In the ark of Chabad of Pacific Beach sits a Torah that survived the Holocaust.
A congregant patched the parchment where bullet holes tore through it.
At least once a year, Rabbi Yossi Tiefenbrun takes it out and reads the message within that remains untouched.
It reminds him of a history he sees repeating.
“When they say ‘never again,’ this means never again. And unfortunately, we're right back to where we started,” he said.
In the early morning hours Sunday, his phone lit up. His school alumni chat group was grieving the loss of their classmate, Eli Schlanger, one of at least 15 killed in the mass shooting at a Hanukkah celebration in Australia’s Bondi Beach this weekend. Dozens more were hospitalized.
“He was a tremendous ball of light,” Tiefenbrun said of Schlanger. “Wherever he went, he brought joy to people.”
Tiefenbrun followed the news through daybreak and then gathered himself to lead his community.
He sent an email reassuring them that police would guard them. And they would celebrate the first night of Hanukkah together, commemorating the triumph and resilience of their religion.
“Here you have a few terrorists that want to dampen and take that away from us. We're not gonna let that happen. So if you ask me if it diminished the celebration in any way, absolutely not. On the contrary, we want to celebrate more. We want to be, you know, want to spread more light,” he said.
The San Diego Police Department said there are no known threats to local Jewish gatherings, but the department will be increasing patrols near houses of worship and community events.
Tiefenbrun invites everyone to come stand with their Jewish neighbors celebrating this week.
