TEL AVIV – The 11-year-old son of Chabad emissaries murdered in a series of Islamist terror attacks in Mumbai in 2008 told visiting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi that he loves him and his country and wants to come back to India to take on the mantle of directing the Chabad House once run by his parents.
Moshe Holtzberg, wearing a pin with the Indian and Israeli flags intertwined, told Modi, “I hope I will be able to visit Mumbai, and when I get older, live there. With God’s help, this is my answer.”
“Dear Mr. Modi,” Holtzberg concluded, “I love you and your people in India.”
Modi embraced the boy twice, holding him to his chest and telling him he was always welcome in India.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu turned to Holtzberg and told him that Modi had extended an invitation to him to visit India and that he wished to be accompanied by the boy.
“Prime Minister Modi invited me to come to India and you will come with me to Mumbai,” Netanyahu told Holzberg.
Moshe’s nanny Sandra Samuel, who was also at the meeting, managed to escape the Nariman Chabad House with two-year-old Moshe in her arms after the building was attacked. Four Jewish people lost their lives that day, including Moshe’s parents, Rabbi Gavriel and Rivka Holtzberg. Samuel came to Israel after the attack and has remained in the country ever since.
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