Sharing Memories

Moshe was only one and a half years old and he spent most of the meals attempting to get rice and puréed vegetables all over himself and anyone that ventured too close...

I thought I knew my brother. I was proven wrong during the week of shiva and the difficult days that followed, as incredible stories kept pouring in about him and his wife Rivky...

We reached the rooftop deck, where commandos landed and stormed the house in a vain attempt to rescue hostages. Amidst the rubble from the destruction of this holy place where innocent lives had been taken, we read the Book of Lamentations...

The way in which everything was done gave me the feeling that we were being filmed or something because he was just so enthusiastic. I could not believe in that moment how beautiful it all was; and just for me..

The storm began when at eighteen, Bhagirath, emerging from his sheltered childhood, began to question his religious roots. Every home he’d visit boasted several idols . . .

Having her pray for me as I went in made me feel that everything would be alright and that all was right with the world. I had no idea that years later the world would become very, very wrong...

Today my tears flow freely as I write these memories. Who would have thought that in these very rooms filled with love and light, hate and darkness would end the lives of my dear friends?

Every guest at the Holtzberg’s table left with the odd (but special) feeling that we had somehow done our hosts an incredible favor by coming!

Gabi just said, “Let’s jump over the wall,” which was six feet high. A very minor impediment when you consider what he faced throughout his five-year period in Mumbai . . .

Entering the Chabad House was like encountering a lighthouse in the middle of a dark ocean. It did not take long to realize that its proprietors, Rabbi Gavriel and Rivkah Holtzberg, were extraordinary people and practitioners of kindness.

We keep going back to the small things. So many people have written about the big things—how they dedicated their lives to serving Jews, etc.—but Gabi and Rivki, as we knew them, were also people with unique thoughts, habits, idiosyncrasies, stories, personalities...

I remember the horrible images I saw on television. But I am fortunate that I also have the positive memories. I remember the smiles of the rabbi and his wife as their baby crawled all over the place...

This was one of my most memorable Shabbat experiences, not in any way because of the tragedy that subsequently occurred, but for zeal and commitment to the Jewish people that Rabbi Gabi and Rivki demonstrated.

Rabbi Holtzberg, when I spoke to you on Tuesday / You were so accommodating / "I would never want to be a stranded Jew in India" / Those were your words...

By the end of the night, we had all forgotten that we had arrived strangers and that we were in a strange land. This is all because of Rivky and Gabi...

They never preached, never suggested that I or anyone else practice Judaism in any particular way, and never judged. They simply wanted it understood that their home was always open, and I was always wanted and welcome...

For some reason or another, I had taken for granted the fact that a Chabad house existed in the middle of nowhere. I had taken for granted the fact that kosher wine was shipped to house in three gallon plastic jugs, all the way from Israel...

I have made it my own committment to do whatever I can to help rebuild Chabad House in Mumbai in memory of Rav Gaby and Rebezin Rivky Holtzberg,

Dr. Sherwin Isenberg describes his Shabbat at the Chabad House in Mumbai the week before the murders.

This song was written and recorded on the night we learned of the tragedy, in loving memory of the sacred souls who perished in the Mumbai terrorist attack in the Chabad House.

He told me simply and sharply that if the terrorists were to come, "be my guest, because I'm not leaving this place."

We can all put our grief, our disbelief, our desire to do something into action—and we must do it quickly. Send money to a Jewish cause. Spend some time telling your parents, children, and friends how much you love them...

Everything was possible with Rabbi Gavriel and Rivki, thanks to their wonderful optimism in the face of the adversity of India's day-to-day life. Thanks to their love of life and energy, their consideration of others and their selfless work.

How does one deal with a wedding and a terrorist attack on the same day--both so close to home? While my sister and her husband began a journey of love and commitment, the couple who knew a love and a commitment to a calling beyond themselves were under attack.

The scene was surreal. On the roof of an old hotel in Mumbai on a Friday night, surrounded by peaceful Hindus we sat and spoke on a roof-top overseeing the famous Gateway of India.

Rivki told me "when you have faith, you believe that G-d puts challenges in front of you, and tests your faith, sometimes you may not understand why things happen but that does not mean you should lose faith..."

We were really overwhelmed with warmness from them and for what they do for all the strangers that come in and out of their home.

They were the epitomy of what a real "Tzaddik" is. They helped spread Jewish life, and Jewish pride in an area where few Jews permenantly live.

Gabi and Rivki were real for me. We often hear about tragedies in distant, disconnected places, and feel frustratingly estranged from them. We want to connect, but cant; we feel as though in a different world.

I bragged about how lucky I was to be placed in a location where I am a twenty minute cab ride away from being home away from home.

I am a Jew residing in Mumbai who was a close friend of Rabbi Gavriel and his family. I have been shattered by the news that I won't be ever seeing my dear Rabbi and his wife again, but I know that they will surely live on in my heart and soul forever.

I realize it is no small sacrifice to leave your family behind, move to a foreign country less suited for living an observant lifestyle, and build a home open entirely to serve the needs of others.

Rabbi Gabi and Rebbetzin Rivka's dedication to their service of G-d was unflinching.

They will live on in our memories as a vital vivacious couple, young enough to be my children, with an outreach capacity far ahead of their youth.

On my way to Pushkar on Saturday night I was filled with the most elevated, peaceful feeling, which left me wondering: where did that come from? I was amazed by the feeling of inner peace and joy I was feeling... I realized, and now I know, that it was the holiness that I picked up at the Chabad house in Mumbai...

I had a fun time on the beaches of Goa and in the small towns, but when I got to Mumbai, a city of 15 million, I was overwhelmed....