Nariman House
| Nariman House |
| नरीमन हाउस |
Front view of the Nariman House a week after the attacks |
|
|
| Former names |
Nariman House |
| Alternative names |
Chabad house |
| General information |
| Type |
Modern |
| Architectural style |
Modern |
| Location |
Colaba, Mumbai, |
| Address |
5 Hormusji Street, Colaba |
| Coordinates |
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| Elevation |
17 m (56 ft) |
| Design and construction |
| Owner |
Moshe Holtzberg |
| Landlord |
Moshe Holtzberg |
The Nariman House (Marathi: नरीमन हाउस), renamed[1][2][3] as Chabad House (Hebrew: בית חב"ד Beit Chabad), is a five-story landmark in the Colaba area in southern Mumbai, India.[1] The building was home to a Chabad house, a Jewish outreach center run by Gavriel and Rivka Holtzberg, and they have owned the Building since around 2006. The center had an educational center, a synagogue, offered drug prevention services,[4][5][6][7][8] and a hostel.[9][10] The building was attacked and six of its occupants, including Rabbi Gavriel Noach Holtzberg and his wife, Rivka, who was five months pregnant, were killed during the November 2008 Mumbai attacks by Pakistani Islamic terrorists. Their two-year-old son Moshe survived the attack after being rescued by his Indian nanny, Sandra Samuel.
Chabad House
The Chabad House, located at 5 Hormusji Street, Colaba,[11] is one of eight synagogues in Mumbai[12] and has been described as the epicentre of the Jewish community in the city.[13]
This Chabad House is one of 4,000 such houses in 73 countries, typically run by husband-and-wife couples.[14] In 2003, this Chabad House, the first in Mumbai, was opened by Rabbi Gavriel and Rivka Holtzberg, newly married, and until the November 2008 Mumbai attacks was run by them.[14] It catered to Israelis who are on their way to "party hotspots" such as Goa and Rajasthan,[15] in addition to the city's local Jewish community and traveling Jewish businessmen.[16] The Holtzbergs also ran a synagogue and taught Torah classes, in addition to the rabbi conducting weddings for local Jewish couples. It is the Chabad headquarters for Mumbai.[16] The place was open to anyone who wanted a place to pray, eat kosher food or celebrate Jewish holidays. In a film in 2006, Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg said that anyone who visited the center was welcome.[16] It was not unusual for the Rabbi and his wife to have 30 people for dinner.[16] Gavriel (born 1979, raised in Brooklyn, New York) and Rivka (born 1980 in Afula, Israel) Holtzberg came to Mumbai in 2003 after completing a mission in Thailand.[17]
Three flights a week bring hundreds of Israeli travelers from Israel to Mumbai and in an interview Holtzberg said he understood the nature of their needs. The young rabbi, who was born in Israel but grew up in Brooklyn, said that they "need relief" from the army, from work, from real life.[15] He said, "they come here to do everything the army didn't allow them to do. Their shoes had to be polished and tied—here they wear sandals. They had to cut their hair—here they grow their hair long."[15]
In addition, "Jews from all nationalities stopped there—primarily Israelis, but also those from Singapore and other places. It was almost like a second home to them," said Elijah Jacob, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee's country manager for India. "Our country director used to say it was like a second home to him because of all of the Jews there on Shabbat."[12]
Gavriel also helped with some of the local synagogues. He helped them gather donations, do fund-raising for the synagogue T'feret Israel, in central Mumbai in Jacobs Circle, and helped build a mikvah there. Also, he was officially a shochet, making chickens available to the local Jewish community, making challah for the community, and the couple was "available for the community," there to answer Halakhic principles of the local community.[12]
Chabad officials said they were certain the Mumbai house would reopen, and within hours of news of the Holtzbergs' deaths, young Chabad couples from around the world offered to move to Mumbai to continue their work.[14]
Services
These are the services this Chabad House offered.[18]
- Israeli center
- Kitchen koshering
- Brit milah
- Hospital visitation
- Prison visitation
- Prison chaplaincy
- Regular classes
- Marriage preparation
- Medical services
- Women's group
- Food package distribution
- Humanitarian aid
- Drug prevention
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Attack
-
