Let There be Light – A Response to the Mumbai Massacre

The funerals are over and the bodies are buried, but I’m still shaken by the Mumbai Massacre. So many innocents lives have been so violently snuffed out, so many families were so senselessly destroyed.

While the number of people murdered hovers the 200 mark, numbers essentially belie the true catastrophe; they tend to coalesce the crime and blur the dreadfulness of the calamity. Each victim is in reality an entire world. Each is a loss that shattered the hearts of many.

On one hand I find myself in the company of billions of civilized members of the human race whose heart aches for fellow humans who were violently massacred and wounded in a far off land. On the other hand, as a Jew, this catastrophe is for me far more personal. Leibish Teitelbaum, Yocheved Orpaz, Bentzion Chroman, Norma Shvarzblat Rabinovich are my Jewish brothers and sisters. Rabbi and Mrs. Holtzberg, the Chabad team who settled in Mumbai to create a Jewish oasis for locals and tourists, are my own, colloquially speaking, flesh and blood.

An Already Eclectic Mix Gets an Upscale Bar

CROWN HEIGHTS, Brooklyn — A mash-up of cultures, is home to both the annual West Indian American parade and the headquarters of the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidim. Adding an upscale bar and beer garden to the mix might seem counterintuitive.

Two Terrorists May Have Escaped

MUMBAI, India — More than a fortnight after the Mumbai attacks, eyewitness accounts of what transpired at Nariman House strongly suggest that two terrorists are unaccounted for.

A key witness who declined to be identified told this newspaper that at 9.30 pm the night the Nariman House standoff began, four men with subcontinental features accompanied two Israelis to the Chabad House in the Colaba area. Their entry coincided with the watchman on duty being out for dinner. (The watchman has since been missing).

Op-Ed: To Beard or not To Beard?

Dear Fellow Jew,

Beard, some beard, no beard. Any color, any shape, and size. I love you because you are my fellow Jew.

The news about the inspiring Shabbos Hakhel held in Crown Heights this past Shabbos hit the Chabad websites in a matter of hours after Shabbos. The standard negative reactions were soon to follow. I can guarantee that all the people who did not have good things to say, could not have attended the event. It was purely inspiring, and I had tears in my eyes more than once. The organizers, speakers and participants made this an event to be remembered, and one that will bring about positive change in people and in the community as a whole.

One of the main themes of the event was Achdus and Ahavas Yisrael.

India Seeks Israeli Help

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — An Israeli intelligence source has reported on Saturday that India has sought Isralei help and support in operational and intelligence planning to conduct Commando attacks on three to five Pakistani targets.

According to a report the Indian leaders “showed the outline of this plan to US secretary of State Condoleezza Rice when she visited New Delhi last week.

Lego-Style Islamic Terrorist Figurine Sparks Outrage

A Lego-style figurine resembling an Islamic terrorist strapped with explosives and made by a small American company has caused an uproar among Muslims and non-Muslims alike.

The controversial miniature figure, created by Seattle-based Will Chapman as part of his BrickArms military fighters line, is a bearded militant with a face-covering hood, a tiny toy assault rifle, a little grenade launcher and plastic bombs that can be attached to an explosives belt.

Inside Hero Nanny’s Dash to Save Young Boy During Mumbai Massacre

MUMBAI, India [NYDN] — The little boy’s voice echoed down the staircase from the second floor, steady and insistent.

“Sanda! Sanda! Sanda!” cried Moshe Holtzberg, just three days short of his second birthday. The beloved boy’s parents – former Brooklynites Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg and his wife, Rivkah – were unconscious nearby.

Talking With a Terrorist: An Endless Call to India

On the Wednesday night before Thanksgiving I was in my office in New York, preparing notes for a finance class I was set to teach the next week. I grew up in Mumbai, India, and I had heard earlier in the day from my brother about the terrorist attacks in my hometown, but I had thought it was going to be over quickly. Then my nephew called. He told me that the Chabad-Lubavitch movement was looking for Indian language speakers to help them keep track of developing news after terrorists took over the Chabad house in Mumbai. This was the beginning of a nearly 17-hour ordeal that soon had me in prolonged negotiations with the terrorists holed up in the Jewish center, moving toward a deathly denouement.

WSJ Opinion: Mumbai and the Chabad Movement

Perhaps the most telling story I’ve heard about Chabad emissaries is that some will buy burial plots once they arrive at their distant outposts: It is a gesture to the community — and perhaps also to themselves — that they have come to stay.

I first discovered this Hasidic movement, which has captured the world’s attention since the killing of several of its members in Mumbai, after 9/11. The world no longer felt safe and in the months after the attack, my husband and I would flee to the Hamptons, driving every weekend to the East End of Long Island, long after the glamorous summer crowds had gone.

Op-Ed: The Rabbi and the Terrorists

It was obvious to observers around the world that one of the designated targets of the Pakistani Islamist terrorists was the Mumbai Chabad House, the one Jewish center in Mumbai. The 10 Islamic terrorists who came from Pakistan to India chose their targets with great care.

If one assumes that the terrorists primary goals were to destabilize India, weaken growing Indian-Pakistani cooperation in fighting terrorism, and greatly increase Indian-Pakistani tension, hopefully to the point of military war between the two countries, every one of the targets made strategic sense. Slaughtering as many people as possible in Indias major economic center, including as many foreign tourists as possible at Mumbais finest hotels, also made sense.

US Official: India Knew of Plot on Mumbai’s Coast

MUMBAI, India [AP] — India received a warning from the United States before last week’s attacks in Mumbai that militants were plotting a waterborne assault on the city, a senior U.S. official said Tuesday as domestic intelligence officials said they were aware of a Pakistan-based plot.

Mumbai Jewish Community Bids Slain Chabad Emissaries Tearful Farewell, as Bodies Flown Home

MUMBAI, India — In a tearful ceremony, the Jewish community of Mumbai paid their last respects to Chabad House emissaries Gavriel and Rivka Holtzberg, killed in the terror attack last Wednesday, at the Knesset Eliyahu Synagogue yesterday. Rivka’s parents, Shimon and Yehudit Rosenberg were in attendance, along with the Holtzbergs’ 2-year-old son, Moshe, who survived the attack.

Op-Ed: The Mumbai Massacre – A Torah Reflection

The tragedies that unfolded this past week have left us all with sadness, sorrow and mourning; with more questions than answers.

Yet none is greater than the question asked of Hashem by our forefather Avraham in the book of B’reishis. When Hashem informed Avraham of His intent to destroy Sodom for their wicked ways, Avraham asked:

Israeli Consulate’s Mumbai Security Chief Was Arrested En Route to Chabad House Rescue

MUMBAI, India — The security officer at the Israeli consulate in Mumbai was arrested by Indian police as he raced toward the Chabad House last Wednesday after Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg telephoned to say it was under attack.

The Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem on Sunday confirmed that the officer had been intercepted en route to what he had hoped would be a rescue mission, but stressed that Israel had no complaints with Indian security personnel over the incident.

The List of Winners from the Ten Yad Auction

Grand Prize: M. Cohen
Split the Pot: Nechama Hershkop
Jackpot # 1: Rachel Seeve
Jackpot # 2: Dina Valov
Dollar a Day Raffle: Shoshana Plotkin
Auction Special: Priscilla Sutton

Click Here for the Photo Gallery from the Auction!

List Continues in the Extended Article!