Editor's Letter Jewish Assistance Project Extraordinary from page A5 PANEL FORUM Monday, December 15, 2008 7:00 p.m. Jewish Community Center D. Dan and Betty Kahn Building Eugene and Marcia Applebaum Jewish Community Campus 6600 W. Maple Road, West Bloomfield Representatives from Jewish communal agencies to help answer your questions about: •Employment Support (Job search assistance and placement) •Financial Assistance (Crisis assistance for housing, utilities and basic needs, and support developing self-sufficiency plans) •Food Assistance Gifted Upbringing Both the rabbi and his wife were Israeli natives who grew up in Booklyn. According to his Chabad-Lubavitch obituary co-written by Motti Seligson, a former student at the Lubavitch Cheder in Oak Park, Gavi also was a mohel and officiated at weddings. When he was 9; Gavi's family moved from Kiryat Malachi to the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn. He loved to learn. That love culminated in two victories in a competition of memo- rizing the Mishnah, a compendium of rabbinical laws and enactments redacted in the second century. Gavi studied at yeshivot in New York and Argentina. As a rabbinical student, he served communities in Thailand and China. Rivki was born in Afula, one of four •Housing Assistance (Including mortgage assistance, loan renegotiation, and home/apartment transition support) One-on-One Confidential Opportunities Distribution of Informational Materials Agency Referral Information FREE OF CHARGE Light refreshments will be served Reservations encouraged, walk-ins welcome. Please contact Pat Mayer at (248) 203-1519 or mayer@jfmd.org gp Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit jewishdetroit.org/help 1449140 A6 December 4 • 2008 of daughters of a Chabad emissary, Rabbi Shimon Rosenberg. I was touched by how Rivki's mother, Yehduit Rosenberg, described Nariman House to Israel-based Ynet news: "a warm corner of the Land of Israel!' The Chabad Way Chabad-Lubavitch, a branch of Chasidism, is part of the Orthodox movement. The 250-year-old Chabad- Lubavitch philosophy is rooted in the shtetls of White Russia. It provides nuggets of Jewish life and learning for Jews looking for a spiritual boost with no strings attached. Emissaries follow teachings that express piety, self-sac- rifice, leadership, optimism and a pro- found love for every Jew. As I pondered how some 172 people from 13 countries could be murdered and more than 200 injured strictly out of hate, I considered that human beings won't always grasp the mystery of life. The best way to remember the Holtzbergs, Chabad rabbis say, is through mitzvot that kindle a fire for Judaism and its values — from light- ing Shabbat candles to charitable giv- ing to acts of loving kindness. Rabbi Alter Goldstein, of the Chabad House at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, expanded on that. "Don't stop with a prayer," he said. "Take it one step further and remem- ber that a small act of light in one part of the world can dispel darkness wher- ever it may be." If we Jews run scared, the terror- ists win. So the stakes are daunting. History teaches that we must muster the strength to press on, no matter how jagged the course. Gavi and Rivki Holtzberg understood this lesson and demonstrated its power. The lesson remains our most potent weapon against the evil doers who would rather kill Jews and Westerners than buy into freedom and liberty. E Related coverage: A13 PO INTS TO P ONDER... If you, or someone you know, needs help... meal they served. The rabbi also was a shochet who slaughtered 100 chickens a week to serve 400 meals. His wife cleaned the chickens and also helped bake hundreds of loaves of Shabbat challah. Meals were free and were topped off by Rabbi Holtzberg's inspir- ing words. Benjamin Holtzman, who lived in Mumbai last year for six months while a volunteer for American Jewish World Service, wrote a telling account about the Holtzbergs for the New York-based Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA). Holtzman tells how "Gavi would get visibly excited to have so many guests for Shabbat; you could tell it really made his week!' "He was always so eager to create a communal feeling that he insisted everyone go around the table and say a few words to the group, giving guests four options: delivering a dvar Torah, relating an inspirational story, declar- ing to take on a mitzvah or leading a song;' Holtzman wrote. Holtzman tells how "Rivki was a cer- tified sweetheart who relished Friday- night dinners. "I think she needed her weekly female bonding time Holtzman wrote. "She'd talk to the girls about the challenges of keeping kosher in India and the exciting new finds at the market!' Holtzman marveled at how their spirits soared in a city that seemed "to suck the life out of you." He added: "Living as Westerners in modest conditions in the thick of Mumbai, with the restrictions of kashrut and Shabbat, is certainly no small feat." In the attack's wake, should Chabad rethink the safety of its emissaries? How can we best remember the good- ness of Gavi and Rivki Holtzberg?