Mumbai – Family, friends and colleagues of Rabbi Gavriel and Rivka Holtzberg, the Chabad-Lubavitch emissaries murdered in last month’s terror attacks in Mumbai, India, gathered at the couple’s Chabad House on Thursday to issue a beacon of light in the form of a Chanukah menorah.
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With an estimated 200 people crowded outside the severely damaged Chabad House, where Islamist terrorists killed the Holtzbergs and four other Jewish people, the delegation used a torch to ignite five lights on the 25-foot steel menorah, sending piercing flames through the cold, dark night.
Rabbi Nachman Holtzberg of New York, father of Gavriel Holtzberg, recited the blessings and lit the menorah, after which a group of Chabad-Lubavitch rabbis led the crowd in the singing of the traditional Hanerot Hallelu prayer to a Chasidic melody.
Prior to the lighting, the family held a Chasidic gathering inside the Chabad House. Nachman and Freida Holtzberg took part in the gathering – which was punctuated by inspiring messages and stories of the victims – as did Rivka Holtzberg’s parents, Rabbi Shimon and Yehudit Rosenberg of Afula, Israel, and several of the slain couple’s siblings. Rabbi Mordechai Avtzon, director of Chabad-Lubavitch of Hong Kong, and Rabbi Chezky Lifshitz, director of the Chabad House of Kathmandu, Nepal, also flew in for the occasion.
A second Chanukah menorah lighting was scheduled to take place one hour later at the Gateway to India monument, the suspected entry point for the terrorists. Year after year, the Holtzbergs lit a menorah at the same location.
In his introductory remarks, Rabbi Moshe Kotlarsky, vice chairman of the educational arm of Chabad-Lubavitch, pledged that the activities that the Holtzbergs ran from the Chabad House would continue and grow.
“This home was open to everyone,” stated Kotlarsky. “And it will be rebuilt. Its activities will continue and continue strongly.
“Chanukah is the festival of light,” he continued, “and today we recall two lights of our generation, people who gave the ultimate sacrifice for freedom, for goodness and kindness.”
Onlooker Shameera Galsura, 23, a member of Mumbai’s local Jewish community, said that the ceremony was the perfect antidote to the fear that pervaded her city, where terrorists killed more than 170 people at several tourist locations over the course of three days in late November.
“People here are all talking about the menorah,” she related. “Everyone is wondering what the message of Chanukah is.
“For me,” she continued, “this is the first time I’ve come to the Chabad House. After the attacks, I was scared to go out of the house, but now I feel that there’s nothing to be scared of. G-d is always with us.”
kol hakovod to chabad, Chazak Chazak V’nischazek
kol hakavod!
how crazy! they should pick themselves up and run. why do they insist on staying in a place where they’ve been targeted. enough cities over the world are lacking a chabad house.
why mumbai?! just mentioning the name “Mumbai” brings bad memories to every yid.
Yes Thumbs up for family and chabad and the world! just wondering who sponsored the cost of flying tall those ppl in.it most od costed a BUCK
this is gr8!
this is awesome. defeat darkness with light!
May the Light of chanukah override your fears Dreikup!
because we jews need to learn not to run
stand up and show that terrosist will NOT win
by the way in israel right after any attack the clean up and rebuild asap to show the same
once you start running you will never stop
this is also what the rebbe taught his chasidim in crown height 40 years ago when all the jews started moving out he said stay dont run. and since then many other jews have learned this lesson we dont run
May this be thie beginning of Mai’afailah l’ohr gadol!
it is beautiful that they went back there. What a kiddush hashem they have made out of a tragic incident.
May god protect us all from and keep us safe wherever we are.
we should all unify and join chabad under one umbrella to dance and be joyful perhaps play dreidel, penniesof course
There is a saying “Yisron haor mitoch Hachosech” there are two explanations to this. As a result of darkness comes great light and good. The second explanation is that within the darkness is light, that we will soon see how the darkness was really light. Let’s hope we can see that soon when the Kedoshim come back to life. Lighting the Menorah there perhaps is the first step
This is the time, בימים ההם בזמן הזה. Many Jews died in the war between the Yvanim and the Jews , but the small croud of Chashmonoim came out as the victors. They didn’t run, they lit the Menorah and spread the light.
This is the time to spread the word of the nes of Chanikah and make a true Persuma Nisa, that good will always triumph over evil.
many of you say this is awesome, some say its amazing, let me tell you what it is….
chabad!!
#17 ,
To quote the Lubavitcher Rebbe “regarding israel, the torah ays “einay hashem elokecha ba m’reishit v’ad acharit kol hashana” and eretz yisrael is the safest place in the world”
The lubavitcher rebbe would not take achrayos to send his shluchim to a makom sakana, however, wherever the is a jewish neshama we are required to be moser nefesh to draw him close to judaism and spread the sparks of g-dliness.
I have been attacked in chevron dozens of times, should we run ? is running the answer ?
dreikop here is what you dont understand. As a chabad Chosid we dont expect you to understand why we go to india africa or italy. We dont expect you to go and we dont need you to go. The Ahavas Yisroel that we have and that our rebbe taught us is what takes us to India and keeps us there. You say there are bigger cities that need chabad! name one?? we are there!!! We have over 300 young couples waiting for the call to hear that there are 200 jews in a foreign country that need a rabbi and they will go with no salary no education for kids and no knowledge of the language in chabad its called UNCONDITIONAL LOVE FOR A FELLOW JEW. So if you wont go thats ok! we are fine and understand that, BUT DONT QUESTION OUR COMMITMENT! Rabbi Kotlarsky lost his father 2 weeks ago he should be mourning his loss no? No! He is India insuring the future of Yiddishkite in yet another corner of the world. This is not new we have been doing this for decades only now with vinnews and internet is it being exposed. Not that we need any exposure just please dont question or doubt the importance of helping another yid to bring Moshiach closer. A Freilichen Chanukah from my outpost somewhere in the world you probably cant pronounce!
מעט אור דוחה הרבה חושך, יישר כח