Tony Grist
“Go back to Auschwitz!”
“Hitler didn’t finish the job!”
“We will deal with you much more effectively than the Nazis!”
These were the epithets shouted at the Jewish community of Pico-Robertson according to Ronen, a local resident. On June 23rd, a large group of pro-Palestinian protesters gathered in the center of LA’s largest Jewish neighborhood, blocking the entrance to the Adas Torah Synagogue, while physically assaulting and shouting antisemitic abuse at Jewish residents of the neighborhood. The protesters (many of them masked) brought flags, signs, bullhorns, batons and pepper spray, in a display of what many have described as a pogrom. Even Joe Biden condemned the incident. Posting on Twitter, he said, “I’m appalled by the scenes outside of Adas Torah synagogue in Los Angeles. Intimidating Jewish congregants is dangerous, unconscionable, antisemitic, and un-American.”
While the Hamas-supporting mob began rampaging through the neighborhood, Ronen armed himself with a knife and left his home to confront the antisemitic protesters. Ronen, a former IDF sniper who fought in the Lebanon War, owns a .357 Magnum Smith & Wesson revolver, but due to California’s strict gun control laws, he was unable to legally leave his home with it. Many other local Jews also joined Ronen in the streets to defend their community against the mob; but likewise, California’s draconian gun control laws prohibited these residents from protecting their community with firearms. Ronen believes that if the rioters had targeted a Jewish community in a Red State unconstrained by totalitarian gun control, Jews would have been able to take to the streets open carrying AR-15’s, which would have intimidated the attackers and stopped the violence.
While the mayhem unfolded outside the Synagogue, few noticed the fact that the rioters were unable to achieve what many believe had been their ultimate goal; breaching and rampaging inside the Synagogue itself. And this is thanks in large part to a Jewish armed security team known as Magen Am. Founded by Rabbi and martial artist Yossi Eilfort, Magen Am has provided LA Jews with firearms training and given many of them security guard certification so they can carry firearms openly to defend their Synagogues and other institutions. This is no easy feat in Democrat-ruled and overtly anti-gun Los Angeles. In a post on social media published shortly after the incident, Magen Am reposted a quote from the LA Jewish Journal by Rabbi Abraham Cooper, “Bottom line… Thank G-d for Magen Am who maintained professionalism throughout. Without them, I believe the Synagogue could have been easily breached by our enemies.”
While the Pico-Robertson community remains shocked by this horrific incident, Magen Am’s performance proved that American Jews have come a long way since the dark days of the Holocaust. The 2nd Amendment has given them an effective tool in keeping their communities safe from all enemies, both foreign and domestic.
About the Author
Yonatan Stern, a former resident of Pico-Robertson, is an IDF veteran and professional firearms instructor who specializes in training Synagogues and other houses of worship against violent attacks. He is the director of Cherev Gidon Israeli Tactical Training Academy in Honesdale, PA. Yonatan can be reached at: [email protected]
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