28 | DECEMBER 26 • 2019

JTA
F

or many Jews around the
world, there’
s probably no
love lost for 2019.
As the year draws to a close,
the Jewish community continues
to grapple with the continued
rise of global anti-Semitism —
one major community in Europe
recently faced the possible elec-
tion as prime minister of a man
who many Jews consider an
anti-Semite. And Israel is caught
in the grip of political paralysis
following two fruitless elections
(with a prime minister facing
prosecution for corruption).
Meanwhile, with a U.S. pres-
idential election looming next
year that is sure to be bitterly
contested, there’
s little reason
to think we’
re in for a smoother
ride in 2020.
These are the Jewish stories
that most captured our attention
in 2019 and whose reverbera-
tions are likely to be felt well into
the next ride around the sun.

POWAY SHOOTING
In April, on the last day of
Passover, a gunman opened fire
at a Chabad synagogue in the

San Diego suburb of Poway,
killing one person and injuring
three. The accused gunman told
a 911 dispatcher that he did
it because “Jewish people are
destroying the white race.”
The Poway attack shook the
American Jewish community,
which was still reeling from the
shooting attack at the Tree of
Life synagogue in Pittsburgh
that killed 11 worshippers at
Shabbat services. As the one-
year anniversary of the shooting
approached in October, the com-
munity held a number of memo-
rial events that made it clear the
aftershocks were still being felt.
“I live with Oct. 27 every min-
ute of every hour of every day,
and I will for the rest of my life,”
Rabbi Jeffrey Myers said.

YOM KIPPUR ATTACK
As 51 people gathered for Yom
Kippur services in the German
city of Halle, Stephan Balliet, clad
in combat gear and wearing a
head-mounted camera, tried to
blast his way inside. When the
synagogue’
s fortified doors kept
him out, he turned and shot Jana
Lange, who had reprimanded

Difficult
Year

In some

instances, the

woes of 2019

may follow

Jews into 2020.

World

XINHUA/ VIA GETTY IMAGES

ABOVE: Police
vehicles gather
around the
synagogue where
a shooting took
place in Poway,
Calif., April 27,
2019. LEFT: Blue
and White party
chairmen Benny
Gantz and Yair
Lapid during a
faction meeting at
the Knesset, the
Israeli parliament,
in Jerusalem, Nov.
18, 2019.

HADAS PARUSH/FLASH90

ANGELA WEISS/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES