LOCAL | GRIEF, OUTRAGE AT MUMBAI ATTACKS
Chabad leaders decry murders, praise victims
GRIEF, OUTRAGE AT MUMBAI ATTACKS
BY ROBERT A. COHN & MIKE SHERWIN, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF EMERITUS AND INTERIM EDTIOR
Deep shock, profound grief and outrage greeted the horrific news of the terrorist murders of all six hostages at the Nariman House Chabad Center in Mumbai, India, including Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg, 29, of Brooklyn, and his Israeli wife, Rivkah, 28, the Chabad-Lubavitch emissaries in Mumbai, who ran the facility.
The two-year-old son of the Holtzberg's, Moshe, had been smuggled out of the facility by a nanny at great personal risk, and is now back in Brookyn. Leaders of Chabad, the largest Hasidic Jewish movement in the world, which dates back to the 17th century, were joined by other Jewish leaders and members and leaders of the general community in expressing condolences to the families of the victims and solidarity with those who suffered the shocking losses at the hands of the Islamist terrorists who went on a 56-hour rampage in Mumbai, leaving nearly 200 people dead and over 300 wounded.
The Chabad-Lubavitch movement operates 3,500 Jewish centers worldwide in 72 nations, including countries with small Jewish populations, and other nations in which Jews have been subject to persecution. There are about 4,000 Jews living in Mumbai, India, one of several Jewish communities which have always been welcomed by India's democratic, multi-ethnic and multi-faith society.
In St. Louis, there are three Chabad facilities, under the overall direction of Rabbi Yosef Landa, who has served the local Jewish community for the past 25 years and is chairman of the St. Louis Rabbinical Council.
"It is too painful for words," said Rabbi Landa in a statement to the Jewish Light.
"Certainly no one can offer answers where there are none. However, we do know that it is precisely in a time like this that we must reaffirm our faith and strengthen our bitachon, and most importantly consider these horrific and senseless acts by resolving to redouble our personal and communal efforts in increasing goodness and holiness in a world darkened by such acts of evil."
Rabbi Landa encouraged Chabad members and others in the Jewish community to perform mitzvot in memory of the victims and to resolve to continue their work in St. Louis and around the world.
Rabbi Hershey Novack, director of Chabad on Campus in St. Louis, which serves Jewish students at Washington U. and other area campuses, was among those who personally knew, studied and worked with Rabbi Holtzberg. In several interviews with local media, including KSDK-TV, Channel 5, Rabbi Novack, usually a highly upbeat and optimistic person, was visibly shaken over the losses of his colleagues and friends.
Rabbi Novack told the Jewish Light that he had attended yeshiva in New York with Holtzberg, who was a year younger than him. Later, they spent time together in Thailand, helping lead Passover seders.
"I think that he felt his calling in that environment, and it seemed natural to me when I learned that he was returning as a Chabad Shliach to Mumbai," Novack recalled.
"Gabi was — and it is painful to discuss Gabi in the past tense — an intellectual activist with the deep grounding in the extraordinary Weltschauung of Chasidism," he said.
"Gabi was — to borrow a line from baseball — a 'five tool rabbi.' Gabi could do it all. He was deeply learned and richly appreciative of the human condition, he served his community as a teacher, a mohel, and a shochet."
"This is not only a loss for the global Chabad family, for they were not targeted on account of their personal affiliation. They represented a selfless ideal, the noble commitment to teach and help those with less...He was a model ambassdor of Judaism," Novack said.
In a letter posted on his Facebook page, Novack wrote, "Gabi and Rivky were motivated by the vision of boundless love and service of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Schneerson, of saintly memory...they lived in a crowded section of one of the most crowded cities on earth, unnoticed and unknown to many of their neighbors, without glory or financial stability. Instead, they opened their home to thousands of people, Jews from every conceivable affiliation and background — providing a meal, an embrace, a home. They provided teaching and counseling and help to people caught up in unhealthy behavior, and spiritual inspiration to the many seeking it. Expatriates, backpackers, local Jews and the occasional Washington U. student were all part of their community."
"While the attack was on a Chabad Center, and a family of Chabad representatives were murdered, the loss is not limited to the Chabad movement," Rabbi Novack continued. Gabi and Rivky were not targeted because they represented Chabad; they were killed for being Jewish. I would go even further to say that this was not only an attack on the Jewish people, but on anyone who values peace, goodness and kindness."
Last week, Chabad of Greater St. Louis planned a tehillim session at its Lazaroff Center on Delmar.
