One year ago on a Shabbat afternoon, my family and I were visited by my husband's out of town friend, his wife, and their children. They were in our neighborhood, and just stopped by for a friendly visit. While my house is not the most religious home on the block, we do observe Shabbat on many different levels, and personally, I don't drive or use electronic equipment. I was apologetic to our guests that I couldn't do much to entertain them in the way they were accustomed. Their response was unexpected as they said that they thought it was 'cool' that we celebrated Shabbat, and expressed an interest in having a Shabbat dinner and lighting candles once a month in their home. I was delighted with the possibility that I could actually influence someone to take on a mitzvah, and I made a mental note to buy them their first pair of candlesticks.
Life gets in the way of our good intentions... I thought of those candlesticks often. I meant to buy them many times, and wished I had bought them even more times than that. But as usually happens, life gets in the way of our good intentions, and one year later, I had still not completed my mitzvah. Then, something happened.
On Tuesday evening, December 2nd, I had the privilege of attending a memorial service for Rabbi Gavriel and Rebbetzin Rivkah Holtzberg as well as the other Jews who were murdered in the Mumbai terrorist attacks. The gathering was held at our local Chabad-Lubavitch center, and the turnout was tremendous. Jews of every affiliation, age and gender gathered to honor the memories of these righteous people.
There were people who spoke on behalf of the deceased. Some spoke words of sorrow from a place of grief and others spoke words of Torah from a place of hope. Some people spoke of the global ramifications of this event, while others gave personal accounts of their experiences with the Holtzbergs. What was most remarkable to me was the showing of a newly made video memorial of the rabbi and his wife.
The video chronicled the short lives of both Gavriel and Rivkah. There was narration set to the early part of their lives as well as live interviews with them during their time in India. It was obvious from the brief movie that the young couple was very committed to their work and even clearer that they knew this was their life's mission. The constant outreach to the local and international communities in India was so genuine and extensive. They exemplified how to live life not just for yourself, but for those around you. While raising their two year old son, Moshe, they dedicated their lives to touching others and trying to fix the world through Torah and mitzvahs.
Even in death, Rabbi Gavriel and Rivkah were still doing mitzvahs. As I looked around that diverse room that evening, I realized that even in death, Rabbi Gavriel and Rivkah were still doing mitzvahs. To unite so many diverse Jews and bring them to a place of prayer is of course no small task, and it is certainly a mitzvah with spiritual implications which we cannot comprehend.
So why was I there? How did I fit into this picture, and what was I going to do to ensure that I was making my contribution to our community and our nation? For starters, I was getting that pair of candlesticks I'd been thinking about.
Ironically, I didn't even have to leave the building for them. Chabad had a complimentary Shabbat candle lighting kit at the front door.
Was it really that easy?
Yes, it was. I'm happy to say that the very next day my husband's friend was the recipient of those candlesticks. I sincerely pray those candles will be lit in the merit of Rabbi Gavriel and Rivkah Holtzberg, their surviving son Moshe, and all the innocent victims of the Mumbai attacks. May they inspire us all to do more mitzvahs so that we may continue the Holtzberg's mission of tikun olam, repairing and perfecting the world, and hasten a time when there will be eternal peace in this world.
LOGIN
ASK THE RABBI
