Pence to Poway Rabbi: Your Faith Inspired the Nation

Stand for Israel  |  July 12, 2019

Earlier this year, our hearts were broken when a worshiper was killed and others were injured during an anti-Semitic shooting attack at the Poway Chabad synagogue in California. In the wake of the shooting, the house of worship’s wounded rabbi called on all of us to spread light in the face of such evil and hatred. Now, The Times of Israel reports, Mike Pence and his wife Karen paid a visit to the rabbi and his temple to let them know they have “inspired the nation”:

US Vice President Mike Pence paid a surprise visit on Thursday to a San Diego area synagogue that was the scene of a deadly shooting attack three months ago, telling the congregation’s rabbi injured in the attack that he had “inspired the nation.”

“We had to come,” Pence told Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein as the two hugged upon the vice president’s entry into the synagogue…

“To me there was a very short moment of darkness. That darkness was pushed out of here,” the rabbi said. “God was really protecting us.”

Pence told Goldstein: “Your faith and courage are an inspiration to the nation.”

“Karen and I were honored to stop by the Chabad of Poway, the site of a terrible shooting in April,” Pence tweeted after the visit. “No one should fear in a house of worship. We will always condemn evil acts of anti-Semitism…”