The Mumbai Lesson

I must admit my complete and utter obsession with the Mumbai tragedy. I could not keep my eyes off it, hoping and praying along the way. As many of you know, I work for the government in an undisclosed field and therefore have some insight into the rescue operations.

I depended so much upon my emuna during the last few hours, although I knew it was over once the “commandos” attempted their Hollywood rescue. When you attempt a dynamic entry, the building needs to be cleared in minutes, not hours. It is also my humble opinion that a soft entry should have been made. However, I was not there so I should not comment.

I do not blame the Indian Government for their lack of training in this situation, they work with what they have. In fact, one of the Indian Commandos died during the attempted rescue. The blame can be placed in one place and one place only…Me. No, not me personally, I mean Me as a collective Me. Did I say enough tehillim? Did I daven hard enough? Could I have done more? The answer is a resounding yes.

What is the lesson? Here is my backwards theory. There is a simple common denominator. All of the people killed in the Chabad House were Jews. No kidding, right? Think about this, the breakdown of those killed were Chabadniks, Satmer and Tzioni. This is essentially a cross-section of Orthodox Jewry, they were all represented in this one building in Mumbai. Find me one another place where you will find that diverse a group of Jews in one place? I can’t name one in NYC, let alone the world.

Why a Chabad House? My theory is that the result of this massacre is an intense focusing on the Chabad way. Out attention was focused on the group that is known for working extra hard to bring Moshiach. So, one message here is Moshiach.

Next we come back to the cross section of Jewry taken from us. They were from every aspect of yiddishkiet. The fact that they were in one place at the same time for something positive screams achdus. So, that’s our next outcome – Achdus.

Though terrorist groups and the media are always quick to make the differentiation between Zionists (bad) and Jews (different kind of bad), we see here that the terrorists were strictly after Jews without any political motivation. Chabad has no political association with Zionism (that I am aware of). Furthermore, if the terrorists did their homework (and they usually do) they would know that the Satmers are vehemently anti-zionist and would have freed the Satmers as a political point. The takeaway? It doesn’t matter what kind of Jew you are, we are all Jews. Achdus

So let’s add it all up. Achdus and Moshiach go hand in hand.

My only other question, why was Moshe saved by his nanny? It is truly a ness and has a message behind it. But what is it? My only thought is that the name Moshe is significant. Moshe was the first redeemer of Israel. He too was left without parents and saved by foreigners. No, I’m not saying he is Moshiach, what I am saying is that it is no coincidence and there is a link.