Yisroel Goldstein: The Rabbi Of Poway
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
On April 27, 2019, a white nationalist entered the Chabad of Poway synagogue with guns blazing, killing congregant Lori Gilbert-Kaye and wounding three others, including Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein, who lost a finger. Despite being shot, Goldstein, 57, continued with his sermon, telling the community “Am Yisrael Chai.” Goldstein’s messages of Jewish pride and calls for “random acts of goodness” – recorded from his hospital bed, and then again at the White House and the United Nations – inspired Jews around the world.
Goldstein, who retired from the Poway Chabad after the shooting, did not respond to our questionnaire, but here are some things to know about him.
Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein blesses Vice President Mike Pence and Second Lady Karen Pence at the Chabad of Poway on July 10, 2019. Image by Twitter
How did Goldstein grow his congregation? Goldstein was 24 when he established Chabad of Poway in 1986, one of the Lubavitcher Rebbe’s hundreds of emissaries bringing religious life to Jews around the world. He quickly established himself, and eventually built a 20,000-square-foot facility, complete with a preschool, Hebrew school, senior center, library, mikveh and a 770-seat sanctuary.
What about the broader community? He was also a chaplain for the county sheriff.
What’s he doing now? He decided to retire in November, but has been grooming family members for years to step into his shoes. One son, Rabbi Mendel Goldstein, took over Chabad’s synagogue and school, while another, Rabbi Shuie Goldstein, took over teen programming and the Friendship Circle for children with special needs. The Los Angeles Times reported that Goldstein’s dream was to set up a new project that would bring about “a billion good deeds.”
Read the Forward’s article about Rabbi Goldstein after the shooting.
And one about his visit to the White House or United Nations.
There’s also this about his retirement.
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