An hour before a vigil held Sunday evening for slain Chabad of Poway member Lori Gilbert-Kaye, Poway Mayor Steve Vaus said he wished he could’ve been anywhere else.

But the more he thought about it, the more he realized that standing in Valle Verde Park in Poway surrounded by several hundred community members singing and holding candles was the only place he wanted to be.

“This community wraps its arms around each other,” Vaus told the crowd. “We love you and will stand with you forever.”

A small flurry of raindrops fell just minutes before Chabad of Poway Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein stepped up to the microphone. Both of his hands were swathed in bandages from injuries suffered when he held up his hands to protect his face from bullets fired Saturday morning from a high-powered rifle by the alleged shooter, John T. Earnest, 19, of Rancho Peñasquitos.


Speaking to the crowd during the candlelight vigil held in Poway Sunday night, Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein of Chabad of Poway shared with the crowd his memory of the shooting on Saturday. (Nelvin C. Cepeda/The San Diego Union-Tribune)

“Wow, wow, wow! Look at all the love,” Goldstein said in admiration of the large crowd assembled on a grassy ballfield a quarter-mile east of Chabad of Poway.

He recounted the horror of facing down the gunman and then miraculously surviving because the shooter’s gun jammed. He said that up until Saturday, the congregation that he and his wife started 33 years ago in Poway was a place of hope, peace and community outreach. Now it has been touched by tragedy and hate.

“This isn’t Nazi Germany, this isn’t a pogrom,” he said before calling for community strength. “We, the Jewish nation, are alive, we will remain alive. God spared me. Why am I alive? Why did I survive? Each one of us has a purpose in life. Each one of us has a mission.”


Among the hundreds gathered in the crowd were Jewish community members as well as Muslims, Catholics, Unitarian Universalists and members of different Christian groups.

Rancho Bernardo residents Crystal and Jon Epstein and their daughters Olivia, 6, and Brooklyn, 3, arrived wearing matching blue T-shirts that said “We are Strong, We are United, They Can’t Break Us, #StandWithPoway.”

Crystal said she made the shirts on Saturday afternoon following the shooting after hearing Rabbi Goldstein encourage Chabad members to show fortitude. Both of the Epstein children have attended the preschool at Chabad of Poway and are close to Goldstein. Crystal said she wanted her children to see that Goldstein was OK and that the community was united against “the bad guy.”


“We wanted them to see the community coming together,” Crystal said.

At the candlelight vigil held in Poway, young children held candles during the vigil to remember the death of Poway resident Lori Gilbert-Kaye, who died when a gunman entered the temple Saturday morning to commit what officials are describing as a hate crime. (Nelvin C. Cepeda/The San Diego Union-Tribune)

The vigil was emceed by Rabbi Yeruchem Eilfort from the Chabad of La Costa, who introduced several faith leaders who led the crowd in Hebrew songs and prayers of peace, community and solidity. Eilfort encouraged Jewish community members to help the community heal by doing good deeds, or “mitzvahs” for others.

Services for Gilbert-Kaye, 60, will be held at 2 p.m. today at Chabad of Poway, 16934 Chabad Way in Poway. Graveside services will be held at 4 p.m. at El Camino Memorial Park, 5600 Carroll Canyon Road, San Diego.