Report from Mombai

[LouiseVargas]

The terrorists did not only attack Americans and Brits, but they attacked a Jewish community center and all are still being held hostage.

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Reported by and Schlomo, Olivia and Mendel Schwarz, founders of the Chai Center.

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At this moment our colleague Rabbi Gabi Holtzberg and his wife, along with other Israeli Tourists, are hostages in the horrific terrorist attacks on the city. Their infant son has been released with the nanny. Hundreds of commandos surround the house and it seems that a full-scale assault is imminent. 

As the world waits & holds its breath in anticipation of what will be the fate of the lives of a young couple that have devoted their lives to “outreach”, for Jews in a faraway land, we might feel helpless!

Before the contemporary practice, that came out of the 60’s, became popular – Kabalists & Chasidic Jews were emphasizing the PRACTICAL Value of “VISUALIZATION”. That your thoughts can produce results & radically change things.

However, thoughts are fleeting & “talk is cheap”; but “Actions speak louder than words”.

Feed the pushka (charity box) NOW! Just before you actually put the coins into the pushka, meditate for a moment that you are hereby giving charity for the speedy & total safety of (then insert the names of the couple)

Gavriel Noach son of Freeda Bluma & Rivka daughter of Yehudis.

Following, you can pray from Psalms – Psalm 20. (Look below for full text) Say the Shma, (even if you only remember the first line) or whatever you remember...
 
May G-d bring peace now to all the citizens of Mumbai, India and may we all celebrate Thanksgiving with new meaning as of TODAY !!!

Peace, Schwartzie


Chapter 20

For the Conductor, a psalm by David. 2. May the Lord answer you on the day of distress; may the Name of the God of Jacob fortify you. 3. May He send your help from the Sanctuary, and support you from Zion. 4. May He remember all your offerings, and always accept favorably your sacrifices. 5. May He grant you your heart's desire, and fulfill your every counsel. 6. We will rejoice in your deliverance, and raise our banners in the name of our God; may the Lord fulfill all your wishes. 7. Now I know that the Lord has delivered His anointed one, answering him from His holy heavens with the mighty saving power of His right hand. 8. Some [rely] upon chariots and some upon horses, but we [rely upon and] invoke the Name of the Lord our God. 9. They bend and fall, but we rise and stand firm. 10. Lord, deliver us; may the King answer us on the day we call.

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 Contact Information

  Chai Center 24 Hour Hotline: 310 391 7995

  Olivia: 310 391 6619

  Mendel: 310 271 8666

  General Questions: info@chaicenter.org

[caesu]

Mumbai under attack

Late Wednesday night, Mumbai, India found itself the target of a ferocious terrorist attack, and the situation remains unresolved even now, three days later. According to reports, upwards of 60 young men entered Mumbai in small inflatable boats on Wednesday night, carrying bags filled with weapons and ammunition, and spread out to nine locations to begin their attacks. Lobbing grenades and firing their weapons, they entered hotels, a railway station and several other buildings, killing scores and wounding even more. As of this moment, the identity of the attackers has yet to be definitively determined, though there are reports indicating some of the gunmen were Pakistani - at least nine of them have been killed, nine more arrested. As of this writing, there were a reported 151 people killed from 11 different countries - though nearly 100 were Indian. More than 300 injuries have also been reported - those numbers may yet rise as several hostage situations still exist in the city.

many more photos:
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2008/11/mumbai_under_attack.html

Statement by President-elect Obama on Mumbai
Posted on 11-28 at 22:54:40 CET

Below is a statement by President-elect Barack Obama

"Michelle and I send our deepest condolences to the loved ones of the American citizens who lost their lives in the outrageous terrorist attacks in Mumbai. Our thoughts and prayers are with them, and with all who have been touched by this terrible tragedy.

"These terrorists who targeted innocent civilians will not defeat India's great democracy, nor shake the will of a global coalition to defeat them. The United States must stand with India and all nations and people who are committed to destroying terrorist networks, and defeating their hate-filled ideology.

