Rabbi Gavriel Noach Holtzberg, H"YD — Purim 5768

Original on COLlive.com from Vimeo

Hillary Clinton on Mumbai murder

Give credit where credit is due.

My thoughts and prayers are with the victims and families touched by these acts of terror in Mumbai. We still do not know the full measure of this tragedy, which has taken the lives of Indian citizens, Americans, and others who had traveled to Mumbai from around the world. Two New Yorkers, Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg and Rivka Holtzberg of Brooklyn are among those who have died, leaving behind their young son. The young couple had traveled from Brooklyn to manage a small Chabad House, welcoming Jews from India and elsewhere to learn, pray, and serve the community.

There could be no sharper a reminder, nor a more poignant call to action, than the brutal and heinous violence visited upon the Nariman House and the Holtzberg family, living and working in Mumbai on a mission of peace, scholarship, and spiritual guidance.

As those responsible are brought to justice, as we aid and support the victims and their families, as we work to defeat radical extremism and the terror it spawns, let us find strength in knowing that in the face of those who seek to take lives, there are those who seek to give hope and comfort. In the face of those who wish only to destroy, there are individuals like Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg and Rivka Holtzberg who travel great distances far from their homes to build a better world.

Sounds nice. I have one question, however: what “action” is the Senator speaking about? The action that Bush started and that she and the other idiot opposed in their campaigns?

The price of pacifism

Hindus are pacifists. They don’t believe in harming other life forms, including chickens, cows or Islamic terrorists. PowerLine blog reports:

"I first saw the gunmen outside the station," Mr D'Souza said. "With their rucksacks and Western clothes they looked like backpackers, not terrorists, but they were very heavily armed and clearly knew how to use their rifles.

"Towards the station entrance, there are a number of bookshops and one of the bookstore owners was trying to close his shop," he recalled. "The gunmen opened fire and the shopkeeper fell down."

But what angered Mr D'Souza almost as much were the masses of armed police hiding in the area who simply refused to shoot back. "There were armed policemen hiding all around the station but none of them did anything," he said. "At one point, I ran up to them and told them to use their weapons. I said, 'Shoot them, they're sitting ducks!' but they just didn't shoot back." ...

As the gunmen fired at policemen taking cover across the street, Mr D'Souza realised a train was pulling into the station unaware of the horror within. "I couldn't believe it. We rushed to the platform and told everyone to head towards the back of the station. Those who were older and couldn't run, we told them to stay put."

The militants returned inside the station and headed towards a rear exit towards Chowpatty Beach. Mr D'Souza added: "I told some policemen the gunmen had moved towards the rear of the station but they refused to follow them. What is the point of having policemen with guns if they refuse to use them? I only wish I had a gun rather than a camera."

[...]

I wondered earlier today how a mere ten terrorists could bring a city of 19 million to a standstill. Here in the U.S., I don't think it would happen. I think we have armed security guards who know how to use their weapons, supplemented by an unknown number of private citizens who are armed and capable of returning fire. The Indian experience shows it is vitally important that this continue to be the case. This is a matter of culture as much as, or more than, a matter of laws.

More about Indians’ shlemazelkeit in “India’s Test”.

Pacifism, tendency to take it slow, phlegmatism and general mellow nature are OK, but not in times of crisis. If they want to stay ahead with their fights with Muslim animals, Indians need to wake up a little. Be non-aggressive towards cows and chickens. Please kill terrorists. And more quickly than in 12 hours. CrownHeights.info reports:

Israeli counterterrorism experts are critical of how Indian security forces handled last week's terror attacks in Mumbai, especially their raid on the local Chabad center, Nariman House.

While acknowledging that Israel has never experienced a coordinated attack of such scope, the Israelis said the Indians failed to contain the attacks and raided Nariman House too lackadaisically.

Maj. Gen. (ret.) David Tzur, a former commander of the police's counterterror unit Yamam, who now runs a security consulting firm, acknowledged that when terrorists attack more than seven sites simultaneously, “it's very hard to handle.” However, he said, this difficulty was compounded by the lack of prior intelligence, “which is the colossal failure in this story. This was an organization in which dozens of people were surely involved.”

“To the Indians' credit, they were determined and sought contact [with the enemy] all the time,” Tzur continued, adding that a terrorist takeover of a hotel is “the nightmare of every counterterrorism unit,” because it is hard to effectively “cleanse” so large a site.

However, he said, this excuse did not apply to the much smaller Nariman House. The 12-hour battle to liberate the building was “unreasonable,” he said, because “there's no chance in the world that captives will survive an incident that doesn't end within minutes of the break-in.”

The Indians, he added, apparently assumed the hostages had already been killed.

