The terrorist attacks in Mumbai resulted in my doing something I haven’t done since I was a child –I fully observed Shabbat to the letter, with the exception of carrying the cat food to feed the outside cats on Friday night and I don’t think that counts as a breaking of the rule because it falls under the protection of preserving life. I didn’t start out the day intending to be “Shabbos” observant.

On Friday morning I got up early and really cleaned my house. I mean really cleaned. It took the lion’s share of the day. I hadn’t done a full cleaning, see, since before I’d had the operation and even then I hadn’t gotten it as clean as I’d have liked. It certainly didn’t last for these two weeks either. Around 3 p.m. I took a break from cleaning and put CNN on the computer. I came into the streaming broadcast just as a Lubavitcher Rebbe was being interviewed regarding the then on-going siege of the Chabad House in Mumbai. It was during this interview that the word came through that the Rabbi, his wife and the other hostages, had all been killed. The Rebbe that was being interviewed then asked two things. First, that if you are Jewish, that you light Shabbat (Shabbos) candles that night, even if you never do so, in their memory. The second thing he asked was that, since (well now yesterday) Saturday was the 2nd birthday of the now-orphaned little boy of this brave Rabbi and his wife, that people around the world and regardless of faith give him the birthday present of doing a mitzvah (good deed) –whether it is giving to the charity of your choice, helping out a neighbour, or even just smiling at a stranger, –anything you can think of to make the world a better, kinder, more loving place.

After the interview finished and I was sort of straightening up some more stuff around the house, I thought, “yes, why not? Why not light candles tonight?” And then I thought, “Why not do it properly? Do the whole shabang?” And I decided on the spot that I would. I don’t think (at least I don’t think I think) that it matters one whit whether one observes Shabbat (or whatever equivalent in other religions). But I do think that it would matter to Rivka and Gavriel Holtzman. It just really felt to me like the right thing to do, the best way to honour their memory and all the other lives lost, criminally lost. In large part because by celebrating Shabbat as a Jew I was carrying on one of the very things the terrorists were fighting to wipe out. By celebrating Shabbat, which is symbolically in essence the celebration of the miracle of life and love and goodness and commitment for a better future, it is absolute defiance and rejection and maybe a tiny countering of the evil that so obviously exists in this world. So I checked candle-lighting time and I threw together enough salad for Friday evening and Saturday and tossed a bunch of vegetables, water, and instant fake chicken soup into the seer bishul (newly purchased crock pot) and got ready to celebrate Shabbat the traditional way. I’m really glad I did for, whether it did anything for the world or not, it certainly did a lot for me in terms of real physical and mental rest. When Shabbat was over, I made a donation to Chabad of Mumbai Relief which has been started to help rebuild the Chabad center in Mumbai and to raise funds for the care of little 2 year old Moshe Holtzman and his brother who is here in Israel undergoing treatment for an illness (their oldest child died a few years ago at age 3 from a genetic disease). I am also looking for a reliable charity to donate to that will directly help the citizens of Mumbai to recover from this horrific and really incomprehensible attack on life and civilization and humanity. If you know of one, please let me know!!!!