Poway | The Zelman Partisans

Much of the reporting on the shooting at the Chabad of Poway synagogue has been odd. Even stories which mention that anyone stood up to the asshole play it down and bring it up late in the story. Some reports fail to mention defense at all, and imply only that the shooting stopped because the weapon jammed. A Breitbart report told more: that an armed congregant passed a weapon to another, who went after chumbucket. Today, we learn that another person helped.

And then I found a report from a member of the Chabad of Poway synagogue.

This congregation is armed.

Lori’s husband had a wheel gun hidden safely in a cabinet. Only a few congregants knew about it. The Rabbi is also armed.

The perp parked out front, walked in the open front door. Shots were fired immediately, I’m not sure exactly who was hit first. The Rabbi had a few fingers shot off. Lori took one shot to the abdomen and died instantly.

When husband heard the commotion, he retrieved the wheel gun and tossed it to the BP guy who was praying. There was another ex-military congregant accosted the perp, screaming at folks to get down. The perp panicked and ran to his car. The BP fired several shots into the car, blowing out the back window and possibly hitting a tire. The perp surrendered to local LA a mile down the road.

The perp had multiple mags. A huge massacre was prevented by the presence of that wheel gun.

Armed Rabbi. An emergency house gun. Three more people ready, willing, able to defend their friends. A fourth who got shot deliberately putting himself between the murderer and children.

Heroes. Who clearly understood “Never Again” means stopping the atrocity in its tracks, and being prepared to do just that.

[Permission to republish this article is granted so long as it is not edited and the author and The Zelman Partisans are credited.]

Carl is an unpaid TZP volunteer. If you found this post useful, please consider dropping something in his tip jar. He could really use the money, what with ISP and web host bills. And the rabbits need feed. Click here to donate via PayPal.
(More Tip Jar Options)

The last two days of Pesach are observed as the first two, in that they are holidays. This means I’m not on the computer, and I’m not listening to the radio. On Shabbat I don’t anyway. On Shabbat I’m where I’m suppose to be, in Beit Knesset, Shul, my place of meeting and prayer. I’m learning, I learn from my Rabbi and from the other people there that I have grown to care about very much. I have a huge sense of gratitude every single time I walk in, whether it is for Shabbat or a class I’m taking. I learn about

G-d, his love for me, for us, and his direction manual for us to grow in our relationship with him, how he wants us to live our lives, and how to live in peace with each other. And every time I go, I realize how much more I have to learn.

So it was late Saturday evening when I logged onto my computer and saw my first notification of the shooting at another Chabad in Poway Kalifornia. Before I could read the details my mind had already flipped back to the attack at the Chabad house in Mumbai India in November 2008. Mercifully, this was not that. The song that Y.B. had me post, Vehi She Amda is part of the Pesach seder, it’s a song I love, and most days I sing it because I love it that much. I love what it says.

This attacker was a 19 year old “Bucket O’Chum” who was in nursing school. And if that doesn’t scare you, it should. He self identifies as a 19 year old Kalifornia native and a nursing student. ‘I’m just a normal dude who wanted to have a family, help and heal people, and play piano.’ He also self identifies as a human being. I would disagree with that. Around 1130 on Shabbat during the service “Chum” walked in and began shooting any and all he could. There was a family there that have moved from Israel a few years before after the rockets fired from the “Two-state solution” known as Gaza had hit their home more than once. They had lived in Sderot. Another family member visiting from Sderot managed to save his nieces and a neighbor girl despite being wounded in the leg. Little Noya was wounded by shrapnel, and her hero uncle was hit in the leg. Both will survive. He also intended to kill Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein, and although the Rabbi required surgery on both hands, and I believe lost a finger he is alive. He is alive because of his longtime friend and Chabad attendee Lori Gilbert-Kaye, 60. Lori flung herself between the killer and the Rabbi. A doctor began to perform CPR on her, when he realized it was his wife, he fainted. I can not even begin to imagine. As the Rabbi was wheeled into surgery he kept saying to let everyone know Lori saved his life.

Chum entered Chabad with a rifle, does what kind really matter? He was wearing a green vest and a helmet. He planned to stay awhile. Which might give rise to the question why is only one person dead. And in asking that, I do not mean to imply one is not significant. It is, it is one too many. From all I’ve read Lori was amazing, and it is a very significant loss not only to her family but the community as well. But you would have expected a higher death toll with the amount of preparations he seemed to have made. I have a couple of answers.

A) G-d, his gun jammed.

Authorities said the suspect’s gun may have jammed during the shooting

B) Human intervention

During the shooting, a brave off-duty border patrol agent, who was working as private security for the synagogue, fired at the shooter and chased him. Other members of the synagogue, who carried licensed concealed weapons, also went after him. Miraculously the killers’ gun jammed and he ran off. The heroes and G-d hand prevented the killer from claiming more lives.

The fact that there were armed congregants there and they went after him is not something I’ve seen brought out much.

