The Chabad House of Mumbai: The Story of Gabi and Rivka Holtzberg’s Heroic Legacy

For four years, the Chabad House in Mumbai was a beacon of warmth, faith, and Jewish hospitality. Jewish travelers — especially Israelis exploring India, found there a home away from home, welcomed by the devoted emissaries Rabbi Gabi and Rivka Holtzberg.

On November 26, 2008 (28 Cheshvan 5769), tragedy struck. Ten Pakistani terrorists launched a coordinated assault on multiple targets across southern Mumbai, in one of the deadliest terrorist attacks in India’s history. Over the course of two and a half days, 207 people were murdered.

Among the sites targeted was the Chabad House, also known as the Nariman House. On the second day of the siege, Rabbi Gabi and Rivka Holtzberg were brutally murdered by the terrorists, may their memories be a blessing. Their bodies were recovered only a day later, when Indian military forces finally broke into the building.

Miraculously, their two-year-old son, Moshe (“Moishy”), survived. His Indian nanny, Sandra Samuel, managed to escape the gunfire while clutching the toddler in her arms — an act of extraordinary courage that saved his life.

In the years following the attack, the Chabad House of Mumbai was rebuilt and reopened, continuing the mission of love, Jewish unity, and spiritual light that Gabi and Rivka had begun — a living testimony that even in the face of unspeakable darkness, the flame of goodness can never be extinguished.