TORONTO — Although they were cousins, Rabbi Yosef Holtzberg is old enough to be Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg’s father. He recalls the late Mumbai rabbi as a six-month-old infant and as a precocious adolescent growing up in Crown Heights, N.Y., a quiet boy with his nose always in a book.

Toronto’s Indo-Canadian and Jewish communities, as well as about 70 other faith and ethnic groups, gathered Sunday for a memorial service in honour of the victims of the Nov. 26 terror attacks in Mumbai.   [Caley Taylor photo]

“Gabi” was always a serious young man, concerned with spiritual matters, Rav Yosef said. Even on his last visit to Toronto seven years ago, which included a side trip to Niagara Falls, “he was basically looking to see me, talk to me. He was not into material things. He was always into helping other people.”

Rav Yosef’s recollections came a few days after his 29-year-old cousin, along with his pregnant wife, Rivkah, and four others were murdered by Islamist gunmen in Nariman House, the Chabad outreach facility they ran in the Indian commercial centre of Mumbai.

They were killed on the first day of the terrorist assault in which close to 200 people died, and despite media reports that they were tortured, Rav Yosef has it on good authority they were not. It appears Gavriel and Rivkah were shot fairly early in the attack without the kind of abuse being rumoured. Rav Yosef’s source for this information is his brother-in-law, Yossi Weinberg, a member of Zaka, the Israeli organization that gathers the remains of terror victims for proper Jewish burial. Weinberg was part of a Zaka team that was dispatched to Mumbai to gather the remains of Jewish victims.

Rav Yosef spoke to his brother-in-law afterward and, “as for what I know, he did not struggle. He was shot immediately.” Neither Gavriel nor his wife was tortured. “It was done quickly,” he said.

 “I asked him personally. There are so many rumours.”

Small consolation for the Holtzberg family, who must now take care of the Holtzbergs’ two-year-old son, Moshe, and his three-year-old brother, who suffers from Tay-Sachs disease and whose prognosis is not good.

The Holtzbergs lost their oldest son to Tay-Sachs a year ago and their three-year-old is in the care of his grandparents in Israel. Children with Tay-Sachs rarely live past age five.

Gavriel could have cited the ill health of his children as a reason to leave Mumbai. “For him, it was an opportunity to say, ‘I have a sick child… I have to leave.’ He is not like that. He said, ‘I have a duty. I have to stay,’” Rav Yosef said.

Gavriel, he continued, was devoted to his mission. As a Chabad Lubavitch emissary, he was expected to establish a centre in Mumbai that offered spiritual services to any Jew who sought them. In addition, Chabad centres are known for their Shabbat dinners, educational programs, holiday observances and other ministrations to local Jews.

Rav Yosef, who is associated with Congregation Shaarei Tzedek on Markham Street in Toronto, believes his cousin was following a long-established family tradition. “We come from 180 years in Israel,” he said. “We grew up in a house with love, with chesed [acts of loving-kindness]. In Israel, it was tough times. My grandfather appreciated what he had and liked to share it with somebody else. He taught his children, and it went on to other generations.”

Chabad is known to send emissaries to far-flung corners of the globe – anywhere Jews might avail themselves of their services. Prior to being sent to Mumbai, Chabad offered Gavriel a choice of three postings: Australia, New Zealand or Mumbai.

Mumbai fit Gabi to a T.“He went to a place where nobody is. That was typical Gabi… He wanted to be a shaliach [emissary] in the most difficult place,” Rav Yosef said.

Chabad emissaries are expected to be rabbis, psychologists and advisers, among other things. Mumbai presented additional challenges. Many young Israelis visit the city as a way to decompress from the stresses of army life. Some look to other religions. Some get into drugs. Gavriel helped them all. One Israeli, heavily involved in drugs, was set straight by his cousin, Rav Yosef said. After leaving India, the man became a ba’al tshuvah, Someone who returns to his or her religious roots.

Gavriel expected to spend the rest of his life in Mumbai, even though he had the option of leaving for a more comfortable life. “He was not like that. He said, ‘I have a duty, to bring Yiddishkeit. I have to stay.’

“Not too many people are ready and willing to do what he did,” Rav Yosef said.