Overwhelmed with emotion, Rabbi Shimon Rosenberg tried to avoid sharing his feelings. He had spent the past week remembering his loved ones killed by terrorists in a brutal attack in Mumbai nine years ago.
Rabbi Rosenberg is the grandfather of Moshe Holtzberg, who was a two-year-old toddler when the 26/11 attacks happened killing his parents, Gavriel and Rivka. Little Moshe survived the terror onslaught because of his brave Indian nanny Sandra Samuels.
“It was a moment that shook us all completely, and of course also the Indians. This is a week when we try to keep to ourselves,” Rabbi Rosenberg told PTI.
“We offered our prayers at the cemetery in Mt. Olives in Jerusalem on Sunday. Because for us that was the ninth anniversary as per the Jewish calendar. We paid our respects to the departed souls in Afula. It was a quiet and personal affair, limited to the family,” he said.
“Moshe celebrated his 11th birthday this week as per the Hebrew calendar and we talked about the plans for bar mitzvah in Mumbai. We want him to see where his parents lived and worked. He feels a strong connection with Mumbai,” said the grandfather.
