How to Find the Bridge? First, Pay Your Respects

The metal signs are impossible to miss. They are oversize, in a bold blue usually found on signs directing drivers to the nearest hospital. And there are lots of them — 13 in all, according to the city’s count — along a quarter-mile stretch of roadway and its approaches.

In fact, probably no thoroughfare in New York City is better identified than the ramp connecting the southbound Franklin D. Roosevelt Drive to the Brooklyn Bridge. The signs all say the same thing: “Ari Halberstam Memorial Ramp.”

Many drivers no doubt have no idea who that is. And that’s precisely why the signs are there.

On March 1, 1994, Ari Halberstam was shot on the ramp as he and other yeshiva students were returning to Brooklyn in a van from a vigil for the ailing Lubavitcher rebbe, Menachem Mendel Schneerson. Ari died five days later. He was 16.

The shooting was considered an act of terrorism. Prosecutors said the gunman, Rashid Baz, a Lebanese immigrant who is serving a 141-year prison sentence for the attack, was retaliating for the massacre several days earlier of Muslim worshippers in the West Bank by a Jewish settler from Brooklyn.

Ari’s mother, Devorah Halberstam, was intent on keeping her son’s legacy alive, even as his killing has receded from memory.

In 1995, the City Council, sympathetic to her loss and to the larger symbolism of the killing and mindful of the political clout of the Hasidic community, formally named the ramp in Ari Halberstam’s memory. But the tribute went far beyond the usual street namings that honor fallen police officers, veterans, victims of 9/11 and others who usually get a green-and-white ceremonial street sign below the one with the original name.

While nobody questions Miss Halberstam’s motivation, the unusual scope of the sign tribute has raised questions from some city officials and, occasionally, the curiosity of passing motorists. When several of the signs were removed a few years ago to make room for warnings that the bridge was under police surveillance, the ensuing outcry prompted City Hall to back down.

Kenneth K. Fisher was one of the councilmen who introduced the name-change bill, which passed, 49 to 0.

“It was real statement by the Council and by the mayor that this was not simply a case of road rage,” he said. Ari’s mother, he said, “was a very effective advocate for the notion that her son’s murder should be recognized, and she happened to come from a particularly politically active sect. Do there need to be quite as many markers indicating where the incident occurred? That was done by the transportation commissioner at the time. The legislation didn’t specify that.”

Christine C. Quinn, the Council speaker, said 13 signs might be excessive, “but at some point you need to get the message out.”

Christopher R. Lynn, the city’s transportation commissioner at the time, said the signs were a compromise.

“You couldn’t rename the bridge,” he said.

The deal was engineered, in part, by Randy M. Mastro, who was Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani’s chief of staff. “The least the city could do is to honor his memory with a few signs where that tragedy occurred so we never forget,” Mr. Mastro said. Mr. Lynn said he made the final decision. “I remember telling Rudy, ‘When you take that curve, you don’t see the sign,’ ” he recalled. “He said, ‘I trust your instinct.’ So I put up around seven.” The seven signs are on the ramp itself, he said; others are on the approaches to the ramp.

Miss Halberstam said that “the number and where they were placed was decided not by me.”

But since the signs were put in place, she has been quite protective. A few years ago, outraged after she noticed that some signs were missing, apparently replaced by the police surveillance signs, she sent an e-mail message to Deputy Mayor Patricia E. Harris.

“I just crossed the bridge and there are three signs missing on the ramp,” she wrote in the message, a copy of which was obtained through a Freedom of Information request. “Who did this? Who dishonored my son’s memory? What is going on? Who would do this? Who would stab a knife in my heart like this? Patti, please look into this a.s.a.p. because I will not have a second of peace until this is corrected and restored.”

Whether and how Ms. Harris responded is unclear, but soon after Miss Halberstam’s plea, City Hall ordered the signs restored.

“Once the signs are put up,” Miss Halberstam said in an interview, “they should not be taken down.”

From time to time, Miss Halberstam, who was divorced from her husband after their son’s death, said she gets complaints about the signs.

“You hear some negative comments: ‘Why was it done for Ari?’ ” she said. “The reason I wanted this wasn’t just because he was my child. Ari represented an innocent victim of terrorism. He was murdered as an American citizen and because he was clearly identified as a Jew.”

