If he had this book, it was for one reason – he was aware of the danger.
In the days preceding his murder in Mumbai's Chabad House, Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg was reading a manual on what to do in case of a terrorist attack, according to the friend who identified the rabbi’s body.

Along with several religious books, a Hebrew book entitled “How to Protect Yourself if Terrorists Come to Your House” was found on Rabbi Holtzberg’s bedside table after the siege of the Chabad Jewish educational center that he ran.

 

“He wasn’t a man interested in martial arts or fighting," stated Rabbi Dov Goldberg, who will be taking over his deceased friend’s Mumbai Chabad House. “If he had this book, it was for one reason – he was aware of the danger,” he stated, adding that his friend apparently read the book together with his wife.

Rabbi Goldberg spoke about the moment that he discovered the bodies of his friend and his wife and his realization that he would take over Rabbi Holtzberg’s mission.

"I looked at him and understood that I was the one who would need to make sure that the Chabad [center] lives on, that I would be called on to do this."

"I looked at him and my first thought was that I could not do it. The next day I woke and realized that I had to - and that I could not let this holy work die out."

"What helped me to get out of my depression, to give me comfort, is that a real miracle happened and the child Moshe fled with the nanny," he said. "It is a little light at the end of the tunnel."

The Mumbai terrorist attack claimed the lives of 172 people, including nine of the ten terrorists, with about 300 injured.

The Anti-Terror Council in the Prime Minister’s Office issued a warning on Wednesday to Israeli tourists to avoid visiting the Goa region of India out of concern of threats of terrorist attacks by Islamic extremists. The Council currently has a travel warning in effect against visiting Kashmir due to the danger that Muslim extremists will try to harm Israelis.

See the Mumbai Chabad House Tribute page.