Evening Of Solidarity In Response To Poway Synagogue Shooting

SKOKIE, IL — In response to last week's attack on a California synagogue, members of Chicago area Jewish organizations announced plans to hold an evening of solidarity and prayer Monday in Skokie.

Lubavitch Chabad of Illinois, along with the Anti-Defamation League, the Chicago Rabbinical Council, the Jewish Federation and the Jewish United Fund are hosting a communitywide "evening of Jewish Unity, Solidarity and Prayer" at 6 p.m. Monday at the Holiday Inn North Shore, 5300 W. Touhy Ave. in Skokie.

Lori Gilbert Kaye, 60, was killed Saturday at Chabad of Poway. Her funeral is set for Monday afternoon. Three others were injured — the synagogue's rabbi, a visiting Israeli military veteran who was ushering children to safety and an 8-year-old girl.

Authorities said a 19-year-old man armed with an AR-15 type rifle entered and began shooting just before noon on the final day of Passover and six months to the day after a mass shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue. According to Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein, the gunman's weapon "miraculously" jammed and the teen was chased from the temple by an off-duty Customs and Border Patrol agent who had been working as a security guard.

In a statement on behalf of the 49 Chabad centers in the state, Rabbi Meir Moscowitz Lubavitch Chabad in Northbrook and regional director of Chabad of Illinois expressed "immense gratitude" that the "inexplicably jammed" gun meant the "full scope of the murderer’s evil intent to commit mass murder was miraculously unrealized."

The Jewish leader offered prayers of healing and comfort and emphasized the need not to cower in the face of evil to but drive it away.

"Cold-blooded, fanatical, baseless, relentless hatred can be uprooted from its core only by saturating our world with pure, undiscriminating, uninhibited, unyielding love and acts of kindness, and by teaching that to all our children, in our schools and our homes," he said.

Before the gathering Monday, Moscowitz and a delegation of Chabad rabbis from across Illinois met with Gov. JB Pritzker and released a joint statement in response to the shooting:

We are devastated by the shooting at the Chabad synagogue in Poway. This was not just an attack on the Jewish community, but an attack on all of humanity. We grieve for the loss innocent life. We pray for the victims who were wounded and traumatized by the attack. We condemn and denounce all forms of anti-Semitism, hate and bigotry. We are grateful to law enforcement authorities and local leaders for their swift and determined response after this brutal hate crime.

"This tragedy has touched the lives of so many throughout the world," Moscowitz said after the meeting. "We are overwhelmed by the outpouring of support from the Governor, elected officials and community at large as we take the necessary steps to move forward to hopefully better days ahead."

Read more: Funeral For Poway Synagogue Shooting Victim Set