Besides her role in the signs and a Web site, arihalberstam.com, Miss Halberstam works for the Jewish Children’s Museum in Brooklyn, which opened in 2005 and whose focus is tolerance and understanding; it is dedicated in her son’s memory. She has also worked with law enforcement officials on gun control and combating terrorism.

“She has taken a tragedy — the most horrible tragedy a parent can go through,” and turned it into something meaningful, said David M. Pollock, associate executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York.

Councilman Lewis A. Fidler, a Brooklyn Democrat and a friend of Miss Halberstam, said: “Most people under those circumstances retreat into hate, anger, bitterness or loss of faith. This woman has built a children’s museum.”

The signs leading to the bridge will always remain precious to Miss Halberstam, though she realizes that the shooting is largely forgotten, particularly after 9/11.

“The first years everybody remembered,” she said. “We’re up to the second and third generation, and people are saying, ‘Who was Ari Halberstam?’ ” Perhaps, she mused, another sign, with more details about what happened, could be put up on the bridge itself.

In the meantime, work on the ramp is scheduled to begin in a few months. City officials vow that not a single sign will be touched.

The PM, Jason Kenney and a room packed with rabbis

Prime Minister Stephen Harper gave a speech to the Canadian Federation of Chabad Lubavitch to honour the memory of the Lubavitchers killed in the Mumbai Chabad House terrorist attack.

Jason Kenney, Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, also spoke passionately about the horrific attack.

New Torah Scroll commissioned by Chabad Jewish Center in Glastonbury

The time-honored ritual of the writing of a Torah scroll involves many detailed customs and rites.


It’s not often that you get to see history being written before your very eyes. But that is exactly what is happening right now. The Chabad Jewish Center in Glastonbury has undertaken the writing of a brand new Torah scroll.

This new Torah has been commissioned in memory of Mark Tsvok, who passed away tragically at the age of 15. Its primary sponsor is Mark’s father, Ilya.

The writing of a Kosher Torah scroll is a thorough and exhaustive exercise.

The time-honored ritual of the writing of a Torah scroll involves many detailed customs and rites, from the material used – authentic parchment, natural ink and a special quill, to the color and style of the biblical font, to the manner in which a Torah is written – copied word-for-word from a previously written scroll, to the credentials of the Scribe.

As part of the process, the Scribe – a trained and experienced writer of scrolls in the ancient tradition – will present workshops at many area schools.

The Scribe’s Torah-writing workshops are scheduled as follows:

Tuesday, Feb. 24: 9 a.m. – Lubavitch Yeshiva Academy, 1148 Converse St., Springfield, MA; 10:30 a.m. – Hebrew High School of New England, 1244 North Main St., West Hartford; 12:30 p.m. – Solomon Schechter Day School, 26 Buena Vista Road, West Hartford; 4 p.m. – Chabad Hebrew School, 141 Hopmeadow St., Simsbury

Wednesday, Feb. 25: 9:30 a.m. – Hebrew Academy of Greater Hartford, 53 Gabb Road, Bloomfield; 11:45 a.m. – Aleph Bet Preschool, 25 Harris St., Glastonbury; 2:30 p.m. – Hebrew Academy of Greater Hartford, 53 Gabb Road, Bloomfield; 4 p.m. – Jewish Enrichment Program, 25 Harris St., Glastonbury

To schedule a visit to one of these workshops, or for more information regarding the writing of this special Torah, please call Rabbi Yosef Wolvovsky at (860) 659-2422. The Rabbi may also be reached by email at JewishLearning@snet.net

Posted Feb. 16, 2009

8th Day Chanukah Finale to Honor 2 Slain in Chabad Mumbai at the 9/11 'Twin Tower' Memorial in East Meadow

G-d Bless America. Happy New Year! Program Includes Special Blessings for America During These Tough Times

MarketWire


MINEOLA, NY - On Monday Dec 29th at 12:30 pm, the last day of Chanukah, all 8 Chanukah candles will be lit in a special ceremony to be held at the Nassau County's own 9/11 memorial in Eisenhower Park in East Meadow NY.

