The legacy of Mumbai

THE Jewish community paused this week to acknowledge the first anniversary of a brutal terror attack on the Chabad House in Mumbai, India, that left the two-year-old son of Chabad emissaries Rabbi Gavriel and Rivkah Holtzberg an orphan and took the lives of four guests: Rabbi Benzion Kruman, Rabbi Aryeh Leibish Teitelbaum, Yocheved Orpaz and Norma Shvarzblat-Rabinovich.

Even for a people who endured the Shoah less than a lifetime ago, and have become numbed by the horror of repeated terror attacks over recent years, Mumbai continues to strike an emotional chord.

It’s not hard to see why. The Holtzbergs represented the Jewish community at its best. Embodying the hospitable qualities of Abraham and the idealism of the late Lubavitcher Rebbe, they were a lone beacon of Jewish light in a strange land -– a harbour for travellers, businesspeople and educators, and a bridge to the far-flung Bnei Israel Indian Jewish communities.

Perhaps it’s most fitting, then, that Australian commemorations were tied in to Shabbat observances. The warm glow of the Shabbat candles recalled the Rebbe’s oft-repeated wisdom that in a world of total spiritual darkness, the light of a single candle banishes that darkness and lights up the whole room.

One year after their deaths, the memory of Rabbi Holtzberg and his wife continues to be a symbol of that spiritual light, and inspires Jews of all persuasions.

Their son, Moshe, a boy that Israeli President Shimon Peres called a “child of all Israel” at his parents’ funeral, remains so. This week, his family reported that he had emerged from the trauma and now lives the life of a normal, happy child with a bright future ahead.

The allegory is not lost on our nation. While taking the time to pay tribute to those who perished, we dare not allow our future to be clouded by a descent into the emotional paralysis of a victim mentality.

The Lubavitcher Rebbe, in a response to a terror attack on the Israeli community of Kfar Chabad over half-a-century ago, said it best: “Behemshech habinyan tinacheimu” – “By your continued building, you will be comforted.”

The Jewish community will continue to build our institutions, live our lives without fear or intimidation, and celebrate our observances and our common bonds, in spite of our enemies. The blessed memory of Rabbi Holtzberg and his wife demands nothing less.

Faith in interfaith?

As we mark the anniversary of the senseless slaughter at Nariman House, it is perhaps timely that in the days ahead, our attention will be drawn to an international initiative aimed at promoting tolerance, respect and understanding between different faiths. For it was precisely that lack of tolerance, respect and understanding that led to the massacre in Mumbai.

Next week, however, thousands of faith leaders from across the globe will arrive in Australia on a mission “to cultivate harmony among the world’s religious and spiritual communities”.

As participants in the impressively titled Parliament of the World’s Religions, delegates drawn from all faiths will engage in seminars, lectures and discussions, and enjoy an eclectic mix of musical and cultural performances -– all inspired by the body’s vision of a world in which “religious and cultural fears and hatreds are replaced with understanding and respect”, and in which “people everywhere come to know and care for their neighbours”.

There’s no denying that such goals are both admirable and desirable, and that any efforts to foster such sentiments deserve our applause. The tragedy, though, is that, more often than not, those faith leaders who participate in such events are those who already subscribe to the values that these gatherings seek to instil and disseminate.

The radicals, militants and extremists, who are so frequently the architects of religious hatred, are impervious to calls for tolerance, as the very notion is anathema to the warped ideals at the heart of their misconstrued faith.

But, if dialogue at the top can be filtered down into schools and universities, into mosques, synagogues, churches and temples, and into society generally, encouraging ordinary members of the public to learn more about each other and to appreciate rather than be wary of their differences, then we all stand to benefit. Of course, exploring ways to turn this vision into a reality is just one of the countless issues the parliament will be addressing at its various sessions. Responding to extremism is another, likewise developing ideas for tackling poverty and hunger, and promoting social cohesion and justice.

If this gathering of faiths can make inroads in any or all of these areas, then it will have been a success. To that end, on behalf of Australian Jewry, we welcome the delegates to our shores and wish them well in their endeavours.