For the first time since Muslim terrorists invaded the Chabad House in Mumbai, India, a year ago, murdering the emissary husband and wife who lived and worked there, as well as four Chabad House guests, the representatives of the chasidic movement came together in Brooklyn last week for their annual conference.
Learning sessions at the annual International Conference of Chabad Shluchim were dedicated to the memory of Rabbi Gabi and Rivky Holtzberg. The fathers of both attended the gathering. A Torah scroll dedicated to the Holtzbergs was completed in a festive ceremony. Workshops on security were held. The tragedy “was definitely on everybody’s mind,” said Rabbi Motti Seligson of Chabad.org. “It was mentioned throughout the conference.”
“I am certain that Gabi and
Rivky are joining us in this celebration,” said Rabbi Shimon Rosenberg, Rivky’s father, who came from Israel.
Chabad has not started to rebuild the Chabad House that was destroyed in the terrorist attack and has not appointed an emissary couple to succeed the Holtzbergs, Rabbi Seligson said. “There are a number of people who applied.”
Some 4,000 Chabad leaders — rabbis and laymen — from around the world attended the conference, which took place at the National Guard Armory in Crown Heights, and at Brooklyn’s New York Marriott Downtown Hotel.
The new Torah scroll, which will be donated eventually to the rebuilt Chabad House in Mumbai, was carried on an illuminated float, amid singing and dancing, from the armory to 770 Eastern Parkway, Lubavitch headquarters.
Many of the four-day gathering’s events were punctuated by dancing, above.
“This is a significant year for us, a time to take a look at where we are as a movement and where we should be,” said Rabbi Yehuda Shemtov, keynote speaker at the closing banquet. “We will also address the down-to-earth, practical side of how we’re going to get there.”
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