"We chose this significant location," explained Rabbi Anchelle Perl, director of Chabad in Mineola, "to link the 9/11 in the USA with the 9/11 in India."

In both events we have terrorists who spent long hours, days, months, resources and strategy to fulfill a mission of hate, destruction, chaos and murder.

But in contrast to this, all 8 candles of the Menorah will highlight the illuminating life of the couple [Rabbi Gavriel & Gabe Holtzberg, the Chabad emissaries murdered in Mumbai India] who devoted their life on a mission to help others by establishing a center which served as a home to inspire those who need inspiration, give warm meals to those who are hungry and create a place where people can feel comfortable connecting to their Jewish Heritage.

"To stand together at this hallowed location surrounded by the memory of the 344 Nassau County residents who lost their lives in the Sept. 11 will be inspirational and uplifting," said Rabbi Perl. "The Holtzberg couple will always remain shining examples of 'twin towers' of strength and kindness."

For we are letting the world know that we will not be deterred by acts of terror, we will move forward and increase in acts of goodness and kindness which will bring light to the world.

What is true of the individual is true of a nation, especially this great United States, united under G-d. All of us share the duty and privilege of this great Nation to promote all the forces of light both at home and abroad.

The program will include special remarks from the Holtzberg family and will feature an eye witness report of the Menorah lightings in Mumbai this week. At the end of the celebration, donated toys will be distributed to the guests, who will be encouraged to give them to needy children to uplift their spirits during the holidays.

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Contact Person: Rabbi Anchelle Perl For directions and more information: 516-739-3636

Chabad's Answer to Mumbai: Spread Acts of Lovingkindness

December 11, 2008 - Bryan Schwartzman, Staff Writer

The worldwide Chabad Lubavitch movement must respond to last month's terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India, by doubling its efforts at Jewish outreach and react to acts of cruelty by spreading acts of kindness, stated Rabbi Abraham Shemtov, who chairs the executive committee of the Agudas Chassidei Chabad, Chabad's umbrella organization.

Shemtov, who also oversees Lubavitch activities in the region, delivered an emotional address to roughly 400 people who turned out for a Dec. 8 memorial ceremony at Congregation B'nai Abraham in downtown Philadelphia. The program was held in memory of the nearly 200 killed in the series of attacks, including the six Jews killed inside the Chabad house in India's commercial hub.

Those victims included Norma Shvartzblat Rabinovich, a Mexican citizen planning to make aliyah; and Israelis Yocheved Orpaz, Rabbi Benzion Kruman and Rabbi Areyh Leibish Teitlebaum; and Chabad emissaries Gavriel and Rivkah Holtzberg.

The Holtzbergs had moved from Brooklyn to India in 2003, starting out in a rented apartment. They eventually bought the building that became the Chabad house. Their 2-year-old son, Moshe, was rescued from the building and will be raised by relatives in Israel, according to Chabad's Web site.

"These murderers sought to disconnect humanity from decency," said Shemtov, 71, who traveled to Israel last week to attend the Holtzergs' funeral in Kfar Chabad, a village founded by Lubavitcher Rebbe Yosef Yitzchok Schneersohn in 1949. "It is our test now to strengthen connections between people."

He said that the Holtzberg families had requested that Jews of all persuasions promise to perform additional mitzvot. Organizers distributed mitzvah pledge cards in honor of "Gabi & Rivky," in which people could promise to do things like light Shabbat candles, study Torah or give charity daily.

In addition, Shemtov said that Chabad is asking all Jews to try to respond to the pain and loss caused by the events by making connections with 10 new people during the traditional 30-day mourning period.

"I can't think of a better answer to the calls of the souls of Gavriel and Rikvah," declared Shemtov, who later said that the community could not remain paralyzed with grief and would have to move on.

Several speakers cited a precedent for responding to terror. In 1957, eight years after Kfar Chabad was founded in central Israel, a band of Palestinian fedayeen infiltrated the village and killed five children and a teacher.

The most recent Lubavitcher Rebbe -- Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, who died in 1994 -- sent a telegram at the time of fedayeen attack, urging Kfar Chabad residents to seek comfort from overwhelming grief by continuing to build up the village and teach the young.


