Projo 7 to 7 News Blog

By G. Wayne Miller
Journal staff writer

Providence's Rabbi Yehoshua Laufer, leader of the Chabad Lubavitch movement in Rhode Island, today called the attacks in Mumbai, India, a "darkness" visited not only on the movement, but on the world.

"It's overwhelming," Laufer said. "It's darkness trying to extinguish the light."

Laufer, whose three sons are also rabbis in Rhode Island, said he has received many calls from concerned people asking what they can do in the wake of the attacks, which claimed the lives of Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg and his wife, Rivka, who moved from Brooklyn, N.Y., to Mumbai to run a Chabad center.

Laufer said he did not know Holtzbergs, although he does know other members of their family.

His advice to people wanting to help? "Go out and do a good deed -- not to memorialize the young couple that passed away, but to continue their legacy, which they endangered their lives for."

That legacy, Laufer said, is the mission of the Chabad Lubavitch movement: Helping people, of any denomination, who are in need. Nearly 4,000 Chabad centers, including four in Rhode Island, are in operation.

"We are creations of God and each one of us has to help one another," the rabbi said. "All of us are connected to each other. A tragedy like this affects the whole world."

Laufer said goodwill can overcome the brutal intentions of those responsible for the attacks in Mumbai. "All good people in the world have the power of light. A little bit of light can push away a lot of darkness."

Rabbi Yossi Laufer, of Chabad of West Bay, said in an e-mail response to the attacks that he joins colleagues and Jewish people around the world "in sorrow and sadness by the grave news that has emerged from Mumbai."

He extended sympathy to the families of Rabbi Holtzberg and his wife and their guests reported to have died.

"Despite the dangers, for Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg and his wife Rivkah, living in Mumbai was worth it simply because it provided them a unique opportunity to serve the needs of others," Rabbi Yossi Laufer said. "The selflessness inherent in the work the Holzbergs were doing and in the way they lived their lives is staggering."

But, he added, that today "the wound is too raw for me to share any words of consolation or explanation."

Rabbi Yossi Laufer said there will be a prayer service (minyan) in memory of the Holtzbergs on Sunday morning at 9 a.m. at Chabad of West Bay, 3871 Post Road, Warwick.

-- With reports from projo.com staff writer Michael P. McKinney

 Tags  Providence Rhode Island terrorism

Comments

free gambling online said:

I think India government (especially, Sonia govt.) does not have the political or international acumen to deal with this scenario. India is a soft nation and so can be easily pushed around. Look at the terror attacks one after the another. The latest example is Mumabi.

Link | January 19, 2009 6:31 AM
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