Dear Friends,
The tragic events which took place last week in Mumbai have brought in their wake seven days filled with anguish, pain, and mourning, and yet they have also brought in their wake an unprecedented incredible spirit of Jewish unity & strength in ways that have not been seen in years.
Personally the loss of Gabi & Rivka Holtzberg has been extremely painful and heart wrenching. Never did I imagine myself shedding the tears that I did, and never did I imagine myself feeling the void and anguish that we felt. If I thought I was unique in what I felt and in how I expressed my feelings, I wouldn’t dare write down these sentences, but after speaking to dozens of people from the local Jewish community, to many colleagues around the world, and after receiving many emails of sympathy and solidarity from friends, acquaintances, and people I never met, I know that what I felt is the pain that everyone felt. The pain of this tragedy was the pain of the entire Jewish people, the pain pierced the heart of every Jew I know, and everyone felt that their close friends were lost and that Moshe’le the little two year old son of the Holtzberg’s was their own flesh and blood.
I recently heard how Rabbi Jonathan Sacks the Chief Rabbi of England once speculated about what might have driven the vision of the Lubavitcher Rebbe’s Rabbi Menachem M Schneerson. Perhaps, he said, because the Rebbe lived in a time when every Jew in the world was hunted down in hate he made it his mission to search and find every Jew with love. Rabbi Gavriel and Rivka Holtzberg, as emissaries of the Rebbe and ambassadors of the Jewish people, embodied this vision in Mumbai, for the local Jewish community, and for the thousands of business travelers, tourists, and backpackers. Gabi & Rivka cared for each and every guest from every conceivable background with Chabad’s signature love and unconditional embrace.
I have read incredible accounts of the selflessness of the Holtzberg’s, of the simplicity in the way they lived their personal lives, and of their tremendous strength in the faith of adversity. Despite losing their first child to a serious degenerative genetic disease, they didn’t give up, but they persevered and stayed in India, and eventually had little Moshe who became the apple of their eye. In addition just three years after arriving in India they were able to succeed in buying a beautiful five story building which they turned into an open Chabad House for locals and foreigners alike.
In Chabad our response is going to be with light, we will not let the light’s of Mumbai remain extinguished, and the selfless work of Gabi & Rivky will not be terminated. Rather, the Chabad Center in Mumbai will be rebuilt, and the amazing legacy of Gabi & Rivky will serve as a beacon of light and inspiration to accomplish even great goals.
And to us around the world, the deep emotional pain and anguish of Gabi & Rivky’s murder, must serve as an impetus and catalyst for us to reach even greater heights and advancements in bettering our world and society. We must learn to inject a little more selflessness and devotion to our fellow human being into our lives, and we must take strength from the determination and positive attitude that the Holtzberg’s lived with in the face of the adversity. We must make sure that their beautiful smiles will not fade away into history, rather they will impact far more people than they could have ever imagined. We must make sure that pain of Moshe’le crying out Eifah Ima? (Where is mommy?) will inspire us to never rest, to never give up, and to leave no stone unturned in our mission of making this world a better place. We must continue the Jewish flames and passion of the Holtzberg’s, to make sure that their flames will illuminate millions of people around the world, and inspire Jews worldwide to connect together, to live in unity, and to serve G-d almighty in an unprecedented way.
This Shabbat light a candle and illuminate the world, don’t let the terrorists win!
Candle lighting in Sudbury is 3:55pm
Join us this Friday Evening for Kabbalat Shabbat & Kiddush in the energetic spirit of Chabad of Mumbai, so that we continue to carry on their joy and determination around the world.
6:30pm Kabbalat Shabbat, and 7:15pm Kiddush, at the Chabad Center of Sudbury.
Shabbat Shalom
Yisroel Freeman