Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein speaking at a press conference in 2019. Image by Getty

By Ari Feldman April 30, 2019

Chabad of Poway, where three people were injured and one killed in a shooting Saturday, wanted armed security guards but couldn’t afford it, its rabbi told TIME Magazine.

Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein, whose hands were damaged during the attack, said that he had been fearful of an attack on his synagogue in the wake of the shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, last October, which left 11 dead. But he was unable to gather enough funding to hire armed security guards because of an aging and dwindling population at his synagogue. News reports said that there were about 75 people in attendance when the attack happened.

“Most of our elderly members are dying out. The younger members are not joining, so financially we don’t have a budget to pay for security guards,” Goldstein said. “If funds were made available for houses of worship, that could have made a difference.”

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

The synagogue asked congregants and other volunteers with gun licenses to sit in the sanctuary and stand guard. But, Goldstein said, after six months, the synagogue got “complacent.” There was no armed guard on the day of the shooting.

Experts in synagogue security are now saying all synagogues should employ armed guards at their doors — and keep their doors locked. But security can be prohibitively expensive for many synagogues — larger institutions spend hundreds of thousands of dollars every year on security.

To lower costs, some security experts are advocating that congregations have members obtain gun carry licenses to guard their own synagogues. Others say that only trained professionals can protect against a chaotic active shooter situation efficiently and safely.

On Monday, California’s governor announced that his budget will include $15 million for a program that funds security system updates at houses of worship.

Click here to read 11 common-sense ways to increase your synagogue’s security.

Ari Feldman is a staff writer at the Forward. Contact him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter @aefeldman

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

$90 $180

$360

Other amount