The overwhelming majority of mourners had never met the Holtzbergs. But that didn\’t matter. They have become, for Americans, the public face of this tragedy.
Chabad has become so ubiquitous that Jewish travelers around the world, no matter how far they stray, have come to expect a Shabbat meal, a holiday celebration and a warm welcome from one of these Chasidic couples, no questions asked. All that\’s required is a knock on the door.
Before I entered the Chabad house in Mumbai, I thought, \”What kind of people would leave a comfortable and secure life in a religious community to live in the middle of Mumbai; a dirty, difficult, crowded city?\” As I got to know Rivky and Gabi over the course of this past summer, I understood that G-d creates some truly special people willing to devote their lives to bettering the world.
For Pakistanis at home, the fear is more palpable. It is not necessarily fear of immediate violence, but of something much darker growing in our very own backyard. Initially, the tragedy had seemed somewhat distant, but then came the damning reports that the terrorists used a boat to travel from Karachi.
When we hear that the one option that has always been guaranteed to us is now an uncertain variable, we can do nothing but doubt. When competition rages from all angles, and the safety we counted on no longer exists, we can do nothing but give up, right?
The U.S. economic problems over the past several months have resulted in rising conflicts among some Southern California Iranian Jewish community groups.
After school, Joey Freeman doesn\’t have much free time. He\’s got homework to contend with from his classes at Milken Community High School. He\’s slogging through a heap of college applications. And, oh, yeah — he\’s also helping to run an entertainment industry executive\’s campaign for Los Angeles City Council.
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