POWAY VICTIM IS LAID TO REST
Hannah Kaye with her father, Dr. Howard Kaye, after her mother, Lori Gilbert-Kaye, was buried in San Diego. Gilbert-Kaye was killed saving the rabbi from gunfire at Chabad of Poway.
POWAY, Calif. — At a standing-room-only memorial service for synagogue shooting victim Lori Gilbert-Kaye on Monday, there was an outpouring of love expressed by her family and friends. But there was also a strong undercurrent of anger toward the man who was charged with committing the crime.
Gilbert-Kaye, 60, was remembered by friends, family and rabbis at Chabad of Poway as cheerful, energetic, devoted to her Jewish faith and friends and endlessly generous with her time, checkbook and homebaked challah bread.
But she was also described by speakers as a “sanctified” person who sacrificed her life Saturday morning to help end the global epidemic of hate and violence against Jews.
“She died on Shabbat. She died on Passover. She died in a synagogue. She died saving our rabbi. She died as a holy person sanctifying God’s name,” close friend Dr. Roneet Lev said near the conclusion of the memorial.
The two-hour service was held at Chabad of Poway, which former temple President Sam Hoffman referred to as “ground zero” because the attack occurred in the temple’s lobby about a dozen feet from the altar where Hoffman and others spoke.
More than 700 people were inside the temple sanctuary for the service and about 100 more stood on the street outside, many sheltering under umbrellas as they listened to the service on outdoor speakers. A burial service followed at El Camino Memorial Park in San Diego.
Gilbert-Kaye’s husband, Dr. Howard Kaye, described his wife as so devoted to global understanding that she planted a pole in their Poway yard with the words, “May peace prevail on Earth” in six languages. He told the audience he turned to Scripture in recent days to try to understand why God would take a person so pure of heart and faith. He saw his wife’s soul as the mirror opposite of that of her killer, who is alleged to have posted an anti-Jewish manifesto online shortly before the attack.
“Anyone who could perpetrate anything like this was raised on a diet of blood and war. They’re lower than an animal,” he said.
Their only child, 22-yearold Hannah Kaye, read a poetic essay she had written about her mother and their once-difficult but later-close relationship. Hannah Kaye said that as a teenager she was jealous of the attention her mother showered on others in the community, including friends, Chabad members, the homeless, hospital patients and charity groups. Eventually, she came to appreciate and love her mother’s selflessness and exuberant personality.
“I chose to wear pink because my mother was a colorful woman. She was a rainbow,” Hannah Kaye said, referring to the dress she was wearing, one of her mother’s own. She described Gilbert-Kaye as “my best friend, my greatest advocate, my dance partner, my pumpkin.”
The service included readings in Hebrew and English of Psalm 23, “The Lord is My Shepherd,” and the mourner’s Kaddish, a prayer for the dead.
Gilbert-Kaye was at the temple Saturday to say the same prayer for her mother, who recently died.
The service also included a sing-along of “God Bless America” led by Poway Mayor Steve Vaus and Oscar Stewart, the 51-year-old Army veteran who threw a chair at the gunman and chased him out of the temple after his gun jammed.
Among the dignitaries who spoke at the service was Elan S. Carr, who was appointed by the White House in February to serve as a special envoy to monitor and combat anti-Semitism. His fiery speech drew cheers and a standing ovation. He described the killer as a man who spent years “drinking the vile poison of anti-Semitism” and said prayers aren’t enough to stop future acts of bloodshed.
“These hateful movements have no place on Earth and no place in the United States of America. We are at war with these people,” Carr said. “We pray for peace and calm, but they’re insufficient. We pray for might before we pray for peace.”
Also in attendance was Israeli Consul General Eitan Weiss, who said Gilbert-Kaye represented “all that is good in mankind” and pledged that the people of Israel stand “shoulder to shoulder” with the congregation of Chabad of Poway.
“This is our greatest victory against those who wish to harm us,” Weiss said.