A response to the question "why?"

By Tzvi Freeman

Dear Rabbi Freeman, I can't handle this. Here's a young couple with a small child who left their families to live in a strange land, just for the sake of helping build the Jewish community there. You know how many kids they saved from drugs and from prison? This is their reward? This is the protection G‑d gives them? --S Dear S, We're all in pain. We're all stunned. But you are asking questions you know you cannot answer. Why? How will that help anyone? What we need now is strength and courage. What we need now is to regather our forces and to rebuild. We knew beforehand that we are at war with an enemy. We knew that the world needs to be healed, that it oozes with a venomous darkness, and that darkness will not sit passively as we steal away its dominion. We knew that the more we fight this darkness, the harder it will fight back. We didn't fool ourselves. We decided we will fight and we will win. That is why Gavriel and Rivky went where they went. They went not as tourists, but as fearless soldiers. Once you are at war, you don't stop to ponder all over again—can we win? Is this worth it? Maybe they're worse than we thought? That's deadly. If you would rather stay home and enjoy comfort while the rest of the world sits out in the cold, you should have decided that a long time ago. Now you are out there on the field of battle, you have already awakened the bear from its den, now there is no turning back. They are darkness. We are light. They storm the shores with death in their eyes. We come to teach compassion and acts of beauty. They carry assault rifles and grenades. We carry candles for Friday night, a Torah of wisdom, joy and beauty. Are we to surrender before them? Are we to stop and cry and ask, "maybe we're fighting the wrong battle"? This Saturday night, a young couple is leaving Israel to take the place of the Gavriel and Rivky. We, all of us, will help them. The Chabad House of Mumbai had five stories. We will build a ten-story Chabad House in Mumbai, with greater light, with greater joy, with even more voices singing the Shabbat songs and children kissing the Torah scroll. We will build with a vengeance. We will fill the world with light and wisdom and the spirit of darkness in men's hearts shall forever perish. They come with their guns and their might, with a god of destruction and terror, but we come in the name of the Eternal, the source of all life and healing. They and all memory of them will vanish from the face of the earth and our lamp will burn forever. May the Almighty G‑d hear the cry of their blood from the earth and put an end to all sorrow. May it be very soon, sooner than we can imagine. source: Chabad.org

My First Night in India: with the Holtzbergs

I arrived in India at 3 am on a Friday morning. I had no previous contact or arrangements for my first Shabbat in India. Before landing at the airport in Mumbai, I didn't even know if there were Jews in India. I was part of a business internship with Students In Free Enterprise, and I didn't think I would be interacting with Jews in India at all. I made one phone call to a number I found online through Chabad, and I found myself eating a tasty kosher Israeli style Shabbat meal overlooking the Arabian Sea at the make-shift Chabad House on the top floor of the Shelly Hotel opposite the Radio Club just down the street from the Taj Hotel. My time with the Holtzberg's was before they moved into the Chabad Houses' most recent location. I very much looked forward to Rivki's freshly baked Challah, as this was a novelty in a land filled with nan-bread.

Shabbat Meals

Out of the 13 Shabbats that I spent with Rabbi Holtzberg in the Spring of 2005, it didn't matter if there was a small group or a few dozen at a Shabbat meal- every time he always made it a point for every single person to introduce themselves and share something uplifting with the group. He gave us all a choice between sharing a story, a song, or making a commitment to do a good deed (and sharing what that was with the group). Visitors ranged from honeymooners, back-packers, volunteers, educators, and business men.

Gabi and Rivki Holtzberg spread Jewish pride

Gavriel Holtzberg was born in Israel and moved to the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn with his parents when he was nine. His wife, born Rivka Rosenberg, was a native of Afula.

"Rabbi Gavriel and Rivka Holtzberg, the beloved directors of Chabad-Lubavitch of Mumbai, were killed during one of the worst terrorist attacks to strike India in recent memory," the Chabad's New York headquarters said in a statement.

The couple ran the Chabad's Mumbai headquarters. Their toddler son, Moshe, was smuggled out of the center by an employee on Wednesday, and is now with his maternal grandparents, who arrived from Israel on Thursday. Another son, who was ailing, was in Israel at the time of the attack.

The Holtzbergs arrived in Mumbai in 2003 to serve the small Jewish community there, running a synagogue and Torah classes, and assisting Jewish tourists in the seaside city.

"Gabi and Rivki Holtzberg made the ultimate sacrifice," Rabbi Moshe Kotlarsky, vice chairman of the educational arm of Chabad-Lubavitch, said in a statement.

"As emissaries to Mumbai, Gabi and Rivki gave up the comforts of the West in order to spread Jewish pride in a corner of the world that was a frequent stop for throngs of Israeli tourists."

Chabad had first raised the alarm Wednesday night, when attacks began in Mumbai, saying it had failed to make contact with the rabbi. Hundreds were also wounded in the attacks, which appeared to target locations popular with foreigners.

source: Haaretz.com