Israelis and Jews from around the world paid their final respects Tuesday to the six Jews killed in last week's terrorist attacks in Mumbai.
The six were at Chabad House, Mumbai's headquarters for the ultra-Orthodox Lubavitch movement, when they were killed by a group of gunmen that terrorized the city during a 60-hour siege. The centre was under the terrorists' control for much of the two-and-a-half day attacks, which also targeted luxury hotels, a train station and public buildings.
The victims included Gavriel Holtzberg, the rabbi who ran Chabad House, and his 28-year-old wife, Rivkah.
A memorial ceremony for the couple was scheduled on Tuesday at the movement's centre in Israel. About 200 mourners also gathered for a service earlier in the day.
Avraham Berkowitz, a Chabad emissary based in Moscow came to Israel for the funeral, along with other hundreds of other members of the group.
He told Â鶹´«Ã½ in Jerusalem that his wife and Rivka Holtzberg used to be in touch by email. He described Rivka as selfless and humble, and her husband as a generous and brave person.
"Gavi might have had the chance to escape," Berkowitz said.
"But he and Rivka had such a bond, he probably couldn't bear to leave his wife behind."
The couple's two-year-old son, Moshe, was rescued by his Indian caretaker and returned to Israel.
Berkowitz said the massacres in Mumbai will not deter his group, but every Chabad House that is in a "vulnerable place" will consult security experts and take counterterrorism measures.
"We will take responsible measures for security but hospitality will not end because of terror," Berkowitz said.
At another funeral, this one for Leibish Teitelbaum, an American Jew who lived in Jerusalem, mourners said the Mumbai attacks were just the latest in historic attacks on their community.
"It's a very difficult feeling because we know this was targeted against us," Eliahu Tzadok told The Associated Press.
"It's a continuation of acts against the Jewish people when the Jewish people did nothing to deserve it."
With a report from CTV's Middle East Bureau Chief Janis Mackey Frayer
