Mumbai Terror: Jewish Rabbi Held Hostage…Child Freed

Rabbi Gavriel Noach Holzberg is reportedly being held as a hostage at the terror-hit Mumbai’s Jewish center, the base for the American Jewish outreach group Chabad Lubavitch. The centre for prayer and study attracts many Jewish and Israeli visitors every year. (Photo above of the Mumbai Jewish Center)

According to the BBC, reports say his wife and son have been freed. “The Reuters news agency says that four gunmen remain in the building. There have been reports of gunfire.” More here…

An earlier report said that five Jewish families were taken hostage by terrorists in Mumbai (See here)

The Times of India reports: “Anxiously waiting to hear about the well-being of their dear ones taken hostage by terrorists at Chabad house in Mumbai, the Rosenbergs in Israel are ensconced in prayer at their house in the northern town of Afula.

“Rivka, 28, and her husband, Gabriel Holtzberg, 30, a Chabad emissary in Mumbai, are among a number of Israelis being held hostage by armed terrorists who have stormed into the Nariman House, a building owned by the religious Jews’ ‘Chabad’ movement, the Israeli radio reported.

“The family has received reports indicating that the terrorists have released their two-year-old son Moshe Tzvi and his caretaker, Rivka’s father Rabbi Shimon Rosenberg told the Radio.” More here…

Jews have an ancient connection with India. “Some sources say that the earliest Jews were those who settled in the Malabar coast (in Kerala, South India) during the times of King Solomon of Israel, and after the Kingdom of Israel split into two… Jews came to Kerala and settled as early as 700 BC for trade… Spanish and Portuguese Jews (Sephardim) settled in Goa in the 15th century.” More here…

My earlier posts here…

And here…

[EDITOR’S NOTE: TMV International Columnist Swaraaj Chauhan is a veteran New Delhi journalist who lives in India.]