Tears and candlelight added to the heartbreak as mourners recalled the Brooklyn couple killed in the Mumbai terror attacks with a moving memorial at Shell Bank Jewish Center.
Lubavitcher Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg, 29, and his wife, Rivka, 28, who were among 198 people killed in the three-day assault on the Indian port city, were remembered for the selfless work they did in the Chabad house they ran there for Jewish travelers.
The couple’s nanny managed to escape with their two-year-old son, Moishe.
Area leaders joined local residents for the tribute at the synagogue, 2121 Bragg Street, which featured a candle lighting ceremony in memory of the vibrant couple, who cooked kosher meals for backpackers, assisted people with problems and conducted marriages.
They “had a lifelong mission to serve the community, and they really did it from the bottom of their hearts,” reportedly said Hoboken Rabbi Moshe Schapiro, who grew up with Gavriel Holtzberg in Crown Heights at the Chabad Lubavitch world headquarters.
India has blamed the Pakistani-based militant group, Laskhar-e-Taiba, for the terrorism, which began on Thanksgiving eve.
