WhatsappPresident Trump called San Diego Poway Chabad Rabbi Goldstein after he returned home from the hospital. The rabbi shared the president’s special words.
“He spoke about his love of peace and Judaism and Israel,” said Rabbi Goldstein as he spoke to the press in front of his congregation, JTA reported.
Rabbi Goldstein said he was “amazed” to hear from President Trump, and that the call lasted between 10 and 15 minutes.
“He was so comforting,” the rabbi added.
I spoke at length yesterday to Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein, Chabad of Poway, where I extended my warmest condolences to him and all affected by the shooting in California. What a great guy. He had a least one finger blown off, and all he wanted to do is help others. Very special!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 29, 2019
Trump on San Diego Shooting
Immediately after the San Diego shooting attack on Passover, President Trump told reporters “My deepest sympathies go to the people that were affected, the families, their loved ones. Obviously looks right now, based on my last conversations, looks like a hate crime. Hard to believe. Hard to believe”.
Vice President Mike Pence condemned the shooting attack and wrote on Twitter, “No one should be in fear in a house of worship. Anti-Semitism isn’t just wrong – it’s evil.”
President Trump Calls the Rabbi
Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein, who was injured Saturday in a shooting attack at his Chabad of Poway synagogue, spoke to Israel’s Galei Tzahal Radio about his phone call with US President Donald Trump.
“He was amazing,” said Rabbi Goldstein, “I have never spoken with a president of the United States before.” Speaking to the radio station, Rabbi Goldstein said he asked Trump: “What are you doing about the anti-Semitism?” Trump answered: “You know, I have a son-in-law that is Jewish, my daughter is Jewish, my grandkids are Jewish. I love Israel and I support Israel. I just annexed the Golan Heights and I moved the embassy. My love is for the Jewish people.”
“I never heard such words from any president before,” Rabbi Goldstein said. “He was so kind and so generous with his words.”
Details about the Attack
In newly revealed details of the shooting attack, it appears that Rabbi Goldstein was instrumental in preventing Earnest from carrying out a massacre at the synagogue. According to his sister, Rabbi Goldstein managed to hold the gunman’s semiautomatic rifle at the entrance to the synagogue, preventing him from shooting directly at the congregation.
“Yisroel was coming out of the bathroom, washing his hands, getting ready for Yizkor. As he’s coming out to wash his hands, he sees this maniac in the foyer. He wasn’t even in the shul [synagogue] yet. He had just walked in the hall – the shooter – and Yisroel sees suddenly that this maniac just shot – he just saw this lady fall down, the one that he killed.”
“Yisroel looks at him and grabs with his two hands the gun to stop him from continuing to shoot, because he was about to continue shooting in the shul [synagogue]. So Yisroel is actually a hero. He protected his shul. He grabbed the gun, holding onto it tight. The guy shot the gun, and it actually ripped off his two middle fingers. So he was in surgery for about eight hours today, and they’re no longer able to do anything for his fingers – he’s missing those fingers. He gave that up to protect his shul.”
“When he grabbed the gun as the shooter was ready to shoot at Yisroel, the gun jammed after it shot his fingers. In that moment of the jam, whoever was standing nearby was an off-duty police officer who came to say Yizkor. He grabbed his gun and immediately started chasing the shooter out of the shul, until the shooter got into his car.”
“Yisroel stopped further shootings in his shul. He happened to be there at that moment. He said it was a miracles upon miracles, because kids were running all over.”
