CHENNAI, India (RNS) The father of Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg, the Chabad missionary who was murdered along with his wife in last November’s terrorist attacks in Mumbai plans to rebuild the Jewish center that was badly damaged in the assault.
Rabbi Nachman Holtzberg and his wife Frieda, now on a two-week trip to Mumbai from their native Brooklyn with two of their sons, visited the deserted five-story center run by the ultra-Orthodox Chabad Lubavitch movement.
The center, which opened in 2003 and was known locally as Nariman House, served India’s small Jewish community, Jewish travelers and visiting businessmen. It was among several buildings that were targeted by Islamic gunmen in the attacks that killed at least 170 people and injured more than 300.

Gavriel Holtzberg, 29, and his pregnant wife Rivkah were held hostage inside the center for two days. The couple’s 2-year-old son, Moshe, escaped when his Indian nanny, Sandra Samuel, ran out with him in her arms. The two have since moved to Israel.
The elder Holtzberg said he will seek donations from Indians to rebuild the Chabad House.
“In our estimate, we’ll require at least $2 million to get it up and running with enhanced security,” he said in an interview with The Times of India newspaper. “This was a home not only for Jews, but for every person from every other community. Now we need support from the Indian community to come forward and help it start again.”
Holtzberg said security arrangements would be one of the priority issues for consideration while rebuilding the structure. “We have a couple of things in mind, but it’s too early to talk about it,” he said.
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