Mumbai victim’s father at West Hempstead memorial

By Daniella Adler

Issue of Dec. 26, 2008 / 29 Kislev 5769

Rabbi Nachman Holtzberg spoke haltingly, in a Yiddish-tinged mixture of English and Hebrew, at a memorial service in West Hempstead Sunday for his son, Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg z”l, and daughter-in-law, Rebbetzin Rivkah Holtzberg z”l, murdered with more than 160 other innocents during the recent terror attack in Mumbai. The program began with a video presentation about the lives of the well-liked young couple. It showed glimpses of their lives at the Chabad House in Mumbai where they served India’s small Jewish community and visitors as emissaries of the late Lubavitcher Rebbe, zt”l. Nachman Holtzberg told a story that highlighted the high regard in which his son was held: A Jew planning a business trip to India asked the Gerrer Rebbe for a reliable place to stay and was told to seek out Gavriel Holtzberg, “a man with great knowledge of Torah and Chassidus.” Gavriel was a kind-hearted man who didn’t care about power, money, food or sleep, Nachman Holtzberg explained. If he saw a Jew on the streets of Mumbai he would insist that he come to his house for Shabbos. His son’s priority was “just to bring Hashem into this world and for Moshiach to come,” the elder Rabbi Holtzberg said. He said he had asked his son why he didn’t put his achievements on the Internet and share his deeds with the world, but Gavriel was not interested in widespread acclaim, he was told. He only wanted to help Jews in whatever way he could. Illustrating the impact of his son’s death, Rabbi Holtzberg described the myriad empathetic e-mails, letters, and calls he and his family received from people all over the world. “They want to connect to this thing what’s happened,” he explained. “Something special happened,” he said. “Moshiach is near.” Rabbi Tuvia Teldon, the Chabad coordinator for Long Island, also offered brief remarks, making a connection between Chanukah and the deaths in Mumbai. Just as one candle can bring light to total darkness, he said, so too a mitzvah adds light to the darkness of terror. He also made a distinction between terror and terrorism. Terrorism is fought politically, by the government, or militarily, he said, but terror is fought with good deeds and spreading goodness. The Jewish community cannot back down because of terror. “There are two rabbis in India now,” he said. “They think they’ve destroyed Jews in India, but we will come out stronger.”

The memorial, which concluded with the reading of several passages of tehillim, was a collaborative effort between the Young Israel of West Hempstead, Chabad of West Hempstead, Congregation Anshei Shalom, Congregation Eitz Chayim of Dogwood Park and the Hebrew Academy of Nassau County.

Photos by Claudio Papapietro/The Jewish Star