What Cats Do When We Sleep
Now the truth can be known. We are just furniture for the cats.
Righteous Gentile
Nanny moves to Israel with boy orphaned in Mumbai
Dec 8, 5:09 PM (ET) By AMY TEIBEL
Dec 8, 5:09 PM (ET) By AMY TEIBEL
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MIGDAL HA-EMEK, Israel (AP) - After hiding for hours in the besieged Jewish center in Mumbai, Sandra Samuel suddenly heard a cry that made her forget all fear for her own safety: 2-year-old Moshe was calling his nanny’s name.Ignoring crackling gunfire and exploding grenades, she says she charged up the stairs and found the toddler crying by his mother’s body, his pants soaked in blood. She grabbed the child and ran with him to safety.Today, the 44-year-old Indian woman, a Christian, is the Orthodox Jewish toddler’s only remaining link to the life he once knew. Moshe Holtzberg’s Israeli parents died in the assault. Samuel, a recent widow, has left her own two sons and her homeland to move with the child to Israel, where she says she will stay “as long as my baby needs me.”
On Monday, Moshe cheerfully touched and identified in English the animal statues that rimmed the garden of his great-uncle’s home, where he and Samuel are staying in this small northern Israeli town.
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He sought out Samuel repeatedly, though, smiling as he nestled in her arms.
There was no sign of the inconsolable orphan whose plight captivated millions, his anguished cries of “Eema, Eema!” - “Mommy! Mommy!” - shown worldwide in broadcasts of his parents’ memorial service last week.
“At the beginning, he would burst out crying, but that’s tapered off,” the child’s great-uncle, Yitzhak David Grossman, said. “But he clings to Sandra.”
The trauma has receded, Samuel told The Associated Press. “But he is a baby. He wants to know why his Eema is not coming, why is Abba not coming,” she said, using the Hebrew words for mommy and daddy.
Grossman, the chief rabbi of Migdal Ha-emek, was able to get Samuel a one-year passport and a three-month tourist visa to Israel so the boy would have a familiar face as he recovered from the trauma.
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Sabine Haddad, a spokeswoman for Israel’s Interior Ministry, said Monday that Interior Minister Meir Sheetrit wants to grant Samuel the status of “Righteous among the Nations,” an honor bestowed upon non-Jews who save the lives of Jews. It would allow her to stay in Israel as long as she wished.
Samuel, who has taken care of Moshe since he was born, worked for more than five years for the child’s parents, Rabbi Gabriel Noach Holtzberg and his wife, Rivkah - whom she calls “my rabbi” and “my Rivki” - in the Mumbai headquarters of the Orthodox Chabad-Lubavitch movement.
It was to have been a temporary job, she said, but she was so captivated by their generous, courageous spirits that she stayed on.
The day of the attack, Nov. 26, had been like any other at the Mumbai Jewish center, the 44-year-old nanny recalled. She had just put the baby to sleep and the dining room was being cleaned up when “suddenly the noise starts. Boom, boom, boom.”
At first, she thought it was children playing in the open space outside the house. She came out of the kitchen to scold them when she saw a man with a gun take aim at her. She slammed the door shut, still not sure if the gun was real or a toy - until she saw the bullet hole in the door.
She dialed the rabbi’s cell phone, heard a mix of voices, but still didn’t understand that the house was under attack. There was no screaming from upstairs, where the hostages were, though she said she did hear Rivkah Holtzberg cry and call out her husband’s name, as well as things being thrown and shoved.
Gunfire and grenade explosions followed. The house was under siege - a takeover that would end only after Indian commandos, some rappelling onto the roof from a helicopter, stormed it 36 hours later.
Samuel hid between two refrigerators for hours, leaving her hiding place the next morning only “when I heard my baby cry.” She found Moshe standing by his mother’s body in a corridor; his father lay nearby, sprawled on his stomach. She also saw the bloody legs of another man.
Cradling the child in her arms, she sprinted out of the house to safety.
Samuel said she did not believe the Holtzbergs were dead at the time she fled, though she did see blood near the rabbi’s leg. Four other Jews also died in the attack.
Samuel wonders whether the gunmen might have knocked the boy unconscious. She said he had five finger-shaped bruises on his back and did not cry out during the night as he usually did. A spokesman for Chabad in Israel, Menachem Brod, has said the family did not think the boy was abused.
Samuel is having trouble coming to terms with the horror of the attack.
“Even now, I can’t really believe it has happened,” she said.
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On the Net:
Musical Plagiarism?