"There is one president at a time. I will continue to closely monitor the situation on the ground in Mumbai, and am grateful for the cooperation of the Bush Administration in keeping me and my staff updated. We fully support the Bush Administration's efforts to protect American citizens and assist the government of India during this tragic time," said President-elect Obama.

http://bnonews.com/elections/?id=286

india news sites:

http://www.ndtv.com/
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/
http://ibnlive.in.com/

[LouiseVargas]

These reports come from a Rabbi I have known for 20 years. He has his own writing style.     
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  Many Jews in the USA went to sleep this past Thanksgiving - wondering whether the day after Thnxgiving would give us a modern Miracle for which to give thanx. Modern day NAZIS had seized the Chabad House that did outreach with Israelis in Mumbai, India, & the trickle of news that leaked was two items:

#1 - The young Rabbi & his young wife were among the hostages.

& #2- their toddler was safe bec the Indian nanny escaped with him. Friday early AM it slowly became clear that our good ideas & prayers didn't work & 5 Jews were murdered, including the young couple that had left their respective familes & journeyed VERY far to devote their LIVES to helping their brothers & sisters have a home away from home & come back to Judaism.

  In light of such incredible tragedy I was taking my usual morning constitutional Venice Beach Ocean Front Walk as I do every AM -& strangers out for a walk in Venice the day after Thnxgvng - stopped me.

They (especially the kids) were devastated about the deaths/murders of ppl they did not know.  Chasidic Mysticism ALWAYS looks for the positive in EVERY situation; so I was thinking, 'when will the Good L-rd show us some sign of the "'colors" that we should focus on? When are our eyes gunu be opened up for us to see the 1/2 of the glass that's Full?’. As I passed the Orthodox Shul on the Beach I see a bunch of Jews walking into the temple in a festive mode. When asked, I'm told that the new Young Rabbi AND his lovely Young wife just had their 2nd & the BRIS is in 15 minutes. Never one to turn down a kosher, free, catered , breakfast (especially when Olivia doesn’t even know about this extra nosh), I quickly finished my daily regimen of power walking & doubled back around in time to see a really great Young crowd @ PJC (Pacific Jewish Center) in a wonderful Bris Celebration. Watching this SIMCHA (happy occasion) in the midst of such crushing tragedy I was wondering what the CONNECTION was? Bashert or (in English translation) Synchronicity means that when two things coincide on the SAME DAY- there is a connection. Now its up to us wise people to figure it out.  In the middle of the Bris I had a flash. On one side of the world, a young couple with very young children doing outreach were taken out.  In another part of the world another young couple with a very young child was celebrating the Bris of their child with new outreach efforts going 4wrd & continuing. This Shabbat is the 2nd B-day of the martyred couples child Shmuly Holtzberg. His Holy parents will Not be able to celebrate his B-day with him but all Jews, around the globe should. This Friday nite & Saturday we should say/do/wish/pray/think about sending good thoughts & blessings to the Birthday boy who became an instant young orphan; we can send him vibrations of comfort & blessings that he live a long, healthy , prosperous life! We can even make a PLEDGE ( even on the Sabbath ) that we are gunu do some Mitzva in the coming week of Shiva for these two young people (& the other four martyrs) to elevate their souls (since they can no longer do Mitzvahs that they used to do when they were alive, but we can do as their rep/substitute); like put on Tfilin (as Gabi Holtzberg used to do every weekday) or light Shabbat candles (as Rivka Holtzberg used to do Every Friday night).

The world needs your LIGHT NOW!

Love, Schwartzie

Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

 

Please note an e-mail I received just a few moments ago:

From: RR /
To: schwartzie@chaicenter.org
Sent: 11/28/2008 12:00:38 P.M. Pacific Standard Time
Subj: Rabbi Gavriel Noach Holtzberg and his wife, Rivkah - Bombay

Dear Rabbi Schwartz,
I share your loss of your blessed members of the Lubavitch community.

Because of your Jewish influence on my life, I visited the Mumbai Chabad about 1 1/2 years ago and shared a Shabbat dinner with the Rabbi and his wife.