Chabad has also planned a community gathering, "Turning Darkness Into Night," on Sunday, Dec. 7 at 1 p.m. at the Jewish Federation Kopolow Building on the Millstone Campus in Creve Coeur. Rabbinic, civic and lay leaders will address the gathering, which is open to the community. Rabbi Landa said the event will "pay tribute to the victims of last week's terror attacks at the Chabad Center and elsewhere in Mumbai, India, as we strive to transform this horrific tragedy into a force for good."
Community reaction
Community agencies rallied to issue statements condemning the attacks in Mumbai and offering words of condolence and support for Chabad and families of the victims.
Barry Rosenberg, executive vice president of the Jewish Federation of St. Louis, noted that the attacks will have a "long-lasting impact," particularly among the Jews of India, 90 percent of whom live in the Mumbai region.
"Our heartfelt condolences and prayers go out to the families of all those killed in this horrific and heinous attack," Rosenberg said. "We are particularly saddened at the killing of Chabad emissaries Rabbi Gavriel and Rivka Holtzberg who dedicated their lives to caring for visitors and strengthening Jewish life, and inspired by the young emissaries who have already volunteered to take their place."
"In tragedies like this, the Jewish Federation system is there for the Jews and the general population of Mumbai," he said. He noted that affliliated organizations are already working in India. "The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) is on the ground in India, working with Magen David Adom and other organizations, helping Jews, Israelis and other attack victims and the Jewish Agency will provide support through the Victims of Terror Fund," he said."We pray for the complete and speedy recovery of the wounded."
The Jewish Community Relations Council released a statement, saying, "We condemn the heinous attacks in Mumbai that targeted Americans, Britons and specifically, Jews. The Jewish community of St. Louis stands with Jewish communities throughout the world in condemning what appears to be a highly planned and coordinated attack on Chabad's Nariman House where victims were targeted simply because they were Jewish."
"We join with the families of those murdered, the Jewish community and the worldwide community in mourning the senseless deaths of the innocent victims and pray for the recovery of the wounded," the statement continued.
"We urge all authorities to cooperate in bringing those responsible for these vicious attacks to justice."
At H.F. Epstein Hebrew Academy on Monday, middle school students attended a morning assembly to honor those lost in Mumbai.
Rabbi Landa spoke to the students about the mission of Chabad around the world and the self sacrifice and determination of the Holzbergs to bring Yidddishkeit to the Jews who lived in Mumbai and to the many travelers who visited there, according to the school's activities director, Bonnie Drazen.
"Rabbi Landa reminded the students that we can indeed take positive action. By continuing to do mitzvot and learning Torah we can defeat the intentions of the terrorists," Drazen said.
After Rabbi Landa's talk, Rabbi Chaim Possick, of the Torah MiTzion Kollel, who also teaches the seventh grade boys, spoke to the students about Israel's involvement in the aftermath of the tragedy in Mumbai.
"Poignantly, he told the students that all the Jews who were killed, even those who were not Israeli citizens were flown back to Israel in flag draped coffins, an honor usually reserved for fallen soldiers," Drazen recalled. "As victims of terror, these Jews were accorded the same honor. This reflects the commitment that Medinant Yisroel, The State of Israel has to each and every Jew around the world."
Rabbi Daniel Morris concluded the assembly with the recitation of the Kaddish, Drazen said.
Rabbi Novack said he has seen an outpouring of support from the community. "I have been overwhelmed by the sheer volume of emails, facebook messages, and other communications I have received over the past few days. I hope to respond to each one, though it will take some time," he said.
"In their deaths, as in their lives, Gabi and Rivky brought people together from diverse backgrounds, uniting them in the celebration of Yiddishkeit. Let us join in ensuring that the lives of the Holtzbergs and the other victims live on by continuing that unity, that enormous outpouring of love in our own homes and communities and, indeed, in the world at large," he said.
Reaction from the St. Louis Muslim community
Outside the Jewish community, the Islamic Foundation of Greater St. Louis and the Pakistani American Association of Greater St. Louis issued a joint statement condemning the attacks.
"We extend our deepest sympathies to the families of the victims of the terrorist attacks and stand with the community of Mumbai during this difficult time. Our thoughts are with the loved ones of those who were the targets just because of their faiths and nationalities."
The statement, from Dr. Ghazala Hayat, chair of the public relations committee of the Islamic Foundation of Greater St. Louis and Abdul Wadood, President of the Pakistani American Association of Greater St. Louis, went on to say that "The individuals who committed this carnage do not represent tenets of Islam or any nation. The terrorists have their own agendas and targets. The world has increasingly become vulnerable to violent attacks by the terrorists."
"Our only hope to combat this at a global level is to join hands, forces and intelligence. We request that both India and Pakistan deal with this very difficult situation with the utmost restraint, and do not let the terrorists succeed by playing into their agenda of keeping conflicts between the two nations at the forefront," the statement said.
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