We offer our deepest condolences to the family and friends of Lori Kaye, murdered by the Poway Chabad attacker while trying to protect her rabbi. We pray as well for a refua shleima for Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein, Almog Peretz and Noya Dahan who were wounded by the assailant’s attack. We are also eternally thankful for the first-responders and those community members who reportedly intervened to prevent this from becoming an even larger tragedy.

Once again we find ourselves looking for words to express our heartbreak and anger as a Jewish institution is deliberately and brazenly attacked on Shabbat. What makes this attack even more painful is that it occurred during the Yizkor service on the last day of Passover, when family members gather to pray for and remember lost relatives. This sacred day of solemnity, a day meant to recall deceased loved ones, was shattered by a white supremacist’s Jewish-specific hate-fueled attack, forever altering how the members of Chabad of Poway and Jews everywhere will think about the last day of Passover.

It is also not lost on anyone that this antisemitic attack occurred on the six-month anniversary of the murderous attack on the Tree of Life*Or L’Simcha Congregation in Pittsburgh. Reports indicate that the attacker was heavily armed and specifically motivated to target and kill Jews, and but for the actions of several congregants and security personnel, the human toll would have been much greater.

Now that the terrorist is in custody, we urge all relevant authorities to prosecute him to the fullest extent of the law and work to ensure that his actions and words do not inspire others.

Locally we greatly appreciate every level of law enforcement, from the FBI and Homeland Security to our first responders and local police departments, from whom our community continues to receive such invaluable support.

In response to the October 27 attack on the Tree of Life*Or L’Simcha Congregation we said the following:

For all Americans, this deadly assault-committed on Shabbat, at a synagogue-is a terrible reminder of the persistence and lethal danger of anti-Semitism. We join together with our fellow Americans across faith communities in condemning the rising tide of anti-Semitism, white nationalism, racism and hatred directed at Jews and other vulnerable minorities. An attack on one community is an attack on all Americans, and the ideals for which our diverse nation stands. We call upon our elected officials and all people of good will to have zero tolerance for anti-Semitism-and all forms of hatred-denouncing it and calling it out whenever and wherever it takes place.

This attack should reaffirm for all that the underlying problem of an alarming increase in antisemitism at home and abroad has not been sufficiently addressed. From antisemitic attacks in Pittsburgh and Poway, to recent public displays of antisemitism in Belgium and Poland, to the casual use of antisemitic tropes by politicians and major newspapers, it is clear that we are facing a significant problem, a problem that can have real and devastating consequences. This is why in April, JUF began circulating a set of principles to help guide our community in defining, combatting and defeating antisemitism. JUF’s Jewish Community Relations Council staff is meeting with local Jewish organizations to obtain agreement on these principles as a means to together battle this abhorrent increase in antisemitic activity.

JUF stands ready to aid the Poway community and our own community in the following ways.

• We encourage people to attend Monday’s Evening of Jewish Unity, Solidarity and Prayer in response to the tragedy in Poway. This program is being sponsored by Lubovitch Chabad of Illinois, in cooperation with Jewish United Fund/Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago, and other local Jewish organizations.

• We encourage people to attend Shabbat services on May 3-4 to send a message that we will not permit our traditions to be taken from us.

• When the Poway community determines what it needs from others to help it move forward, JUF will respond generously and swiftly.

Following the attack on Tree of Life*Or L’Simcha Congregation in Pittsburgh, JUF reaffirmed its commitment to helping our community’s Jewish institutions provide safe and secure environments for all who use them. To that end:

• JUF reaffirmed our close working relationship with local, state and federal law enforcement and first response agencies;

• We hosted a Security Summit for local Jewish organizations to meet with security and facilities specialists and first responders;

• Continue to help local Jewish organizations apply for federal security funding through the Non-Profit Security Grant Program, which we also lobby on in Washington to ensure full funding of; and

• Over the last 2 years, JUF has given out $1.6 million in security grants that supported $4 million in physical security enhancements at more than 85 community organizations/sites, including 54 synagogues, 12 agencies, 17 day schools or preschools, 3 camps and 2 colleges.

Facing attacks because of who we are is unfortunately not new for the Jewish community, and it doesn’t appear that this will change any time soon. Therefore, it is incumbent upon all of us speak openly and publicly about the scourge of antisemitism and its often-deadly ramifications. At the same time, we must also reach out to targets of such attacks, like in Poway, CA, and offer whatever hope and help they need to move forward. JUF is doing both, and we implore all people of goodwill to join us.

Andrew S. Hochberg, Chair
Dr. Steven B. Nasatir, President