Last Thursday afternoon, a short time after the terrorist
attack in Mumbai began, six ZAKA volunteers traveled to the a
site near the city's Chabad House, accompanied by the parents
of Rivka Holtzberg Hy"d. Unable to gather much
information about their daughter and son-in-law, the parents
flew to Istanbul on a private plane. HaRav Yitzchok Dovid
Grossman, the rov of Migdal Ha'emek, arranged the private
flight because the only connection available at the time went
through London and would have involved chilul Shabbos.
From Istanbul they flew directly to Mumbai, landing Friday
morning after hours of tension, worry and prayer.
When they arrived at the site the gun battle with the
terrorists was still raging. Just before Shabbos the horrible
outcome became known.
"We stood not far away and saw grenades flying through the
air," recalls ZAKA volunteer Yehoshua Brif. "Shots could be
heard all the time and helicopters hovered in the air. The
battle went on for hours. Just before Shabbos the shots
quieted down and we saw commandos combing the building. A few
minutes later they came out with upraised fingers showing the
victory sign. We understood that the battle had ended. Hearts
pumping we entered the building and saw a horrible sight I'll
never forget — the victims lying on the floor of the
library holding blood-soaked sifrei kodesh."
The volunteers found the Chabad House in a state of total
havoc. The terrorists had wrecked one room after the next,
leaving behind open grenades and booby traps. The ZAKA
personnel had to watch every step.
At this stage the identification process began. Rav Leibish
Teitelbaum Hy"d was apparently the first to be
murdered at the Chabad House, while he was learning in the
library, according to one of the survivors who left the
building fifteen minutes before the horrific attack began.
Rav Gavriel Holtzberg Hy"d was also killed in the
library, apparently on Erev Shabbos.
Rav Bentzion Chroman Hy"d was found with his gemora
open. He also was probably killed on the first day of the
attack.
Mrs. Yocheved Orpaz and Mrs. Norma Schartzblatt Rabinovich
Hy"d were discovered bound with phone cords. They also
appear to have been killed on the first day of the attack.
Mrs. Holtzberg was found later, among the wreckage, covered
by a tallis, evidently by her husband.
Eyes welling with tears, the volunteers immediately launched
a campaign to prevent the Indian authorities from taking the
corpses away for autopsies. The Indian authorities insisted
on at least removing the bullets from the bodies, but
eventually the ZAKA volunteers, with the backing of Israeli
officials, prevailed and the authorities performed only
external examinations of the bodies.
HaRav Aryeh Leibish Teitelbaum, the son-in-law of the Admor
of Toldos Avrohom Yitzchok ylct"a, had traveled to
Mumbai as a mashgiach kashrus. He lived in Jerusalem's
Meah Shearim neighborhood.
"He was always happy, even when bad things happened. He would
say everything's for the good," acquaintances recalled. "He
would receive everyone warmly, host bochurim from
chutz la'Aretz on Shabbos, feed them and bring
everyone together. He was warm-hearted. He always had a happy
look on his face. Nobody ever had a problem with him. We
constantly saw him speaking with the unfortunate, encouraging
them with a kind word."
Rav Holtzberg and his wife, ages 29 and 26, lived and worked
at the Beit Chabad where they were killed. Their two-year-old
son Moshe Tzvi was rescued by his nanny several hours after
the hostages were taken. The image of the toddler whisked
away crying was heartbreaking. He kept asking where his
parents were until he was brought to his maternal
grandparents in a very moving embrace. Just two years ago the
couple lost their oldest son Mendy at the age of three.
The Holtzbergs were well-known by many and thousands prayed
for their well-being along with the rest of the hostages.
Gavriel Holtzberg's mother recalled her son's dedication to
the needs of others. "For years they only took care of
strangers, helped them, went to visit them in jail. They
helped people with money whenever they could. They were
totally dedicated to other people."
Chessed Safe Kept by Kedoshim Brought to Eretz
Yisroel
Hidden in one of the blue sheets with the word ZAKA written
in large white letters was the "Chessed Safe" kept by the
kedoshim, Rav Gavriel Holtzberg and his wife Rivka
Holtzberg Hy"d, which was found at the Beit Chabad in
Mumbai.
In the aftermath of the great tragedy the extent of the young
couple's chessed work started coming to light. Because
of their great integrity and extensive chessed many
Jews, including business owners, would place their money and
diamonds worth hundreds of thousands of dollars in their
hands for safekeeping.
Always glad to help, the Holtzbergs would keep people's
valuables at no cost in a special safe in Rav Holtzberg's
office.
Following the tragedy many Jews who had deposited money with
the couple felt very uncomfortable asking for their deposits
back, but family members requested the money be restored to
its owners, thereby completing the Holtzberg's acts of
chessed.
"On Motzei Shabbos," recalls ZAKA volunteer Mordechai
Bukchin, "I got a call from [Gavriel Holtzberg's parents]
about a safe hidden in Rav Holtzberg's office where many Jews
would deposit money and articles, and now the family members
were asking for their deposits back."
The information was quickly conveyed to the ZAKA volunteers
in Mumbai, who then proceeded to search for the safe. The
Chabad House was in total shambles, with large bloodstains on
the floor, the beds and the furnishings, bullets and
explosive materials littered the building, the walls were
pocked with holes and many items had been looted by local
Indians.
Once the safe was found the volunteers encountered
difficulties removing it without the necessary tools, but
using ingenuity they eventually managed to extract it from
the wall. Fearing the Indians would try to prevent them from
taking the safe they tried to camouflage it, but because of
its weight (650 pounds) they had to ask the guards to help
them move it.
It was then covered with a ZAKA sheet until its arrival in
Israel, where it was transported from the airport in a ZAKA
ambulance to family members in Bnei Brak, who were moved to
tears over the chessed work of the young couple, whose
lives were cut short by the ruthless terrorists.
The family members chose to leave the safe locked at present,
and once the Shiva is over they will have it opened and the
deposits will be restored to their respective owners, thereby
completing the mitzvah the kedoshim started.
