Brandeis unites in wake of terrorist attacks in Mumbai

One hundred members of the Brandeis University community gathered in silence yesterday in front of the Goldfarb Library to commemorate the victims of the recent terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India.

The wind whipped the faces of Americans, Indians, Jews and others who had come together to combat terror with love.

Then the silence was broken by prayer.

Students Avram Mlotek and Adam Ross, joined in singing "Lo Yisa Goy," a Hebrew a prayer for peace. Translated the prayer says: 'Nation shall not lift up sword against nation. They will not learn war anymore."

" Words," Brandeis Protestant Chaplain Alex Levering Kern said only moments before, were not enough to express the "gathering of hearts in solidarity" that took place yesterday afternoon.

Only one week before the terrorist attacks in Mumbai killed over 180 people and injured at least 300, Brandeis held Mela - the South Asian Student Association's annual celebration of South Asian culture. The week-long celebration, which included dance and musical performances, had celebrated the cultures of eight different countries, including those of India and Pakistan.

Now, 10 days later, the Brandeis community was once again united.

Brandeis senior Naman Pugalia, a Mumbai native, said he lost at least 10 close friends in the weekend's attacks.

Among those lost, Pugalia said, was a high school teacher who convinced him to attend Brandeis because of the school's focus on activism and social justice.

"I am still bleeding because this loss is, for me, on so many different levels," he said.

Pugalia said the attacks in Mumbai had not only affected him as an Indian, but also as a member of a university with a prominent Jewish community, which mourned the killing of the Mumbai Chabad director, Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg and his wife, Rivkah.

"Gavriel and Rivkah left behind a son, Moishe, who was saved by his Christian nanny, and cared for by his Muslim cook," Pugalia told the group. "That is the story of Mumbai. But it is also the story of Brandeis, a place that I came to because of its diversity and acceptance."

"Moishe," he continued, "is looking to us to build for him a better future."

Waltham Chabad director Peretz Chein agreed.

"We were attacked on Friday by the fundamentalists of hate and the extremists of darkness," he said. "We must respond back with the fundamentalism of love and the extremism of good."

Chein urged those gathered to "do one extreme act of goodness this week in memorial to all those who can never do an act of kindness again."

Pugalia and Brandeis freshman Sidak Pannu, who is also from southern Mumbai, have started to pay back terror with kindness and have started an on-campus organization "Revive Mumbai."

Working in tandem with student union president Jason Gray and Larry Sernberg, executive director of Hillel, Brandeis' Jewish student organization, Revive Mumbai hopes to raise funds to rebuild the Mumbai Chabad and create a scholarship in Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg's name.

While the plans are just in the beginning stages, Pannu said he hopes the group's efforts will inspire other Brandeis students.

"The best way to combat terrorism is to continue living lives in which we love more than we have ever loved before," he said. "I look forward to returning to my home in Mumbai over winter break and telling my friends about how the Brandeis community is united with us in our cause. The only thing we have going for us right now is each other."