Predictably the left began post haste to screech about gun laws. Anti-Gunners Call For Gun Control Laws Following Poway Synagogue Shooting But This Is What They’re Getting Wrong Beth Baumann has a break down on the laws already in place, or that may not have mattered at all.

And because to the left, one dead Jew isn’t enough, there is a list of the predictable responses of the usual victim disarmament crowd including Duke Nukem and Kamala Harris, who by the way, has her own gun and carry permit. Because you see that’s how elitism works. My life and family are valuable, yours aren’t. Like obamacare, we will legislate laws affecting your and your family’s life, but we will exempt ourselves from those laws. A small list is included in the “Anti-Gunner Call for Gun Control” link above. The killer ran off partly because armed members and the off duty Border Patrol agent came after him. The agent firing four shots at his car. So we can’t have armed citizens stopping a slaughter, correct progressives?

Which brings me to my next point. Progressives want to blame “right-wing” extremism and President Trump. As though Bucket O’Chum were a card carrying Republican. Nope. He hated Trump. With a vengeance because President Trump isn’t anti-Semitic. According to the manifesto he left on line, he most assuredly was not a President Trump fan. Of late, the majority of the hate is coming from Progressives, the left, and Islam. The reaction to attacks on Jews just needs to be adjusted to the situation. Rockets falling on Sdrot? Well, totally understandable, per Illan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, Jewish Voice for Peace, B’Tselem, and the mainstream media, aka #FakeNews. Jews attacked in France, Sweden, Germany “it’s not muslims/islam” per the media, leftists and the politicians in those countries. Sarah Halimi is murdered by a muslim who screamed “Dirty Jewess” at her daughter, and it’s because he’s mentally incompetent. Not because he’s an islamic import to Francistan. In America people question a rise in antisemitism when obama brought in massive amounts of muslims, dumped them in places where they could be a majority and more easily enter political office. Yes, I’m talking about the ungrateful Somali “refugee” Omar. Or they can shoot unarmed yoga teachers and then have the mayor do a press conference wearing a hijab to show support for the Somali community. Not making that up. Obama-hack Jonathan Greenblatt, now head of the Anti-Defamation League has turned it in to a “dime store Southern Poverty Law Center”, and uses his position to blame the right. And who do Jews overwhelmingly vote for?

The left and its comrades in the mainstream media have taken the Jewish vote for granted for years. Jews are one of the most reliable constituencies of the Democratic Party. A CNN poll last fall found that nearly 80 percent of Jews voted Democratic in the midterm elections. Only 17 percent voted Republican. Yet anti-Semitism on the left in the U.S. has increased recently, including in the media.

And speaking of the media, and all the news that’s fit to lie about, The New York Slimes #FakeNews is becoming more brazen in their antisemitism having recently published a cartoon of President Trump, blind and wearing a kippah being led by a dog with a Magan David collar and Benjamin Netanyahu’s face. They finally removed it after a large outcry. Know what I find somewhat interesting? I’ve yet to see the name of the “cartoonist”. If it was a conservative that had done such a thing, their name, picture and family history back to the Mayflower would be all over the net by now. Say, where’s Omar Barghouti about now? Did the Slimes hire him?

So why did the Bucket O’Chum do this? Why the attack?

Like Tarrant in his own writings, the manifesto author states that his end goal is to prompt the U.S. government to begin confiscating guns, predicting that a civil war will ensue. The author said he had been planning the attack for four weeks.

Obviously a Duke Nukem supporter.

As long as we don’t look at this honestly, as long as people continue to embrace the big government control of citizens offered by people like #LipstickLenin-Cortez, this will continue. Because excuses are being made for the left, to more easily blame the right.

I admit, I’m having a very hard time with this. I’m trying to understand and make some sense of it. I know I need to work towards something a Rabbi I very much admire wrote,

The solution therefore is to a. Love!

b. a practical mechanism which has helped many is the implementing of the sage advice of the Jewish masters, such as:

1. When you wake up in the morning (as the first thought influences the rest of the day) Express Gratitude (and as research shows, gratitude culminates in hope and happiness)

2. Forgive nightly (yes, before you go to bed – the first part of our bedtime prayers is: we forgive everyone.)

and thinking about the bar scene in the Chuck Norris movie Code of Silence. There are naughty naughty words in here.

When those that hate and come to kill are met with that kind of a response (without the naughty words) from a hard target things will change. I believe and understand there is a purpose to everything in G-d’s world, but I want to see beautiful souls like Lori Gilbert-Kaye around for a long time, to mentor other women, and continue making the world more beautiful. I want to see people like Almog Peretz who saved the children have a beautiful visit and only happy memories of his Pesach in America. We are not cowards, look at Lori and Almog’s responses. What courage! Which is good, because it’s going to take courage, clarity, wisdom and honesty to admit what the left is offering is not our friend.

For now, all I know to do is pray for healing. And that more places of worship will begin to consider armed security among their attendees.