I am always interested to listen to the music involved when there is an accusation of plagiarism. Today’s news included an article about whether Coldplay stole their hit, “Viva La Vida” from guitarist Joe Satriani’s “If I Could Fly.”
Curious, I did a search and found this on YouTube. Check it out, as well as the full remix done by the same poster.
I found it to be a no-brainer, but I’d love to know what others think.
YouTube pulled the links due to EMI complaints, so try this link instead.
Olympic Tae Kwon Do: Triumph, or Embarrassment?
It’s always interesting to watch the tae kwon do competition at the Olympics. This year’s judging was at times questionable. I was glad to learn that it wasn’t just me - many of the delegations have questioned how judges could miss valid hits. Some changes need to be made for the future integrity of the sport. Still, the USA took two silver and one bronze, which is nothing to sneeze at.
I was dismayed by the unbelievable behavior displayed by the Cuban men’s heavyweight competitor in the bronze medal match.
Respect is at the core of the practice of tae kwon do. There is simply no excuse for this behavior. None.
Camp Harlam Updates for 2008
Here are some pictures from Harlam:
1st Session K’far Noar Boys
Rick Recht Concert 1st Session
Photo evidence of Brian’s developing sophistication at pulling pranks. 2nd Session, Opening Day
“How nice, Brian is playing tether ball with his friends at K’far Noar Village.”
“They seem to be having a good time.”
“Hey, what’s that on your shirt, Brian?”
What we want to know is, did anyone buy it?
More 2nd Session Pics. Now Max is at camp, too.
Video chug.
In K’far Noar, line dancing appears to be required.
Recover from the dancing by playing volleyball.
No dancing here.
Israeli Friendship Caravan Concert
CPR Change
Remember the old days of training to do mouth-to-mouth? Gone.
No more worries about expiring because someone was too grossed-out or germophobic to help you.
Here’s the new order:
OOPS. Link is now dead. I’ll look for another one.
Irish Dancing in the Bronx
I think this is SO COOL!
Here’s a video story from the NYTimes about an Irish music teacher who works at a Bronx elementary school. She’s taught the kids Irish dance, and it is a great story.
No Excuse
Ok. Sorry. There’s no excuse for not posting, other than I simply didn’t have the time. Perhaps this will be the electronic version of a kick in the pants to get moving again. Let’s just blame winter sloth, shall we?
In the aftermath Othello’s death, we began the process of bringing a new cat into the family. Fiona was not meant to be an only cat. There is an impressive organization called the Siamese Cat Rescue Center. Quartered in VA, they have an extensive network, a solid organizational structure, and a really excellent website on which they list all the cats available in rescue.
When you apply to adopt a cat through SCRC, you are interviewed so that an accurate match can be made. These folks have been placing cats for years, and they have a very high success rate. So, we went through the process, and have adopted Simon.
Simon is 9 months old as of Thursday, and he is a Blue point Siamese. He’s a big boy, already weighing in at 10 1/2 pounds. Big feet. Friendly disposition. He was fostered in Tennessee and came north just one week ago today via the volunteer driver network known at the Meezer Express. The boys and I drove to MD to pick him up. He’s very sweet and is integrating very well after 6 days in isolation. So far he and Fiona seem to be fine together. So welcome, Simon, to the Keisling family.
Happy New Year!
Time to get used to writing 2008 on your checks and other items. It should take me a few months to make the adjustment. Then I’ll do silly things like writing “2006″ instead. It’s inevitable.
It was very nice to end the year with the celebration of Eric and Cathy’s 25th Anniversary. So many people are cynical about these milestones and celebrate them without truly valuing the relationship they honor. When we celebrated with Eric and Cathy, we knew we were acknowledging a couple who truly celebrate each other and their children. It was a warm and honest event. Eric and Cathy can truly be proud of the legacy they’ve created in their family.
We rang in the new year with fried foods, hors d’oeuvres for dinner and warm chocolate cake that was, shall we say, just a touch more molten than it should have been. (Hey, the recipe said 6-7 minutes. Should have been more like 9-10) Still, one should always usher out the old year and welcome the new with hot chocolatey goodness.
We contemplated 2007, and here are some personal and collective highlights: returning from Israel, Brian’s Bar Mitzvah, Brian’s trip to China and the chance for us to spend some time with Max alone, Camp Harlam, Bret’s new job, Amy’s new vision, and the opportunity to watch Brian and Max continue to evolve into the terrific individuals that they are. There were some difficult moments along the way, but all in all it was a very good year.
Catching Up Photo
Here is Max’s big break at the May 2007 test. He went from low blue to high blue with this running side snap kick.
