OpEd: Renewing faith in Poway

By Eric George Tauber

POWAY, California — It was a dreary evening, but that didn’t stop about 4,000 people from coming out to Poway High School for an interfaith vigil sponsored by the ADL (Anti-Defamation League). Folks who might not normally wear kippot on a Monday were sporting them proudly alongside hijabs, turbans and a few priestly collars. In spite of the reason for our being there, the mood was friendly and upbeat.

Here are a few highlights from some of the speakers.

Sheriff Bill Gore: “We are not going to let this despicable act change the way we live, we love and we worship.”

Poway Mayor Steve Vaus, clad in his signature jeans and cowboy hat, said that within hours of the shooting, he received calls from Governor Newsom and the White House asking, “What do you need?” He replied, “We don’t need a thing. Our first responders did a fine job.”

Rabbi Yonah Fradkin, fresh from Lori Gilbert Kaye’s funeral, was heartened by the great commitment to build and strengthen the community. “We are proud to be who we are. No one will stop us.”

San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer: “We are a community that celebrates together and mourns together. … How are we going to stop the cycle of violence? … We are the answer. … We must embrace the values of acceptance and love.”

Michael Hopkins, CEO of Jewish Family Service, bemoaned how common such attacks have become in the world. “This is not the new normal. I refuse to accept this as normal.”

Dr. Marian Kim-Phelps, the Superintendent of Poway Unified School District, welcomed the ADL’s “No Place For Hate” program. She also praised high school student Talia Schauder who –as the granddaughter of a survivor– educates her peers about the Holocaust.

Some had trouble pronouncing Chabad, but they all spoke with admiration of Chabad’s philosophy of each person’s duty to repair the world.

Rev. Gerald Brown was delighted to learn the word mensch meaning “a person of integrity.” As a Baptist-Pentecostal preacher, he had a hard time limiting his speech to three minutes. But with a booming voice, humor and infectious optimism, he exhorted us all to love one another in words and actions. And he stayed within his allotted time.

Rabbi Scott Meltzer of Ohr Shalom Synagogue reminded us of a line from the Haggadah.  It was not only Pharaoh who sought to destroy us. In every generation, there have been those who sought our destruction. But we are not defined by our enemies’ hatred. What defines us is our own will to live. He further spoke of a lesson he learned not in seminary but biology: “We are all cousins, branches of the same tree. … We are all one family on this planet.”

At the end, clergy across a spectrum of faiths stood together in solidarity.

While I can appreciate that the vigil was hastily organized, there seemed to be a few missing pieces. First, the speakers consisted of public officials, Jews and Christians. Other faiths were in attendance, but not heard from. The terrorist who attacked Chabad had also set a fire at the Islamic Center of Escondido, which was thankfully extinguished quickly. It would have been nice to hear some words of encouragement and solidarity from this quarter.

Also, there was a representative from the FBI who spoke of cooperation among law enforcement agencies, but she did not directly address the threat of white supremacists. At least 50 people were killed in such attacks in 2018, according to the ADL’s Center on Extremism. In that same year, the FBI arrested 120 American citizens for plotting acts of domestic terrorism.  The Pentagon is currently investigating eleven military service members for ties to Identity Europa. However, the Department of Homeland Security has quietly closed branches that deal with threats by white hate groups, but not those investigating black and Muslim groups even though white nationalism is clearly on the rise.

The shooter, John P. Earnest, is being charged with first-degree murder and a hate crime, but not terrorism. Brazenly walking into a synagogue, a church, a school, a mall, a movie theater or anywhere and shooting people is an act of terrorism. While they may be “disturbed individuals” they are also terrorists. Our public officials need to call them as such and prosecute them accordingly. Anything less is unacceptable.

 

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Tauber is a freelance writer based in San Diego.  He may be contacted via eric.tauber@sdjewishworld.com