As I frequently visit Chabads on Shabbat while I travel,  I called Rabbi Holtzberg and asked if he had a Shabbat dinner that Friday night.  I was staying at the ill-fated Taj Mahal Palace hotel.

He asked me to wait by the main door at a specific time as he would be making his rounds of the big Mumbai hotels to collect Jews that wanted to share Shabbat.  He met me on time and we raced through the congested city and gathered a few other Jews at different hotels for his Shabbat.

After he gathered his flock, we walked, at an Olympic walkers stride, dodging cars, trucks and taxis to get to the sieged Chabad.  We had a joyful Shabbat and found our way through the stimulating streets back to our hotels.

Rabbi Holtzberg was dedicated to sharing Judaism from Crown Heights and throughout the world.

Rabbi Holtzberg was good and memorable Jew.
May his feats keep his memory alive,
Roger
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Please dont forget to light the Shabbat candle 18 minutes before Sunset and do the following:

First light the candles.

Then spread your hands out around the candles drawing your hands inward in a circular motion three times to indicate the acceptance of the sanctity of Shabbat.

You then cover your eyes and recite the following blessing:

Transliteration:
Boruch A-toh Ado-noi E-lo-hei-nu Me-lech Ho-olom A-sher Ki-de-sha-nu Be-mitz-vo-sov Ve-tzi-vo-nu Le-had-lik Ner Shel Sha-bos Ko-desh

Translation:
Blessed are You, Lord our G-d, King of the universe, who has sanctified us with His commandments, and commanded us to kindle the light of the holy Shabbat.

Shabbat Shalom, Schwartzie

[caesu]

Taj operation almost over, NSG mopping up

NDTV Correspondent
Saturday, November 29, 2008 7:16 AM (Mumbai)

More than two days later the last battle is still on at the Taj hotel. Describing Saturday's operation, NSG chief J K Dutt said that a fire had been started in the hotel by NSG commandos to smoke out terrorists. However, the mopping up operation still on.

The NSG chief briefed the press about the ongoing operation today. He said, "The Taj encounter is over and three terrorists had been gunned down on Saturday morning. Two terrorists were gunned down on Friday."

http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/mumbaiterrorstrike/Election_Story.aspx?ID=NEWEN20080074405&type=News

very crucial what is going to happen next.

India is blaming Pakistani's for this.
Pakistan itself suffers from terrorist attacks too.

Lashkar-e-Toiba 'Army of the Pure'
It is closely linked to the Inter-Services Intelligence ISI, the Taliban and al Qaeda.
http://www.satp.org/satporgtp/countries/india/states/jandk/terrorist_outfits/lashkar_e_toiba.htm

The outfit collects donations from the Pakistani community in the Persian Gulf and United Kingdom, Islamic Non-Governmental Organisations, and Pakistani and Kashmiri businessmen. It receives considerable financial, material and other forms of assistance from the Pakistan government, routed primarily through the ISI. The ISI is the main source of LeT's funding. Saudi Arabia also provides funds.

the Presidents Zardari's wife (Benazir Bhutto) was killed by these terrorists.
and a while ago there was the Marriott hotel bombing in Islamabad.

Zardari wants to crack down on the terrorist who also launch attacks on Afghanistan and NATO forces there.
but the Pakistani Intelligence Service (ISI) is closely linked with the Taleban.
i suspect that the ISI is somewhat behind all this, trying to weaken Zardari - or force him not to crack down on terrorists.
in Pakistan many precieve the Aghanistani government as a puppet of India.
so it's in their interest to weaken make Afghanistan less stable.

all these terrorists might have gotten very nervous.
because Obama has warned he will intensify the hunt for Al-Qaida and Bin Laden.
their free ride is finally coming to an end.

the last 7 years they had a safe haven in Pakistan.
Musharraf recieved tons of American military aid, but he did nothing.
appeasing the ISI. and he knew that once the Taleban/Al-Qaida would be defeated - the military aid would stop too.
so Musharraf only made it appeat like he was an ally.

but with Zardari and Obama finally putting the focus on where it should be it might be different.