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| Photo by JHV: VICKI SAMUELS
The greater Houston Jewish community began to fill the auditorium of Chabad Texas Headquarters for the Dec. 1 Memorial Service for Mumbai Victims. A standing room-only audience of 400 participated in the comforting service. |
Chabad Lubavitch of Houston brings Houston-area community together to remember the victims of the Mumbai terrorist attack
It was a Jewish response, borne of love for Torah and the desire to help those searching for answers to questions that have no justifiable answer.
Inside a room filled with sadness, yet overridden by lofty spirituality, the Houston Jewish community came together on Monday evening, Dec. 1, to mourn the senseless deaths of two beloved leaders of the global Jewish community. Rabbi Gavriel and Rivka Holtzberg and four other members of the Jewish community lost their lives during the terrorist siege in Mumbai, India, that began Wednesday, Nov. 26, the day before America’s Thanksgiving holiday. The young Holtzbergs, 29 and 26, respectively, were Chabad Lubavitch shluchim (emissaries) who, since 2003, have welcomed into their home thousands of Jews from around the world seeking a Jewish connection far from their own homes. Other Jewish people who died were Norma Shvarzblatt-Rabinovich, 50; Yocheved Harpaz, 59; Rabbi Betzion Chroman, 28; and Rabbi Leibisch Teitelbaum, 37.
Standing room-only crowd
Chabad Lubavitch Texas centers, from around the city and state, hosted a standing-room-only gathering of 400 Houston-area Jews inside the new auditorium of the Chabad Lubavitch Texas Headquarters, 10900 Fondren Rd. The service began with Rabbi emeritus Joseph Radinsky and Rabbi Barry Gelman, both of United Orthodox Synagogues, lighting candles, one for each level of the soul. Chasidic masters explain that the soul has five dimensions: nefesh (the engine of physical life), ruach (emotional self and “personality”), neshamah (intellectual self), chayah (supra-rational self, seat of will, desire, commitment and faith) and yechidah (essence of the soul).
While not scheduled on the program, Rabbi Chaim Lazaroff, Chabad of Uptown, read a condolence letter from U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee.
“According to Jewish tradition, everything that happens comes from Torah,” began Rabbi Shimon Lazaroff, regional director of Chabad Lubavitch Texas. “Torah, the words of G-d, tefillah (prayer) and tzedakah (loving kindness): This is how we react to times of tragedy.” Rabbi Lazaroff led the community in the Hebrew recitation of Psalms 20, which was projected on a screen in Hebrew, transliteration and English. Rabbi Dovid Goldstein, Chabad of West Houston, led the English translation.
Excerpts from “Pioneers,” a video about Lubavitcher Rebbe Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory, followed. It detailed how he mobilized Jews to respond to tragedy, following a massacre that took place at Kfar Chabad in Israel in 1956. The rebbe said that we never can understand such an event, and he sent a message to his fellow Jews: “Behemshech habinyan tinacheimu. By your continued building will you be comforted.”
Consul General of Israel to the Southwest Asher Yarden expressed what Chabad means to Israeli Jews. “Chabad houses are corners of Yiddishkeit,” he began. “Whenever [Jews] face difficulties traveling abroad, we turn to Chabad, people like the Holtzbergs. Chabad was the only place where only Jews could be found [in Mumbai]. This was a difficult place.” After such tragedy, the consul general asked if there would be fewer Chabad houses. “No,” he responded emphatically to his own question. “Will there be fewer Israelis looking for Chabad Houses? No. Will Israelis be deterred by terrorist attacks? No.”
Personal reflections
Ben Adler and Raphael Altman each told poignant stories of their being in Mumbai and meeting Rabbi and Rivka Holtzberg. “I was in Mumbai three weeks ago,” Adler said. “From backpackers to business people, Chabad gave them a place to stay. They knew that for Shabbos, there was only one place to go. Rabbi Holtzberg and his wife, Rivka, were excellent, pure, humble people. Many came through their doors; they were always open. I was not the first, but one of the last. They fed 20 to 50 people daily, every evening, free of charge. Pure, for the mitzvah. You can’t just get kosher in supermarkets. I remember they were sitting up front, between them, their little son.”
Altman was in Mumbai for 14 months, from 2004 to 2005. “First, there was darkness, then light,” he began. Altman described traveling through heavy traffic and even animals, before arriving in downtown Mumbai. He recalled climbing up a few steps and, on the top floor, there was a mezuzah. “A bright light,” he said. “a terrace overlooking the Arabian Sea. Anyone could open the door.” He described 15 Jewish souls around a Shabbat table – Israeli diamond traders, backpackers from Israel and European tourists. One of the memories he came away with was the “spiritual light of wonderful love and hospitality. We told stories, sang songs.” Sometimes, without a minyan, visitors would daven (pray) in a nearby Sephardic synagogue. During the 10-minute walk back to the Chabad House and at the Taj Mahal Hotel, “we would look for Jewish life to pick up people. [The Holtzbergs] would teach Indian Jews mitzvot. We even talked about having a mikvah in the lake, even though there were crocodiles,” he said, with a glint in his eye. Altman’s greatest memory of his stay in Mumbai was putting on tefillin. He recalled, “The last few weeks there, most of us put on tefillin to help [the Holtzberg’s] son, who was ill. I still remember, and still continue that tradition.”
