Lori Gilbert Kaye Murdered on Pesach in San Diego Chabad Shul

Open Letter from a friend of Lori a"h

Today an anti-Semitic hate crime shot and killed my friend Lori Gilbert Kaye z”l at synagogue. 

Lori you were a jewel of our community a true Eshet Chayil, a Woman of Valor.  You were always running to do a mitzvah (good deed) and gave tzedaka (charity) to everyone. Your final good deed was taking the bullets for Rabbi Mendel Goldstein to save his life.

Lori leaves behind a devastated husband and a 22-year-old daughter. When I heard the horrific news, Lori I called your best friend Dr. Roneet Lev who is at the hospital with the other victims and their families who asked this to be shared.

 Friends please share this widely - 

Today at the Chabad of Poway Synagogue on Shabbat and the last day of the Passover holiday, a 19-year-old stormed in and said ‘F*ck the Jews’ and opened fire with an AR-type assault weapon. The hateful murderer had posted a manifesto online with anti-Semitic screeds and talked about planning the attack! He shot and killed Lori Kaye z”l who took the bullets for the Rabbi. Tragically the Rabbi was still shot in the hand and he gave a sermon telling everyone to stay strong. 

The horror continues, the other victims suffering shrapnel injuries include a 8-year-old girl, Noya Dahan. She asked for her picture to be shared and for everyone to know she is strong. 

Noya Dahan

The other shrapnel victim was Almog Peretz, age 32, Noya’s uncle who came from Sderot to visit his family for the Passover holiday. He was a hero today, gathering the children and leading them to safety. During the shooting a brave off-duty border patrol agent chased and fired at the shooter as he ran off. Fortunately he was caught by the authorities and is in custody. 

Noya’s family moved to San Diego from the Israeli city of Sderot (San Diego’s sister city) to get away from the terrorism and the constant attacks on their community.  The peaceful city in Israel they’re from is in the Negev and is less than a mile from the Gaza border. For years their home has been a major target of Qassam rocket attacks from terrorists in the Gaza Strip.  

Anti-Semitism is real and is deadly. Hate crimes are real and are deadly. Lori would have wanted all of us to stand up to hate. She was a warrior of love and she will be missed. May Lori’s memory be a blessing. 

Please pray for recovery of the Rabbi Goldstein, Almog and Noya. 

Please share this! Loris family want this to be a huge funeral to honor her and to stand against Anti-Semitism, I will post details about it as soon as I know.