Fighting Back Tears

During the Philadelphia memorial, men and women sat on opposite sides of the recently refurbished, historic synagogue. While more than a week had passed since the attacks in India and a number of smaller programs had been held in the interim, raw emotions still colored this event. Some audience members seemed visibly shaken; a few looked to be fighting back tears, while others buried their faces in their hands.

Rabbi Zalman Lipsker, who works with the city's Hebrew-speaking population, led the room in a recitation of Psalm 107.

Israeli Consul General Daniel Kutner read the eulogy that Israeli President Shimon Peres had delivered at the Holtzbergs' funeral. Leonard Barrack, president of the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia, offered brief remarks.

"The loss of cherished souls are being grieved throughout our city," he said.

Organizers also played a 15-minute video about the Holtzbergs -- including clips from interviews conducted in India -- that portrayed the couple as eager, idealistic and doing work that they considered a calling.

Rachel Wise, a Northeast Philadelphia woman who lingered for a few moments after the program, said that she felt inspired to translate her pain into some tangible action.

"This was like a wake-up call to remind us of what we should be doing," said Wise. "When light is extinguished, you have the opportunity to bring light back into the world."

Jewish and Indian groups mourn Mumbai at American University

WASHINGTON - A week after the attacks in Mumbai, India that killed 171 people, Jewish and Indian groups held a memorial service on the campus of American University to remember the victims and pledge they will continue to work together.

Several of the victims lived and worked at the Chabad Lubavitch House, an Orthodox Jewish center in Mumbai.

"These terrorists had only 10 people, but the decent people of the world have billions of people," said Rabbi Levi Shemtov, director of the Washington office of American Friends of Lubavitch.

Shemtov was a friend and colleague of Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg, director of the Chabad House in Mumbai. Gavriel was a victim of the attacks.

"Those who seek to destroy us will know sooner or later that they could never succeed," Shemtov added.

Among those attending the packed gathering were representatives from the Indian community who say they don't want to be targeted as so many Muslims were after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

"We have thought about that. India is a very tolerant country and the world's largest democracy," said Partha Pillai of College Park.

"It is the only country in the world where all religious leaders are together. Hindus, Christians, Muslims, Jews, they are all together and they live together. We feel sad and angry that this kind of thing happened in India."

Lazarus Borgai is a native of Mumbai and currently resides in the Washington area. He tells WTOP these attacks were perpetuated by a small group of people and do not represent the greater Indian community.

"We never expected this to happen," says Borgai.

"India is a peace-loving country. (The attackers) are trying to create trouble between the two countries (India and the United States) and trying to disrupt the peace between these countries."

Chicago Jews mourn Mumbai victims

For many Jewish travelers, it is a beacon of hospitality in a foreign land. But on the evening of Nov. 26 in Mumbai, the Chabad House became the scene of horrific crimes that reminded many Jews of a darker time decades ago when they were targeted and tortured just for being Jewish.

On Wednesday, the Chicago Jewish community will pay tribute to six lives lost inside the Chabad Lubavitch Center in Mumbai and remind each other of his or her responsibility to bring light into darkness and repair the world.

“In the Jewish tradition, we know the world is not perfect,” said Steve Nasatir, president of the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago. “It’s no question they were targeted here. It’s selection to a certain extent. The word selection [of the terrorists] goes back to the ‘40s and the Nazi death camps. There’s a haunting connection.”

More than 170 lives were lost in the gunfire and explosions that rocked Mumbai last week. Media reports indicate that Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg, his wife, Rivkah, and their guests Rav Aryeh Leibish Teitelbaum, Rabbi Bentzion Chroman, Yocheved Orpaz and Norma Schwartzblat-Rabinovitch were tortured and killed by the militant Islamists who seized the Chabad House and two luxury hotels.

Chabad-Lubavitch is one of the largest Hasidic movements in Orthodox Judaism, and is based in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn, N.Y. The Hebrew letters that spell Chabad are a Hebrew acronym for Chochmah, Binah, Da’at meaning wisdom, understanding and knowledge, respectively.

