasn’t in vain.”
A gunman burst into Chabad of Poway on the last day of Passover, a major Jewish holiday that celebrates freedom, and opened fire with an assault-style rifle. About 100 congregants were worshipping at the time.
Witnesses said Kaye stepped in to protect Goldstein, who suffered injuries to both hands and lost his right index finger in the assault.
The rabbi, who described Kaye as a founding member of the congregation, said the attack could have harmed many more people had the shooter turned toward the sanctuary where so many were praying.
“Lori took the bullet for all of us,” Goldstein said, his hands wrapped in bandages. “She didn’t deserve to die.”
Ortiz reported from San Francisco. Contributing: The Associated Press
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'It could've been me': Hundreds turn out at Poway synagogue to mourn Lori Gilbert Kaye, denounce hate
