Jews in Mumbai mark 5th anniversary of Chabad house attack

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(JTA) — The Jewish community of Mumbai marked the fifth anniversary of the attack on the Chabad house, which left six people dead.

The series of attacks in Mumbai in November 2008 by members of a Pakistan-based terror group left 166 people dead, including six at the Mumbai Chabad house, which was targeted along with luxury hotels, a train station and a popular cafe.

Seven candles were lit at Tuesday evening’s ceremony, one for each Jewish victim and another to represent all Mumbai victims. The emissaries, Americans Rabbi Gavriel and Rivkah Holtzberg, were slain in the attacks, but their then- 2-year-old son Moshe escaped. Moshe now lives in Israel with his grandparents, and his Indian babysitter who risked her life to save him during the attack.

The Chabad House is expected to re-open in the coming months, Rabbi Israel Kozlovsky, who co-directs the center with his wife Chaya, told CBS. The building will serve as a restaurant, a community hall and a museum to the memory of the six Jews killed in the Chabad House.

“When you want to fight darkness, you cannot chase it away with a stick or an AK-47. One can chase darkness away only with light and peace,” Kozlovsky told the Mumbai Mirror.

Security agents outnumbered the participants at Tuesday’s memorial event, according to CBS.

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