Mumbai: Jewish outreach centre Chabad-Lubavitch, which was bloodied and brutalised in the 2008 Mumbai terror attack, reopened to normal activities in its renovated avatar yesterday.
A group of 25 Rabbis from Asia attended the reopening ceremony at the six-storey Nariman House which houses the Chabad-Lubavitch Centre in Colaba in south Mumbai.
It was one of the targets of the 10 Pakistani terrorists who created the 60-hour mayhem in Mumbai during the November 26-29, 2008 terror attacks, sneaking in from the Arabian Sea route.
Among the six people gunned down in Chabad Centre were Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg and his pregnant wife Rivka. Rabbi Nachman, father of the slain Rabbi Holtzberg, was present during yesterday’s ceremony.
“It is a very special day, for his (Rabbi Gavriel) family and friends who remember that day’s terrifying tragedy. They had spread the message of goodness, hope, love and tolerance, we must ensure their mission continues to grow further,” Rabbi Nachman said, remembering his son and daughter-in-law.
The Holtzbergs’ two-year-old son Moshe was saved by his Indian nanny Sandra Samuel and their cook Qazi Zakir Hussain who lived there.
Moshe was later taken by his grandparents to Israel along with Sandra. She opted to settle there and was granted that country’ citizenship.
The Chabad Centre is now headed by Rabbi Israel Kozlovsky and his wife Chaya, who are its directors. There is a plan to set up a $2.5m Jewish Museum on the fourth and fifth floors.
IANS
