It’s Friday afternoon and I’m preparing for Shabbat while keeping a check on the latest developments in Mumbai.
I’ve just been talking to my sister. She told me tearfully how the scenes of bodies, blood and suitcases remind her of the Lod Airport terror attack in 1972, in which she was shot and injured. In that attack, three terrorists were also armed with rifles and grenades, which were used to deadly effect.
The heartbreaking image of little Moshe Tzvi Holtzberg being carried to safety by a woman who is not his mother gave me a sense of déjà vu. It brought to mind the 1997 terror attack in the Apropos restaurant in Tel Aviv, when 6-month-old Shani Rosen Winter was photographed in a policewoman’s arms after her mother, Anat, had been murdered in the attack. Similarly, 6-month-old Efrat Unterman was rescued after her mother was murdered in the bulldozer terror attack in Jerusalem of this year.
At the time of writing, the fate of Moshe Tzvi’s parents and other hostages are not known for certain. His maternal grandparents arrived in Mumbai having flown from Israel with the remarkable volunteer ZAKA rescue and recovery organization in a private jet chartered by ZAKA with the help of an anonymous donor.
As it gets ever closer to Shabbat here in Israel, I’m also reminded of the Friday afternoon in October 1994, when Israelis were anxiously awaiting news of Nachshon Wachsman, who had been kidnapped the previous Sunday. Responding to a request by Esther Wachsman, Nachshon’s mother, women around the world lit an extra Shabbat candle that Friday. Sadly, we discovered after Shabbat that Nachshon did not survive. He was killed during the failed military rescue attempt on Friday night. An Israeli soldier was also killed in the crossfire.
I could hardly bear to watch the terrible scenes at Chabad House as darkness descended in Mumbai this Friday. Until now, the building – under the superb direction of Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg and his wife, Rivka - was a symbol only of warmth and friendliness for so many visitors, particularly on Shabbat.
As I finish now, the worst news seems to be emerging from Chabad House. As we light candles this Shabbat, our thoughts and prayers are with all the victims in this atrocity.
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