Rabbi Goldstein: Trump called me to convey condolences on behalf of the U.S.: "He spoke about his love of peace and Judaism and Israel and he was so comforting. I’m grateful to our president for taking the time and making that effort to share with us his comfort and consolation." pic.twitter.com/h8baVo4w3k
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) April 28, 2019
Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein still managed to rally his congregation after the gunman opened fire.
Via Townhall:
A 19-year-old gunman opened fired on the Chabad of Poway Synagogue in Poway, California on Saturday, the last day of Passover. Three people were injured, including one young girl, and an elderly lady, named Lori, succumbed to her injuries.
Rabbi Yisrael Goldstein, recounted his version of what took place on Saturday.
According to Goldstein, he went into the synagogue’s lobby and prepared to read the Torah for the last day of Passover. That’s when he saw Lori, who had been with the congregation from the early 1990s. She asked when the reading would take place. Her mother had recently died and she was attending Saturday’s service to pay her respects and pray for her mother.
“I turned around to go to the banquet hall to wash my hands in preparation and then I heard the very first shot,” Goldstein said in his message. “I instinctively turned around to try to see what’s going on and I locked eyes with this terrorist, this murderer, an evil human being standing there. He was in position with the rifle as he turned the rifle on me.”