The Chabad house was seized and attacked during the November 2008 Mumbai attacks.[20][21] At around 2145 hours (9:45 pm) local time on Wednesday, November 26,[5] four terrorists took advantage of the fact that local security forces were operating in several locations throughout the city.[22] Newscasters were calling it the "final assault",[23] and the building is near the Leopold Cafe, another building attacked during the strike. However according to a new report Nariman House was actually the main target on November 26 and the rest of the targets were only to amplify the effect.[24]
Initially it was reported that six Israeli Jews were being held hostage.[20] Later Chabad spokesman in Israel Moni Ender said that there were at least eight Israelis inside the house, including Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg and his wife Rivka Holtzberg.[23][25] The rabbi's two-year-old son Moshe was rescued by his nanny,[25] Sandra Samuel, 44, who had worked for the centre for the previous five years.[26]
The terrorists "would be told by their handlers in Pakistan that the lives of Jews were worth 50 times those of non-Jews." They were tortured very badly.[27]
It was reported that gunmen fired indiscriminately towards the crowd.[20] Late on Thursday evening, State officials in India told the Associated Press that eight hostages had been released from the Chabad House.[26][28][29] Later Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said that the eight people seen near Chabad House were not Jewish hostages but local Indians from a home in the same compound.[4] Early Friday morning a large blast was heard at the centre as fighting continued,[30] even though other sources were reporting that the building was under the control of the Indian security forces.[4]
During the siege US Chabad official Rabbi Levi Shemtov talked with one of the terrorists on Holtzberg's cell phone.[31] The FBI and other negotiation experts helped guide him through the process, which included around five phone calls.[31][32] Having to find an Urdu speaker to speak with him, they were unable to directly speak to any of the hostages, but Shemtov did say he heard the voice of one woman screaming in English, "please help immediately."[31]
Shortly before dawn on Friday,[33] Indian security forces began an attack on the Chabad House that lasted until after sundown. The operation began when 22 NSG Commandoes rappelled out from an Indian Air Force MI-17 chopper on the roof of the building. NSG Commandoes were in position in the adjacent buildings to provide cover fire to the assault team if needed. Commandoes entered the building from the top and two loud blasts were heard followed by heavy gunfire. The whole operation was watched live on TV as news footage showed troops abseiling from a helicopter into the building, and soldiers on the ground closing in.[34] Initially it was reported that five hostages[35] were killed at the Chabad House, then six on Friday,[36][37] eight by Saturday morning[37] and the final number of six on Sunday, when two missing Israelis made contact with the Israeli Foreign Ministry.[38] When the raid ended at sundown everyone inside the building was dead,[31] including the rabbi and his wife.[39] An Indian commando Havaldar Gajendra Singh Bisht was killed during the operation. According to ZAKA members, at least one hostage (Rabbi Holtzberg) might have been killed in the crossfire on Friday when the commandos moved in; this was rejected by government authorities as stories and irresponsible comments.[40] Some of the victims had been bound.[41] Some of the others were killed by the terrorists on Wednesday, and the remainder on Thursday.[38] The rabbi's wife and Orpaz had been killed many hours before Nariman House was retaken.[42] It is also believed that the Rabbi and his pregnant wife were sexually assaulted and their genitals were mutilated before they were killed.[43]
A handout provided by Indian police identified the two terrorists killed at Nariman House as a certain "Nasir" alias Abu Umar, and "Babar Imaran".[44][45]
Victims
List of people murdered[37][38][41][46][47]
Reactions
- Chabad-Lubavitch - Merkos L'Inyonei Chinuch, the educational arm of Chabad-Lubavitch released a statement stating, "Gabi and Rivky Holtzberg made the ultimate sacrifice. As emissaries to Mumbai, Gabi and Rivky gave up the comforts of the West in order to spread Jewish pride in a corner of the world that was a frequent stop for throngs of Israeli tourists. Their Chabad House was popular among the local community, as well as with visiting business people. For five years, they ran a synagogue and Torah classes, and helped people dealing with drug addiction and poverty. Their selfless love will live on with all the people they touched. We will continue the work they started."[39]
- Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd told more than 1,000 people at a memorial service at the Yeshiva Centre in New South Wales that Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg and his wife, Rivkah, had “devoted their lives to acts of goodness and kindness and compassion for others ... but they lost their lives in a senseless act of hatred. In the face of this terror we must not bow to fear. We must respond by spreading our own message of tolerance and respect for people of other backgrounds and other beliefs.” Federal Opposition leader Malcolm Turnbull and U.S. Consul-General Judith Fergin also spoke at the memorial service. A representative from the Indian Consulate was also present. In a speech to Federal Parliament, Michael Danby, a Jewish member of the ruling Labor Party, said it was important to remember the names of the innocent victims of Mumbai attacks, stating that “I raise my voice in this national parliament and praise the memory of those innocent kedoshim who were killed in the Chabad House in Mumbai only because they were Jews.”[48]
- Israel - Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said, "this terrible sight of Chabad House leaders wrapped in prayer shawls is shocking. These are pictures that bring us back to the moments in history which we had hoped would never return. It seems that hatred of Jews and Israelis provides motivation for such murderous acts.[49]...Last week was marked by among the most serious terrorist attacks India has ever known in Mumbai and which were the product of extremist Islam—brutal and unrestrained, which tries to sow death and destruction wherever it can. There is no doubt that these attacks were designed, inter alia, to intentionally harm Jewish institutions. The hatred of Jews, the state of Israel, and Jewish symbols is still a factor that spurs and encourages such murderous acts."[50] Foreign Minister and Acting Prime Minister[51] Tzipi Livni said: "The fact that the assault happened at a Chabad House symbolizes more than anything the fact that this assault targeted Jews, Israelis. Israel, India and the rest of the free world are positioned in the forefront of the battle against terrorism and extremists."[42]
- Canada - Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper spoke at a Parliament Hill ceremony organized by Chabad-Lubavitch to honor the Jewish victims of the terrorist attacks in Mumbai. He expressed condolences over the murder at Chabad's Mumbai center of Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg and his wife Rivka. Harper described the killings as "affronts to the values that unite all civilized people" and that anti-Semitism "is a pernicious evil that must be exposed, that must be confronted, that must be repudiated, whenever and wherever it appears. Harper also stated that the quick installment of a new rabbi at the Chabad center in Mumbai as a signal that the Jewish people will "never bow to violence and hatred."[52]
- United States - President-elect Barack Obama said, "Michelle and I want to express our profound sorrow and heartfelt condolences over the terrible tragedy that befell the Chabad Lubavitch community, and indeed the entire Jewish community, last week in Mumbai. We mourn the loss of Rabbi Gavriel and Rivka Holtzberg, and all their Chabad House guests, in these attacks. They were taken from us by terrorists with no regard for human life, and we must remain steadfast in support of efforts to bring the perpetrators of these attacks to justice you mourn and remember those we lost, you should know that so many Americans share your grief and pain. May their memories be a blessing."[53][54] On December 8, 2008, Admiral Mike Mullen, the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, stated in speech to the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs "The images of two-year-old Moshe Holtzberg soon after his parents were mercilessly struck down in Chabad house should not ever leave us."[55]
- New York - Hillary Rodham Clinton, Junior Senator of New York and announced Secretary of State said, "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."[56]
