Gavriel Holtzberg: A Scholar, a Preacher and a Father

Moshe’s parents are remembered not just for their religious significance, but because they spread love and kindness.

Gavriel and Rivka Holtzberg, killed in the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, parents of Baby Moshe.

(Photo Courtesy: Chabad.org)

26 November 2008 was the night that changed the life of a two-year-old Jewish baby forever and anguished thousands from across the world. Baby Moshe became a well-known name across India after his parents were killed in the 26/11 Mumbai attacks.

Baby Moshe’s nanny found him crying over the dead bodies of his parents, Gavriel and Rivka Holtzberg in Mumbai’s Chabad House.

Mourners cried as eulogies were delivered over their bodies in the small village of Kfar Chabad near Tel Aviv, and Rivka’s father revealed that she had been six months pregnant, reported The Telegraph.

Gavriel and Rivka are remembered to this day, a decade after the fateful night in 2008, for spreading love and kindness, inspiring many in their community and beyond.

A Scholar With a Photographic Memory

Born in Israel to Jewish parents, Holtzberg was one of eight siblings. Rabbi Mendy Elishevitz from Chabad-Lubavitch emissary in Karmiel, Israel, described his classmate to Chabad.org as “brilliant.”

Knowing the entire Second Order of the Mishnah verbatim (the first major written redaction of the Jewish oral traditions known as the "Oral Torah" ), he was a two-time champion in a competition of memorising the Mishnah.

Holtzberg was known for his knowledge of the Talmud, a central text of Rabbinic Judaism. He traveled to Jerusalem for an international Talmudic competition, where he came in second.

Baby Moshe Was Born After the Deaths of Two Children

Gavriel married Rivka in 2002 and their first child, Menachem Mendel, was born a year later. According to The Associated Press, the baby, however, was diagnosed with Tay-Sachs disease, a genetic disorder that results in the destruction of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord with the baby losing the ability to turn over, sit, or crawl. Menachem Mendel died at the age of three.

Their second son, DovBer, also born with Tay-Sachs disease was bedridden most of his life. He died at the age of four in December 2008, a month after the deaths of his parents, according to Chabad.org.

At the time of her death, Rivka was five months pregnant, according to The Telegraph.

Gavriel, the Preacher

Gavriel was the religious leader for the 4,000-5,000 people of the Jewish community in Mumbai. On Shabbath (Judaism's day of rest and seventh day of the week) Holtzberg and Rivka provided meals every week at Nariman House, feeding between 50-60 people. Holtzberg also performed marriages for them and conducted Jewish prayers and rituals, reported The Telegraph.

Gabi would get visibly excited to have so many guests for Shabbat; you could tell it really made his week. He would have a grin on his face almost the entire meal, including during his words of Torah.

Holtzman, a friend of the Holtzbergs told Chabad.org

He also taught Jewish studies and the Torah to local Jews and tourists along with Rivka.

After their deaths in 2008, Chabad.org quoted a friend of Gavriel and Rivika saying, “We are fortunate to have more days than he does. We should use that opportunity to live as he did.”

(With inputs from Chabad.org and The Telegraph)

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