Moshe Holtzberg, the boy who lost his parents in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, has an emotional connect with India, according to his Indian nanny Sandra Samuel and the boy’s grandfather Rabbi Nachman Holtzberg. Ms. Samuel and Rabbi Holtzberg are looking forward to meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Jerusalem.
Ms. Samuel, who has been recognised as an honorary citizen of Israel for saving the then two-year-old Moshe, is all praise about Mr. Modi for taking time out to meet the boy. “I feel very, very emotional for this great man of India... he made special time to meet this boy. (The meeting) was not even necessary, but he has given the time to the child,” she told The Hindu in Jerusalem.
Ms. Samuel works with young kids in Jerusalem during the week and joins the family of Moshe’s maternal grandfather Rabbi Shimon Rozenberg during the weekends. She is so attached to the child so much so that she did not even follow the 26/11 trial as she did not want Moshe to be involved. “I'm part of it and not part of it (the 26/11 investigation and trial). I have my life which is very busy, and Moshe boy is there. If I get involved, If at all I put a step (forward) he has to follow. And I don't want that,” she said.
Ms. Samuel was sure enough that Moshe himself would visit India one day when he grows up. “Moshe himself will go to India when he grows up. He knows Nariman House is his house, his father's house and he will visit there,” she said.
Like Ms. Samuel, Rabbi Holtzberg — Moshe’s paternal grandfather, who has come down from New York for the meeting with Mr. Modi — too is all praise for India and its people. He told The Hindu that he could see Moshe going exactly in the ways of his parents. He told The Hindu that it was his dream, and believes it was Moshe’s dream too, that the child would serve in India one day.
Published - July 05, 2017 05:56 pm IST
