Jews in Mumbai mark 5th anniversary of Chabad House attack

Seven candles lit at ceremony, one for each Jewish victim and another for all victims of horrific 2008 terror assault

By JTA 29 November 2013, 5:05 am

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Mumbai's Chabad House, where Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg, 29, his wife, Rivka, and four other hostages were killed by Islamist terrorists in November 2008. The couple's young son survived the attack, thanks to his Indian nanny. (photo credit: Serge Attal/Flash90)

The Jewish community of Mumbai marked the fifth anniversary of the attack on the Chabad House, which left six people dead.

The series of attacks in Mumbai in November 2008 by members of a Pakistan-based terror group left 166 people dead, including six at the Mumbai Chabad House, which was targeted along with luxury hotels, a train station and a popular cafe.

Seven candles were lit at Tuesday evening’s ceremony, one for each Jewish victim and another to represent all Mumbai victims. The emissaries, Americans Rabbi Gavriel and Rivka Holtzberg, were slain in the attacks, but their then-two-year-old son Moshe escaped. Moshe now lives in Israel with his grandparents and his Indian babysitter, who risked her life to save him during the attack.

The Chabad House is expected to reopen in the coming months, Rabbi Israel Kozlovsky, who codirects the center with his wife, Chaya, told CBS. The building will serve as a restaurant, a community hall and a museum to the memory of the six Jews killed in the Chabad House.

“When you want to fight darkness, you cannot chase it away with a stick or an AK-47. One can chase darkness away only with light and peace,” Kozlovsky told the Mumbai Mirror.