Rabbi Chanoch and Leiky Gechman, an Israeli couple with connections to the Jewish community of Mumbai, India, will soon be heading to the South Asian business capital as its first permanent Chabad-Lubavitch emissaries since the terrorist attacks of November 2008.
New Couple to Direct Mumbai Chabad House
Rabbi Chanoch and Leiky Gechman, an Israeli couple with connections to the Jewish community of Mumbai, India, will soon be heading to the South Asian business capital as its first permanent Chabad-Lubavitch emissaries since the terrorist attacks of November 2008.
Rabbi Moshe Kotlarsky, vice chairman of the educational arm of Chabad-Lubavitch, made the announcement Wednesday at a Washington, D.C., luncheon attended by 500 Jewish leaders and ambassadors from than 40 countries. In an emotional address serving to highlight the dedication of the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory, to strengthen Jewish life around the globe, Kotlarsky noted that Indian Ambassador Meera Shankar was in attendance.
Less than two years ago, Kotlarsky pointed out, terrorists stormed the Chabad House in Mumbai and murdered its directors, Rabbi Gavriel and Rivky Holtzberg, and their four Jewish guests.
“Rabbi Gavriel and his wife Rivka are of course, irreplaceable,” began Kotlarsky, one of several participants of the Living Legacy conference hosted by American Friends of Lubavitch. “But now, there’s a rabbi who just got his visa on Friday and will be going there in a few weeks to continue their work and revive Chabad activities in Mumbai.”
Kotlarsky thanked the Indian government on behalf of its efforts to facilitate the appointment and then introduced Chanoch Gechman to the crowd, which responded with a standing ovation.
Gechman first went to Mumbai in 2006 to assist the Holtzbergs after the birth of their son Moshe, who would later emerge from the massacre clutched in the arms of his nanny, Sandra Solomon. Gechman, who studied rabbinical law under Gavriel Holtzberg, stayed in the city for five months, spending most of his free time teaching Torah one-on-one with the Israeli backpackers who came in and out of the center.
“I enjoyed it very much,” Gechman, 25, said earlier this year. “I would learn with any Jew who came in, whatever they wanted to learn.”
bob
His name is Mordy Kaler! He’s right in the center of the photo and he has feelings…
Chaim
Please change photo caption to:
“Rabbi Chanoch Gechman (Left), Mordy Kaler (Center), and Rabbi Nachman Holtzberg (Righ) at Kinus Hashluchim this past year.”
Thank you