After the personal reflections, another video was shown, of scenes from Mumbai during the terrorist siege. But instead of filming demonstrations of fanatics dancing in the street during the nightmare, this plain-speaking Jewish video provided the Jewish response to tragedy. In simple terms, one should give light to darkness, by lighting Shabbat candles and giving tzedakah.
Memorializing with deeds
Rabbi Moishe Traxler of Chabad Outreach of Houston followed the video with emotional remarks. “We want guidance,” he began. “We comfort the mourners. Moshe [Holtzberg] was only 2 years old. The whole family, of the Jewish people, have prepared a condolence card in memory and honor of the departed. We have many opportunities to bring real comfort,” he continued. “The cards will be read by Moshe, of the holy lives of his parents. We increase the light and dissolve the darkness and bring about a time when darkness will no longer be here.”
For every mourner attending the service, Chabad of Houston prepared a memorial card for the Mumbai victims of terror. It reads: “To honor the memories of your family members, I will make an effort to do, or improve in, the following mitzvah [with a box to check one or more]: Light Shabbat & Holiday Candles; Tefillin; Torah Study; Prayer; Charity and Acts of Kindness; Mezuzah; Kosher; Family Purity (Mikvah)” In addition, there is a space for a personal note. For those unable to attend the service, memorials may be written online at www.chabadtexas.org/773655.
Rebbetzin Chiena Lazaroff of Torah Day School of Houston delivered the keynote address. “How do we fight evil?” she inquired. “With acts of goodness and kindness,” she answered. “We are here with a heavy heart. Those killed and injured were of many nationalities. . . . Our hearts and prayers go to all and to the people of India. This is their own 9/11.” Lazaroff saluted the people of India, the police officers, the brave nanny, Sandra Samuel, who saved the Holtzberg’s son, Moshe. She likened Samuel to pharaoh’s daughter, who saved the biblical Moshe. “Saving one life, saves the entire world,” she recalled from the Talmud (Sanhedrin 37a). Regarding the Holtzbergs, Lazaroff said that they left New York and Israel to move half-way around the world, out of love for the Jewish people. The rabbi, she said, would kosher 100 chickens a week; his wife baked 80 challahs a week, and they always had a warm smile. “They were a beacon of light,” she continued, “extinguished by 10 evil men.” We can’t make sense of it, she added. “To understand, we become complacent.”
Surprise announcement
“Fifty years ago, a Chabad village was gunned down,” she continued. “The rebbe said you will find comfort with continued building. So, Rabbi Schneerson sent 10 men, who established a living memorial [in Israel].” Chabad Lubavitch of Texas will continue to build, Lazaroff added. Honoring the lives of the Holtzberg couple and their chesed (loving kindness), Chabad will open its 18th institution in Texas – in Pearland.
The announcement was the greatest light of the evening, inspiring a spontaneous outpouring of applause from the audience. “The Torah center,” she added, “with outreach and education for goodness and kindness – this is our response to India!” With that, she introduced New York Rabbi Yossi Zaklikofsky, who, with his wife Esty and their 1-year-old son Mendel, will be the new Pearland shluchim.
Returning to the tragedy, Lazaroff said that before last Shabbat, a half-dozen résumés had been submitted to continue the Holtzbergs’ work in India. Even Rivka’s Israeli parents are ready to help. “The power of love,” Lazaroff added, “is more eternal than the power of hate. With three pillars: Torah, prayer and tzedakah.” She concluded her remarks by saying, “May we have many opportunities to come together to share simchas.”
Rabbi Betzalel Marinovsky, Community Collel of Houston, led the community in a Hebrew reading of daily liturgy of Mishna, followed by Rabbi Zaklikofsky’s leading the English translation.
The service concluded with a prayer from Rabbi Lazer Lazaroff, Chabad House at Texas Medical Center. Members of the community were reminded to complete their memorial cards and leave them before departing for home.
For more on the Holtzbergs and the tragedy in Mumbai, go to www.chabadtexas.org. Contributions may be made online to a fund benefiting the victims’ children and rebuilding Chabad in Mumbai at www.chabad texas.org/chabadmumbai. Donations to help establish Chabad Pearland may be sent to Chabad of Pearland, c/o Chabad Lubavitch Center, 10900 Fondren Rd., Houston, TX 77096.
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