Col. (res.) Lior Lotan, formerly a senior officer in the army's elite Sayeret Matkal unit, said the Indians had operated as if there were no hostages.

“When you're rescuing captives, you enter fast, with maximum force, and try to reach the hostages as quickly as possible, even at the price of casualties,” he said. “Here, they operated much more cautiously.”

Television pictures from Nariman House also raised questions about the professionalism of the Indian forces. For instance, it is not clear why the area was not cleared of bystanders, or why the comparatively risky option of a helicopter-borne assault was chosen.

Moreover, the explosion that blew in the ground-floor door occurred before soldiers landed on the rooftop, whereas for maximum effect, they should have occurred simultaneously, the Israelis said.

CNN: What is Chabad House?

Correction: Chabad shluchim are not missionaries. Missionaries convert someone from one state to another. Chabad shluchim make a Jew aware of who he or she already is and teach him how to reveal that.

Chabad Leaders’ response

A full video of press-conference.

What we are fighting for

Both spiritually and physically, we are fighting for and are protecting this (full album).

Don’t forget — we are at war

As Jews, we cannot be angry. “Someone who is angry is like an idolater”, Talmud tells us. We know that everything is controlled by Hashem, and even though we cannot explain everything, we trust Him to control all events. Something evil is but a concealment of His Light.

But we live in a physical reality, and it is our job to shape it and do our best to make things better. Usually this is done with rationality and positive emotions. But sometimes negative emotions — like anger — are necessary to help us in our fight.

On Shabbos, I was talking to my rabbi. He said: “What can you do when eight men with AK-47’s run into your house? We can’t ask, ‘What can we do?’ on the physical level when things are already happening. We need to prevent these things from happening.”

On the spiritual level, we need to recognize that the source of all evil in the world is Concealment of Hashem’s Face. We are in control of how much Divine Light is visible in this world — we increase its flow with our mitzvos, with our unconditional love to fellow Jews, with our oneness. This is our priority in this world, this is what we must focus on in our lives. But we should not be like a Jew (in a joke) who was waiting for G-d to save him from a flood and ignored a boat, a helicopter, etc. (which he should have recognized as physical manifestations of G-d’s help). When we have opportunity to protect ourselves, we need to take it.

On the physical level, we need to recognize that we are in a war. A war, with Western Civilization built on innovation in morality that Judaism brought into the world on one side and a civilization that worships death on the other. The way you can help in everyday life is to support our side in this war. Don’t ignore protests against war on terror — argue with them. Don’t silently agree with liberals who support negotiations with terrorist states. Don’t agree that prisoners in Guantanamo Bay have rights granted by Geneva Convention. No convention ever protected dedicated murderers of innocent people. Terrorists don’t have rights. Animals don’t have rights.

Don’t forget the kedoishim of Mumbai who gave their lives for spreading yiddishkeit and bringing closer Mashiach. Don’t forget a boy, who turned two years old today, after turning an orphan the day before. Don’t forget the rebbetzin, who helped many women physically and spiritually, who was murdered on the night of the raid, whose body was covered by talles of her husband. Don’t forget the rabbi, who was a teacher, a mohel, a shoichet and a friend to many Jews who came through India. Don’t forget all the other Jews who were murdered on that day: Rabbi Bentzion, a mashgiach who went to Chabad House to daven, Rabbi Teitelbaum, son of Volover Rebbe and son-in-law of Toldos Avroham Yitzchok Rebbe, and Israeli tourists (both in Chabad House and hotels).

Keep them in your memory. Keep these pictures in your memory.

It appears that Rebbitzin Rivka HY”D was killed the first night of the attack based on the state of her body when it was recovered on erev Shabbos, referring to rigor mortis. The body was covered with a tallis when rescuers arrived, which we presume was done by the rav, whose body was found on a different floor. Rav Gavriel Noach HY”D appears to have been murdered shortly before the event ended. ZAKA volunteers reported his body was still warm when they received it from local officials on erev Shabbos.

• The body of Rabbi Leibish Teitlebaum HY”D was found in the library slumped over a open Gemara Brochos.

• The bodies of two females HY”D were found with telephone cord wrapped around them.

• The body of R’ Bentzion Chroman HY”D was brought by local authorities to ZAKA at the entrance to the Chabad House. All they know is that he was murdered on the 5th floor.

• Terrorists placed booby traps and hand grenades in the hands of the victims, making their identification and evacuation significantly more dangerous and complicated.

• A local physician who knew the Holtzbergs assisted in identifying their bodies. He appears to be working with ZAKA as they try to prevent autopsies.