- New York - David A. Paterson, Governor of New York said, "Michelle and I are deeply saddened to learn of the tragic deaths of those whose lives were lost in Mumbai, India due to senseless acts of terror. Our thoughts and prayers go out to all of the victims' families including those of Alan and Naomi Scherr from Virginia and native New Yorker Rabbi Leibish Teitelbaum, as well as the family of Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg and his wife, Rivka Holtzberg from Brooklyn, New York. The Holtzbergs moved from Crown Heights, Brooklyn to India in 2003 to lead the Nariman House, home to the Chabad Lubavitch community in Mumbai and to Jewish visitors from around the world. They and Rabbi Teitelbaum were deeply committed to providing the local Jewish community and Jewish tourists with a place to gather and learn and to provide them with spiritual guidance. Today, as every day, we stand in solidarity with those who preach democracy and peace."[57][58]
- New York City - Michael Bloomberg, Mayor of New York said, “Today we learned we have lost two New Yorkers: Rabbi Gavriel Noach Holtzberg and his wife, Rivka. This is a tragic loss for the Lubavitch community, and for our entire City. ...That their son survived is a miracle, and our entire City is grateful for his nanny's heroic act. During a time of terrible sadness, her courage re-affirms our faith in the capacity of good to triumph over evil. ...Our hearts go out to the Lubavitch community, and to the many New Yorkers of all different religions and ethnicities who have been affected by the attacks. We will continue to pray for all of them, for all the people of Mumbai, for an immediate end to the violence, and for the release of all hostages.”[59]
- Brooklyn, New York - Marty Markowitz, Brooklyn borough president, said, "We join the Brooklyn Lubavitch, Volove, and Satmar communities and all Brooklynites in expressing our outrage over the senseless and cruel murders of Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg, his wife Rivka, Rabbi Leibish Teitelbaum, Alan Scherr and his 13-year-old daughter Naomi of Virginia, and all of the innocents murdered and wounded in Mumbai. The monsters responsible for these attacks are attempting to undermine democracy in peace-loving nations everywhere, but this savagery only strengthens our resolve to eradicate terrorism and such atrocities against innocents of all faiths, wherever they exist. The Holtzbergs could have lived a simple and quiet life in Crown Heights, where Rabbi Holtzberg grew up, but their sense of religious duty took them to India to run Mumbai's Chabad House, which, under their stewardship, became a comforting home away from home for thousands of Jews. HaMakom y'nachem eschem b'soch sh'ar aveilei Tzion v'Yerushalayim—May G-d comfort you among the rest of the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem."[57]
- Neturei Karta - A leaflet published by the anti-Zionist group Neturei Karta expressed support the attack on, and the murder of those inside of, the Nariman house. The leaflet stated that Chabad was rightfully punished for its relations with "the filthy, deplorable traitors–the cursed Zionists that are your friends." The leaflet went on to slam the invitation of Israeli state officials to the funerals of the victims, claiming that they "uttered words of heresy and blasphemy." The leaflet went on to attack the Chabad movement itself, claiming that it has been imbued with "false national sentiment" and criticizing the organization for allowing all Jews to stay in its centres, without differentiating "between good and evil, right and wrong, pure and impure, a Jew and a convert, a believer and a heretic." The leaflet concludes that "the road you (Chabad) have taken is the road of death and it leads to doom, assimilation and the uprooting of the Torah."[60]
Rebuilding
On 10 August 2010 the parents of the Holtzberg family began rebuilding Nariman House. The only thing that will remain unchanged is a wall in the baby's room.[61]
See also
References
- ^ a b "The latest on Mumbai areas under attack". CNN. 2008-11-28. http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/11/27/mumbai.sites.latest/index.html#chabad. Retrieved 2008-11-28.
- ^ At Chabad in NY, an agonized limbo... and prayer
- ^ The Hindu
- ^ a b c Horovitz, David; Matthew Wagner (2008-11-27). "10 hostages reportedly freed from Mumbai Chabad House". The Jerusalem Post. http://fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1227702336066&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull. Retrieved 2008-11-27.
- ^ a b BBC: Jewish centre seized in Mumbai
- ^ J'lem Post: Powerful explosion reported at Chabad House in Mumbai
- ^ Tracking the Mumbai Attacks
- ^ Ynet reporters (2008-11-27). "Terrorists seize Chabad offices in Mumbai". Ynet. http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3629332,00.html. Retrieved 2008-11-27.
