A British charity has launched an international appeal to raise over £1 million for the children of those killed in the attack on Mumbai’s Chabad House.
Those helped by the Chevras Mo’oz Ladol appeal will include two-year-old Moishy Holzberg, who was rescued from the centre where his parents, Rabbi Gavriel and Rivka Holzberg, were murdered.
Moishy’s Israeli grandparents are helping to care for him and his brother Dovi, who suffers from the genetic disorder Tay-Sachs and is being treated in Israel. Donations will contribute to the salary of Moishy’s nanny from India, who is due to travel to Israel to look after him, as well as to his brother’s treatment costs.
Chevras Mo’oz Ladol volunteer Pinchas Benedikt said: “The whole world watched Moishy crying at the funeral. He has an elder brother in an institution which costs the family a fortune.”
Another Mumbai victim was father-of-eight Rabbi Leibish Teitelbaum, described by Mr Benedikt as a “hard working man who travelled the world to support his family”.
A London-based cousin, Rabbi Yossi Teitelbaum, said: “We feel it is important to appeal to the Jewish world and our friends out there to assist these families to rebuild.”
Help will also go to the families of divorced mother-of-three Norma Shvarzblat Rabinovich, father-of-three Rabbi Bentzion Chroman and Yocheved Orpaz.
Chevras Mo’oz Ladol — which hopes to raise at least £200,000 for the appeal from the UK — supports the physical, mental and spiritual wellbeing of Jewish children. Its last published accounts show annual expenditure in excess of £6 million.
