The Chabad exchange, Part 1: ‘Chabad does not give up’

Rabbi David Eliezrie is the Director of North County Chabad –Congregation Beit Meir Ha'Cohen, Yorba Linda, CA. He serves as President of the Rabbinical Council of Orange County and Long Beach; Board Member of the Jewish Federation and Family Services of Orange County; Member of the Allocation Committee of the Federation, Chairman of the Chabad International Crisis Committee; Chair of the Chabad Partners Conference; and Member of the Advisory Committee of the Rohr Jewish Learning Institute.

The following exchange will focus on Rabbi Eliezrie’s new book, The Secret of Chabad (The Toby Press, 2015).

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Dear Rabbi Eliezrie,

Your interesting new book starts with the 2008 terrorist attack on the Chabad Center in Mumbai. Why did you choose to start telling the story of the rise and rise of the global Chabad movement with this particular episode? What does it tell us about the movement, and why is it a good place to begin your narrative?

Yours,

Shmuel.

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Dear Shmuel,

Two days after the terror attack, a prominent orthodox rabbi asked me to give him background on Rabbi Gavriel Holzberg. I told him, “He completed the Talmud by the age of 18.” This an intellectual feat that can take a lifetime. He was puzzled, asking me “then why did he go to Mumbai?” My answer was that this exactly was the reason. In Chabad the best and brightest leave the cocoon of a religious community to dedicate their lives to others. Mumbai represents the central question about the secret of Chabad. Why move to place like Mumbai? It’s not a resume building track on the way to Beverly Hills. Why have the challenge of raising a family that remains true to your values, raise money, build communal institutions, overcome a wide variety of obstacles to create a Jewish renaissance?

As a member of the Crisis Management Team dealing with the attack, it was deeply personal. For those few days it was a roller coaster of emotion. There were moments of hope as we attempted to negotiate with the terrorists holed up in the Chabad House from the US. There was the constant fear of the fate of Gabi and Rivkie, the rabbi and rebbitzen, and others in the Chabad House. There was a moment of elation when the baby Moishe was saved, clutched from the Chabad House due to the heroic efforts of Indian nanny Sandra.

There was the reaction after the terrible news of the loss of everyone became known. The Jewish world mourned as one. In our Chabad Center dozens of women, many far from observant, gathered to light Shabbat candles. In Israel, a few days later, the whole nation paused to weep. We as Shluchim felt that our brother and sister had been taken from our midst.  

And, finally, there was our response to the tragedy. Chabad does not give up. Not in the face of Communist oppression, not when faced with indifference of American Jews distant from tradition, and not when faced with evil whose sole purpose was to destroy goodness. The Rebbe taught us that more light pushes away darkness. The tragedy of Mumbai became a moment of inspiration to us Shluchim to work harder and do more.