Personal Reflections

At first, the terror targeted only Jews in Israel. The world – humanity, so called – barely reacted. People grew accustomed to reading about Jewish blood flowing freely. The price for that complacency is being paid now...

Can we laugh yet? Is it acceptable to be silly, to joke around? Is it proper and respectful to resume life as we once knew it?

Two weeks ago, I did not know you. Now, I am searching your beautiful face, reading about you everywhere, haunted that a Jewish sister was murdered because of who she was, and the goodness she did...

The most significant memories that will remain with baby Moshe will be the images of his loving parents welcoming guests with a warm smile, a hug and a kiss...

"If this is how we mourn in Judaism, then I want to be a Jew. And if this is how they weep and eulogize in the Chabad movement, then today, I would like to be connected to your movement, Rabbi."

The military terminology isn't metaphorical. Only those with a soldier's strength and stoicism can take on the harsh conditions, the constant discomfort of blazing trails of Judaism through rugged terrain...

I feel so tired. But something pulls me out of my slumber, out of the haze, the grumbled good morning and the fantasy of even five more minutes of sleep...

When we beg G‑d in our daily prayers to gather the Jews from the four corners of the earth, we dare not dream of the return of an orphan baby with his righteous Indian nanny to his mother's birthplace...

We sat in the large ballroom-dining room at the convention, asking for second helpings of gefilte fish... We talked, laughed, sang traditional Shabbat hymns. While underneath it all, the soul seethed, churned, screamed.

Pain packs a punch, and it has an intensity that's waiting to be channeled

Our collective hearts are broken over this tragedy. The Holtzbergs lived the life of our Patriarch Isaac. They lived a life of sacrifice, and unfortunately, died that way as well.

The brittle fanatic minds that countenanced the Mumbai massacre were too inept to have realized the irony and paradox of their target.

He transformed my why why why to wow wow wow. Turning negative into the positive, up to down, in to out, physical to spiritual—this is the magic of Judaism...

Chabad doesn't quit. They stood their ground in Czarist Russia, and they didn't quit after the Holocaust. Chabad doesn't quit even in Islamic countries that might blow up any minute...

Is there someone whom you have something against? A grudge, or a hurt that you harbor in your heart? Isn't it time we all got past our petty limitations to find the connecting threads of unity that connect us all?

We have calculations, logical ones, Torah-based ones, that we are certain about and we have a license to be. We know certain things can't happen... You're right, says the Talmud. But . . . nonetheless . . . it happened...

We can all put our grief, our disbelief, our desire to do something into action—and we must do it quickly. Send money to a Jewish cause. Spend some time telling your parents, children, and friends how much you love them...

For the past five years, Rabbi Gavriel and Rivkah Holtzberg were the Rebbe's shluchim, emissaries or ambassadors, to Mumbai, India. As of today, however, they have become his emissaries to the world.

Maybe I'm crazy, maybe I'm just ranting, but you heard it here first: one day the children of those who sought harm will benefit from the legacy that Gabi and Rivky left behind. And that will be the sweetest revenge of all

They had no idea of how gentle and loving were the souls they would soon cut down. Little did they realize that had circumstances been different they would have been greeted with warm smiles and invited for a home-cooked meal...

I realize now that You have given virtually these same tests to the Chabad Shluchim (emissaries) in the same manner that You gave them to Abraham...

I assumed that once my son would hear of the terrible murders, he would be filled with questions and doubt. And, my young but intelligent son did have questions. Many questions. And sad questions.

Moishele, the only words of comfort that we can offer you is that wherever you go in this world, you will always have thousands of mommies and tatties and brothers and sisters who will welcome you with open arms and loving hearts, just like your parents did for every single person

It would have made most sense for Sandra Samuel to get out of there as quickly as possible. But she didn't. She couldn't. Little Moshe'le was calling her name...

What does this mean for us? For our mission?

How do we view tragedy? What does the wisdom of the Torah suggest our responses be?

I am sure that there on the other side of the globe competent people are going about that grim task. We sit here and we watch them without seeing

If to You the darkness is as light, it is not to me; the darkness comes hard...

We cannot change what has happened. But we can determine how we react to this tragedy. Please think about what you can do to bring more light to this darkness. Please share below what you are doing in memory of the Mumbai victims and for Gavriel and Rivka...

We are left with questions--heavy, unbearable and haunting questions. But if we succumb to doubt, pain and immobility, we give greater power to the evil around us...

A Crown Heights resident was killed in cold blood by an assailant. And the Rebbe spoke. He was trembling, even his lectern was shaking...

I will leave it to smarter and more informed scholars to debate the politics of the world and what led to this senseless slaughter. Instead, I would like provide some perspective about these Chabad rabbis and their families...

An event that would have normally elicited from me a sigh and a few moments of thought is now consuming me. It's not "numbers" of casualties; it's real people with real faces...

They took all of us hostage and showed no mercy. And like little Moshe Holtzberg, some of us managed to get away. The question now is: "What do we do with that freedom?"

Once you are at war, you don’t stop to ponder all over again. Now you are out there on the field of battle, there is no turning back....

I was praying for Rabbi and Mrs. Holtzberg and all the other Jewish people in Mumbai asking for G‑d to help them. Why didn't He listen to me and the many others who prayed to him and asked for their lives to be saved?

If hundreds of thousands of Jews were praying for them, and Rabbi Gavriel and Rivka were doing G‑d's work, why take them and hurt their child? I Don't get it

This has been the story of our history ever since. They think they can squash us. They think we are weak. They never succeeded. They never will.

Our hearts and prayers go out to all the innocent victims and their families of the brutal attacks throughout Mumbai, India. But this one strikes way too close to home

Here we sit, yet again, in a state of intense emotional pain, sadness, anger, and frustration. Here we sit, yet again, contemplating the evil senselessness of Islamic terror

Today, the wound is too raw for me to share any words of consolation or explanation. I do know what the Rebbe would say: Take an action against this senseless act of terrorism