With the goal of encouraging Jews to learn more about their heritage and to practice Judaism, emissaries are dispatched around the world to reach out to their own, giving Jews a place to find kosher food, pray and reconnect with their faith. Though ultra-orthodox in their own practice, Chabad Houses welcome Jews of all branches--Reform, Reconstruction, Conservative, and modern Orthodox.

There are 31 Chabad Houses in Illinois. For financial reasons, plans to build a 32nd in downtown Chicago were placed on hold earlier this year.

Rabbi Daniel Moscowitz, regional director of Lubavitch Chabad of Illinois, said the plan for a memorial service came from people who had encountered the Holtzbergs in Mumbai who he said “took care of every person like their own brother and sister.”

He hopes the memorial service demonstrates the importance of finding unity and common ground despite ideological and theological differences. He also hopes it awakens people to the reality that the attacks in Mumbai could happen in Britain, Beirut or our back yard.

“This was an event that shook the Jewish people and Chabad to its core,” he said. “This is 9/11 happening all over again.”

The memorial service is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Holiday Inn North Shore, 5300 W. Touhy Ave., Skokie.

Community honors fallen soldier

EUCLID -- A fallen soldier got a hero's tribute from a community he moved away from more than 20 years ago.

PFC Daniel Agami was killed in action back in June.

His services were held in Florida where his family moved when he was a boy.

However, the soldier was born in Cleveland and his family was part of The Community of Chabad House in South Euclid.

Sunday they paid him a tribute.

His mother and sister flew into town to observe the service.

VIDEO

Chabad-Lubavitch west of Boynton honors slain Jewish soldier

By Chrystian Tejedor

South Florida Sun-Sentinel

July 12, 2007

West Boynton
Beth Agami received another American flag Wednesday night during a memorial at the Chabad-Lubavitch of Boynton Beach in honor of her son, who died fighting in Iraq.

This one flew over the capitol in Tallahassee.

"Daniel would want us to continue supporting Jewish soldiers," Beth Agami said, periodically taking deep breaths. "Daniel was all about helping others on a large scale or on a small scale."

Wednesday night brought the arrival of the siyum, or the completion of the Torah. It was the perfect time for a second tribute for Pfc. Daniel Agami, 25, who was killed with four other soldiers when an improvised explosive device detonated near his Humvee about four weeks ago, said Rabbi Sholom Ciment, director of the Chabad-Lubavitch, which is west of Boynton Beach.

"He is one of heroism, patriotism," Ciment said. "His mission as a soldier in Baghdad was to bring freedom to every soul that he possibly could. No doubt he completed his mission."

During the hour and a half long ceremony, friends who gathered to remember Daniel Agami were brought to tears.

David More of Boynton Beach cut short a vacation in Orlando to pay his respects.

"When I saw him come off the airplane wearing his uniform with his name on it, Agami, I was so proud," More said.

During a previous ceremony in Coral Springs, the Army posthumously bestowed Agami with the Purple Heart, Army commendation medal and the Bronze Star.

Agami enlisted in the Army two years ago and was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, in Schweinfurt, Germany.

Because Agami was proud of being a Jew and because he taught fellow soldiers about his faith, friends on the battlefield affectionately came to call him "G.I. Jew."

The military even planned to have him appear on advertising material.

Agami was in Iraq for about a year and his unit was sent on raids to inspect bombs and other weapons.

In that short time, Ciment said Agami distinguished himself as a soldier, earning "no less than 15 medals, honors and awards from saving several soldiers' lives to classified acts."

Born in Ohio, Agami moved with family to South Florida at age 4. He attended the Hebrew Academy Community School in Margate and lived in various Broward cities, including Coconut Creek, Margate, Coral Springs and Parkland.

While on leave from his duties in Iraq, Agami spoke to the members of the Boynton Beach Chabad about his experiences during a Passover ceremony, Ciment said.

"He was an American patriot," said Haim Benzino, a longtime friend of Agami's father, Itzhak. "We had to pull stories out of him. He once shot a man who was coming at them with a grenade. He saved his whole unit probably from being killed."

Agami is survived by his parents, Itzhak and Beth, of Parkland, his sister, Shaina, 7, and brother Ilan, 23.

The family requests donations in Daniel Agami's memory be made to the Hebrew Academy Community School, 1500 N. State Road 7, Margate, FL 33063.