Mumbai Jews celebrate Hanukah and remember victims
25 Dec 2008 16:42:59 GMT Source: Reuters
By Rina Chandran MUMBAI, Dec 25 (Reuters) - The parents of a rabbi and his wife slain in last month's Mumbai attack lit a menorah outside a badly damaged Jewish centre on Thursday, vowing the centre's work would continue. Rabbi Nachman Holtzberg of New York, father of Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg, gathered with other community leaders outside the Chabad-Lubavitch centre at Nariman House as part of Hanukah celebrations. The centre was one of 10 sites attacked by Islamist militants in India's financial centre on Nov. 26-29. The attacks, blamed by India and the United States on Pakistan-based militants, killed at least 179 people. Watched by dozens of police and onlookers gathered in the busy street, Nachman Holtzberg recited blessings before a group of rabbis led the delegation in prayer. The parents of Gavriel Holtzberg's wife Rivka were also present. "This home was open to everyone," said Rabbi Moshe Kotlarsky, vice chairman of the educational arm of Chabad-Lubavitch. "Its activities will continue." Parts of the six-storey Nariman House, which was nearly destroyed in a siege after gunmen stormed in, have been knocked down by city authorities and a team is assessing damage to the rest of the building, Kotlarsky said. "Just a few weeks ago, this city suffered a great atrocity, and tonight we mourn the loss of the young rabbi and his wife who moved to Mumbai to be emissaries," Kotlarsky said. "We also celebrate the victory of right over wrong, and we are committed to continuing the legacy of Gavriel and Rivka. We won't take even one baby step back. We are not leaving Mumbai." The rabbi's 2-year-old son Moshe, who was saved by his nanny and is now with his grandparents in Israel, will return to Mumbai, Kotlarsky said. Gavriel Holtzberg came to Mumbai in 2003 to run a synagogue and Torah classes as part of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, an Orthodox Jewish group which has about 4,000 emissaries at more than 3,000 sites around the world. Fewer than 5,000 Jews remain among India's 1.1 billion people, but the faith has a long history in the country, with the first established community thought to have been formed in the southern state of Kerala in 70 AD. (Editing by Andrew Roche)
An Israeli soldier walks near tanks in an army base near Kibbutz Kissufim, just outside the central Gaza Strip December 25, 2008. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Thursday issued a ...