• ZAKA head Yehuda Meshi-Zahav remains in constant touch with Maran HaRav Elyashiv Shlita as he did erev Shabbos pertaining to the many questions, which included how and when to notify the Toldos Avraham Yitzchak Rebbe Shlita.

• Shabbos was the second birthday of Moishele Holtzberg, who no longer has parents to celebrate the day with him. May HaKadosh Baruch Hu give him the strength he will require during this difficult period, along with his grandparents, the entire family and the extended family of Chabad shlichim worldwide.

• According to a Kol Chai Radio report on Motzei Shabbos, the entire five-story building that housed the Chabad House was trashed. “There was not a room that was not destroyed. Every book in the library was ransacked and items thrown around. The entire building was destroyed. The only thing that remained untouched was a picture in a glass frame of the Lubavitcher Rebbe ZT”L on a wall in the library.”

• Shimon Grossman, a member of the ZAKA team in Mumbai and a relative of Rivka Holtzman reports dealing with the removal of the bodies is extremely difficult due to the fact the building and bodies are booby trapped. He also reports authorities are insisting on performing autopsies but they continue efforts to prevent them. [Indian authorities agreed not to do autopsies, according to an updated news report.]

[source]

Don’t forget.

As Jews, we should respect all life, in all of its expressions. But we cannot respect death. A terrorist is already dead, whatever his biological state. A person who believes in a religion of death is already dead. Someone who supports them supports death and does not deserve life. When a supporter of death also dies, it is a collateral damage we cannot be sorry for (and don’t say that the victims of terror are collateral damage too — they are the targets of those acts, not just “bystanders”).

We have no respect, no mercy, no pity for death. On the spiritual level, we need to bring light into it and turn it into life. On the physical level, we have to destroy it, support those who are destroying it at the moment and fights against those who oppose this destruction.

Coverage of Mumbai terrorist attacks — Western media in all its glory

Oh, I am sorry, not “terrorist”. Militant. Freedom-fighter.

From PowerLine blog:

The New York Daily News profiles the American/Israeli rabbi and wife whose fate at the Chabad House in Mumbai was left hanging overnight. CNN reports that the bodies of five hostages have been found at the Chabad House. CNN describes the perpetrators as "militants." This morning FOX News was holding out the possibility that the perpetrators of the Mumbai attacks are Hindu extremists. The willful blindness involved in the reportage is as striking as the news is tragic.

JOHN adds: Hindu "mujahadeen"? That would be a first.

UPDATE: Barry Shaw writes from Israel:

As the Indian terror event reaches it tragic end with reports of the killing of all the Jewish hostages in the Chabad House (Nariman House) there are important points that must be made. The marathon terror campaign was horrible and deadly. Despite in-depth coverage, its presentation in the Western world raises serious questions.

From the start British and American coverage concentrated on the hotels with stress of the targeting of British and Americans. The Jewish target was ignored until day two and day three. The two luxury hotels were selected by the terrorists because they are occupied by tourists. People who escaped from the hotels claimed that the terrorists asked for British and Americans. However, they were selected because they were foreigners.

Nariman House was selected by the terrorists because the Chabad building was a specific Jewish target that also included Israelis. Let me make this clear. Chabad House was the only target chosen by the terrorists in Mumbai because of its specific character - Jewish and Israeli. Hostages in Chabad House were killed because they were Jewish and Israeli.

Yet this terror venue was largely ignored by most of the Western media until the final day. We, in Israel, were able to follow events there because of the involvement of the Israeli Foreign Ministry and the Israeli media. Information from these and other sources was essential for me to relay reports to many people in Britain and the States who were unaware that Jews or Israelis were deliberate terror targets in Mumbai. When revealed, the final story of Chabad House will be tragic yet not properly covered by the world's media.

Shaw's message explicitly makes the points I left implicit in this post.

Sorry for the double-quote. Couldn’t help but include the whole post.

Am I surprised? Not at all.

See also this about a suspected gunman, holding a gun in his hands.

Chabad House in Mumbai

In pictures, from CrownHeights.info

Boruch Dayan HaEmes

(source)

When you feel sorrow, or when you feel anger, remember, there is nothing but Him. All the events in the Universe happen through His Will. The shluchim in India — and everywhere in the world — made it their goal to spread this message throughout the world, as Avram Avinu once was doing, as the Lubavitcher Rebbe made it his goal to do. Today is Rosh Choidesh Kislev, a Yom Tov for Chabad Chassidim celebrating in farbrengens last night throughout the world their connection — physical and spiritual — to their Rebbe, to our Rebbe, to the one responsible for establishing our connection with Hashem and geula in this generation.

No body can survive without a head. If a muscle cell is not connected to the brain through nervous system, it dies.

