Honoring Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg and Rebbetzin Rivka Holtzberg, Martyrs of the Jewish People Who Died in Mumbai

Ruvy, I'm at a loss for words. So many innocent people have died including those in the law enforcement agencies.

Kindness goes a long way.

The little boy's parents lived and died as heroes. His loss can never be made up. I hope he gets to know his parents through those whose lives his parents touched.

Thank you for honoring them on DC.

Ruvy

Of all the tragic images in this gruesome ordeal, that of Rabi and his wife remain most painful embodiment of the horror - so young, so full of life, so dedicated to serve people and G-d but snuffed out in the prime of their life in the most mindless and gruesome manner. I dread to imagine what would have been like for them to live thru those last 60 minutes of the captivity and terror - I have tried to put myself in their shoes to imagine what it would have been like, but words simply can describe the evil. The words simply are not enough. I pray their death will not go in vain - I pray it makes us stronger and more resolute than ever before.

beyond heart-wrenching. the image of moshe, just after he was rescued from nariman house, haunts me.

The tragedy at Nariman House is too sad to be described in words. Moshe survived, thanks to the courage of his nanny Sandra Samuel who grabbed Moshe and ran past the terrorists who might have killed him otherwise.

Read the story of Sandra Samuel's courage here: http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/12/02/moshe.mumbai/index.html

thank you for this touching piece. we can only hope against hope this never repeats itself.

the holtzbergs have more than one child. they have another dying of tay-sachs in a hospital somewhere in Israel.

I wasn't going to write this piece. But I saw the clip of the funeral at K'far Haba"d and had to. It was the least I could do for the families of the martyred couple.

Thank you all for your kind words.

The heroine in all of this from my own eyes was indeed Sandra Samuel, who showed real guts in defying the terrorists and real moxie in saving Moshe Holtzberg. This blog posting by Mike Licht describes how it will be that Ms. Samuel will be able to remain in Israel. She is indeed, one of the "Righteous Among the Nations". From Mike Licht's article:

Her emigration from India was expedited when the Israeli government
declared her one of the 'Righteous Among the Nations.' This honor is usually rendered in English with the awkward phrase 'Righteous
Gentile,' losing something in translation.

Recipients of this honor, awarded by a special commission headed by a Supreme Court Justice, include Oskar and Emilie Schindler, Raoul Wallenberg, and Corrie ten Boom. 22,000 people and groups have received this title, most for risking their lives to save others during the Holocaust. It appears that Sandra Samuel is the first citizen of India to be so honored.

So well written. I think when we put a little bit of ourselves into a written piece, it tranforms itself from an essay into something more human and relatable. Your story is touching and highlights the good that religious organizations can do.

Among a collection of pictures of the aftermath of the Mumbai attack, I saw a picture of little Moshe crying at a memorial service at a synagogue in Mumbai and it is heart-wrenching. He is two and does not understand the concept of death or loss but he can feel their absence and in this picture he looks like he is mourning the death of his parents.

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2008/12/mumbai_after_the_smoke_has_cle.html

Ruvy,

Shalom and Namaskar. Thank you for writing this.

That was a remarkable couple. May the good work that they did continue in the years ahead to bind our two great civilizations in a shared humanity.

The Rabbi and his wife will live on in their righteousness.

'It is not born,
it does not die;
having been,
it will never not be;
unborn, enduring,
constant, and primordial,
it is not killed
when the body is killed.'

'weapons do not cut it,
fire does not burn it,
waters do not wet it,
wind does not wither it.'

Jaffna,

Thank you for your kind words and for the verses.
I offer you two thoughts by way of thanks. The first is that our ancient civilization and yours probably have similar roots - but delving into those roots might be difficult here and now on this particular forum. The second is that if you do Facebook, stop by the Indo-Judaica Group. The Rav and Rebbetzin, z"l, hy"d, were not the only ones who could bind our civilizations in shared humanity. We can also.

Shalom and Namaskar,
Reuven

Aditi,

"So well written"

You do not know how much the writer in me hungers to see words like that about his work. Especially, since it was written when I was exhausted, at 03:00.

Thank you....

Today, in an interview with CNN, Sandra Samuel insisted she was not a hero. "Who thinks of death when there is a baby in the room," she said.
She also said she would only return to India when Moshe Holtzberg no longer needed her.

She may not view herself as a heroine, but she'll never have trouble getting a job taking care of infants again, should that be her desire....

Simple and unassuming individuals like Sandra Samuel give us hope at times such as these. She had done an act of immense merit or punya in safeguarding an innocent life. There is no greater merit than what we call 'Abhaya dana' - i.e. the gift of protection offered to those in distress. Hinduism, like Judaism, celebrates life. Sandra is truly blessed.