- ^ LA Times
- ^ Tehelka
- ^ "Chabad of India". http://www.chabad.org.in/. Retrieved 2008-11-27.
- ^ a b c JTA
- ^ Nariman to house of cards
- ^ a b c New York Times
- ^ a b c Israelis Invade India "Dikla Kadosh" May 17, 2006
- ^ a b c d CNN
- ^ "Chabad: Holtzberg couple killed in Mumbai". Ynet. 2008-11-28. http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3630300,00.html. Retrieved 2008-11-28.
- ^ [1]
- ^ Mumbai victims' son searches for mother
- ^ a b c Yediot Ahronot: Report: 6 Israelis held hostage in Mumbai
- ^ Mumbai terror kills 65
- ^ Fear for lives of Jewish hostages at Mumbai Chabad center
- ^ a b Jpost
- ^ "Nariman House, not Taj, was the prime target on 26/11". DNA (newspaper). 2009-01-05. http://www.dnaindia.com/mobile/report.asp?n=1218869. Retrieved 2009-01-05.
- ^ a b Parents of Chabad emissary's wife 'praying for salvation'
- ^ a b 'I just grabbed the baby and ran,' says Mumbai Chabad employee
- ^ Mumbai terror attacks: And then they came for the Jews - Times Online
- ^ Several hostages reported freed from Chabad center
- ^ Holtzberg toddler asking for his mother
- ^ Blast heard at Chabad center
- ^ a b c d Fox News
- ^ COL Live: Report: U.S. Shaliach Spoke to Terrorist
- ^ Times Online: Commandos abseil onto Jewish centre
- ^ BBC: "Indian forces storm Jewish centre"
- ^ "Rabbi, wife among Mumbai terror deaths". CNN. 2008-11-27. http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/11/28/india.attacks/index.html. Retrieved 2008-11-27.
- ^ NYT
- ^ a b c 2 more bodies found at Jewish center in Mumbai
- ^ a b c [2]
- ^ a b Runyan, Joshua; Moti Seligson (2008-11-28). "UPDATE: Mumbai-Based Rabbi and Wife Killed in Terrorist Attacks". Chabad.org. http://www.chabad.org/news/article_cdo/aid/773691/jewish/Mumbai-Jewish-Family-Killed.htm. Retrieved 2008-11-28.
- ^ State angry at Zaka's Mumbai 'meddling'
- ^ a b AP
- ^ a b The Globe and Mail (Toronto). http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20081129.BOMBISRAEL29/TPStory/International.
- ^ [3]
- ^ The National Post, Wednesday December 10, 2008, p.A13
- ^ Pakistan arrests suspected mastermind of Mumbai attacks LA Times, December 10, 2008
- ^ [4]
- ^ Forward
- ^ Australia's prime minister honors Holtzbergs, Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA), December 9, 2008.
- ^ Jerusalem Post "Israelis murdered in Mumbai recognized as terror victims"
- ^ Chabad "World Leaders React to Terrorist Attacks"
- ^ "Seventeenth Knesset: Government 31". State of Israel. http://www.knesset.gov.il/govt/eng/GovtByNumber_eng.asp?govt=31. Retrieved 2008-11-28.
- ^ Harper: Anti-Semitism 'pernicious', Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA), March 13, 2009.
- ^ Ynet
- ^ Ynet letter
- ^ Mullen: Mumbai ‘crossed threshold’, Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA), December 12, 2008.
- ^ Clinton Statement on India Attacks
- ^ a b NYT Responses
- ^ NY Daily News
- ^ YNET: Mayor
- ^ Neturei Karta: Chabad punished for alliance with Zionists by Kobi Nahshoni, Ynet News, December 15, 2008.
- ^ Shukla, Ashutosh (2010-10-21). "Nariman House makeover will leave Baby Moshe’s room as it is". Daily News and Analysis. http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_nariman-house-makeover-will-leave-baby-moshe-s-room-as-it-is_1455747.
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