As one commenter on VozIzNeias said, “Everyone talks about the mesirus nefesh of Lubavitchers, to go out so far, etc. ‘How do they do it?’ Think about the answer. How really do they do it? There’s obviously something driving them… You might come to new conclusions. Particularly about the Lubavitcher Rebbe and the learning of Chassidus.”



If you want to help, do so. Do so in practice by doing a mitzva, by learning Torah lishmah, by learning the Essence of Torah, Chabad Chassidus, and practicing its message in your life, allowing the Rebbe’s teachings transform you and lead you to the deepest aspect of who you are, who the world, Torah and Hashem are — b’gilui (in revelation). This will cure the essence of the problem that the world today is experiencing. Do it in honor of the Jews throughout centuries that performed acts of mesirus nefesh. Do it to help the Jews alive today. They need your help.

Also, say tehillim for a two-year-old boy who has experienced what nobody of any age, a Jew or not, should ever experience in his life.

From VosIzNeias:

Mumbai — Outrage. Anger. Pain. Tears.

No words.

What can we even say?

How can we fathom a two-year-old who won’t see Ima again ad ki yavo Shilo?

How can we comprehend two ehrliche mashgichim catching a simple maariv on business who will never come home?

And how can we even begin to understand the loss of the kedoshim, Rabbi and Rebbetzin Gavriel and Rivkah Holtzberg, who lost their own lives after a holy career of giving of their own lives? And before 30?

Ribbono shel Olam…

Today, we are all Toldos Avrahom Yitzchok Chasidim. Today, we are all Israeli. Today, we are all Chabad. No distinctions. Just Jews.

Perhaps an even bigger tragedy is that it took this tragedy to bring us together.

We might not know what to say. But now we know what to do. Stick together.

Because there was a little house, in a corner of the world most of us never heard of, where Ahavas Yisroel lived.

Now, that Ahavas Yisroel lives on. In our houses. In our hearts. It must. The victims would have it no other way.

It’s the only solution to end golus and to bring geula. We’ve known it for centuries. It was baseless hatred that drove us apart and away from Eretz Yisroel, from the Beis HaMikdosh, and it will be baseless love that will bring us back. Unity — of all Jews with each other, of Jews and Torah, of G-d and this world — will bring redemption, is redemption.

Whatever US did, we will do too

... according to Indian Chief Minister Narendra Modi. Following terrorist attack, that is.

One of the things he mentioned (besides usual stuff like training, military response, planning, etc.) was “media education”. Halevai (one could wish) that happened in the US.

The media were just interviewing a Chinese guy, who kept saying “all is OK” but then admitted that he was scared. It’s not clear if he was just confused, if he was worried for his family or other people inside who would be harmed had he reported things not to be OK, or if he was just having a Chinese reflex: say everything is OK when in front of a camera.

Indian spokesperson talking to the British High Commissioner was concerned about the cricket team. The British guy was being British, spoke with British accent, talked about English citizens and gave some vague comments about cooperation between India and Britain. “We have some peop-pelle coming from Lon-ndon on Mon-nday. [...] We think these are appalling, completely unjustifiable attacks.” As opposed to other, justifiable terrorist attacks. He also mentioned that in his opinion travelling to Mumbai today is not the best idea.

The Israeli “girl” who escaped with a woman (a maid) was actually one of the shliach’s boys, who is well, B"H. The parents’ and another boy’s situation is still unknown.

Say tehillim for Jews of Mumbai

“Chabad House seized by terrorist with Jews inside”. More information here, including reports of people killed inside Chabad House, r”l. (Update: possibly, a terrorist.)

Five Israeli families are held hostage. Chabad shliach and his family have been impossible to contact so far.

Please say tehillim for Gavriel Noach ben Freida Bluma, his wife Rivka bas Yehudis and their son Moshe Tzvi ben Rivka — and anyone else who may be in danger or suffering.



Watch news from CNN live.

(Somebody just asked TV channels to exercise caution and respect the fact that it is sensitive situation and it is difficult to conduct an operation with all the details being constantly revealed. What a surprise.)

Update (12:04 am): three hostages managed to escape, two of them Israelis, one — an Indian cook who worked in the building. One of the Israelis (seemingly) was a woman with a girl who was crying and was taken away by an ambulance. Five or six terrorists are in control of the building.

Yeshiva World News reports: “According to Chabad spokesman Rav Menachem Brod, Rivka Holtzberg and her daughter were seen running from the Mumbai Chabad House. He warns this is not confirmed but we remain hopeful at this time. Rav Brod states that despite the reports circulating on the Internet, the Chabad network has not received any such notification from any official sources.”