Chabad Mumbai

I stood there, looking at the bullet holes. The place where a well-loved soul was murdered. The place where his wife came downstairs, in innocence and confusion, to be held as a hostage, tortured, and murdered. The place where thousands of travelers had sat in peace and shared a Shabbat meal because of this couple, singing the same songs and eating the same food I had done hours before. I gazed at the bullet holes and thought of my family. I thought of my future family. I thought of the families I spend Shabbat with. I felt my breath restrict and face contort, staring, thinking of what happened to this family.

It was in the Chabad house in Mumbai, one of the 8 places terrorists targeted in South Mumbai during the 2008 attacks. The terrorists took over the Chabad house. Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg and his wife Rivka Holtzberg, who was six months pregnant, were murdered with four other hostages inside the house by the attackers.

It was chilling. Chilling to be in the place where the hearts of those who brought the light and connection of Shabbat to so many had stopped, surrounded by bloodshed, grenades, and terror. Despite the empty feeling of their unknowable pain, I smiled. I thought of the Chabad couple I had just met, living in Mumbai and still hosting Shabbat meals in the building I stood. I thought of the renovations and the beauty of the new dining room, only reflecting the beauty of the couple’s hospitality and their two bubbly kids. I turned and walked out, my heart heavy, but my lips smiling.

Read more about the attack here.

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