Family and friends remembered a woman killed in a shooting at a Southern California synagogue as a generous person dedicated to spreading kindness, with her daughter telling the crowd Monday that she knows her mother would forgive the man who took her life as she worshipped.
A memorial service for Lori Kaye, 60, drew a packed congregation, including the three people wounded in the attack, federal and state lawmakers, a representative of the Israeli government, and city and police leaders.
Kaye's daughter Hannah said she knows in her heart that her mother has forgiven the 19-year-old man who killed her Saturday at the Chabad of Poway near San Diego on the last day of a major Jewish holiday.
"Her light has reached all crevices of this planet," Hannah Kaye said.
The daughter said she would miss singing in the car with her mother and dancing in the kitchen. Her mom always bought a second cup of coffee and bagel because she knew someone would want them, Hannah Kaye said.
"Everyone was her sister, her trusted confidante. Everyone was her friend," Hannah Kaye said.
The synagogue's rabbi, Yishoel Goldstein, lost one of his fingers in the shooting and comforted worshippers with his hand wrapped in blue bandages. Noya Dahan, 8, and her uncle Almog Peretz both suffered leg wounds in the attack but were released from the hospital and honored Kaye on Monday.
The U.S. State Department's new envoy on anti-Semitism told the packed synagogue that the Trump administration is committed to fighting the evil wherever it lurks.
"I'm here to say we are at war with these people," Elan Carr said, vowing to fight anti-Semitism in "every city in the United States."
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