One month after a coordinated series of terror attacks brought life to a standstill in Mumbai, more than 600 people crowded in front of the city’s Gateway to India monument for a public Chanukah menorah lighting ceremony proclaiming that the goodness typified by the targeted Chabad-Lubavitch center would always prevail over evil.
In a unified call, family members, friends and colleagues of the murdered Chabad House directors, Rabbi Gavriel and Rivka Holtzberg, pledged that their work would not cease.
“We will continue,” said Rabbi Shimon Rosenberg of Afula, Israel, father of Rivka Holtzberg, before lighting the same 25-foot steel menorah that his son-in-law would light year after year at the exact same spot. “A little bit of light dispels a lot of darkness.”
Rabbi Nachman Holtzberg, father of Gavriel Holtzberg, lit the menorah in front of the Chabad House earlier in the evening.
With a heavy contingent drawn from the city’s local Jewish community, the crowd erupted into song and dance after the menorah was lit, with cheers of Am Yisrael Chai – “the Jewish people live” – reverberating through the cold night.
“This is beautiful,” said 23-year-old Shameera Galsura, who was present at the menorah lighting ceremony at the Chabad House just one hour before. “Everyone is dancing!”
A slate of local officials took part in the ceremony, including the chief of police for the Chabad House’s neighborhood, who took responsibility for the event’s security arrangements.
In his remarks, Rabbi Moshe Kotlarsky, vice chairman of the educational arm of Chabad-Lubavitch, took note of the fact that the Gateway to India – a huge stone arch just a short walk from the Taj Mahal Hotel – was the suspected entry point of the estimated 10 terrorists who killed more than 170 people.
“Just a few short weeks ago, this city and country suffered one of the greatest atrocities of our time,” said Kotlarsky, a friend of the Holtzbergs. “Innocent people were mowed down in the prime of life. Among them were a young couple, who moved to Mumbai to spread goodness and kindness, to be a beacon of light to this city.
“Chanukah is the festival of light,” he added. “It celebrates the victory of the few over the many, the weak over the strong. And today, we celebrate the victory of right over wrong.”
At the ceremony, Kotlarsky thanked the staff of the local Israeli consulate for “their tireless and endless work, from the beginning of the crisis until now, more than people will ever know.” He also thanked Sr. Insp. of Police Deepak P. Vishwasrao and Asst. Insp. of Police Rajish R. Kasare for helping arrange the menorah lighting and guaranteeing its security.
Turning to the subject of rebuilding the Chabad House, Kotlarsky clarified that the Holtzbergs’ holy work never ceased. He pointed out that a team of Chabad-Lubavitch emissaries and rabbinical students led by Rabbi DovBer and Cherna Goldberg, directors of the Chabad House in the Indian resort town of Goa, have worked with the local community and visiting tourists every day since the attacks.
“We never left Mumbai,” he said. “We are here, and just as Gabi and Rivky would have wanted, we will remain and continue to build here.”
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