Initially the couple thought Kuresh was the baker and he had to clarify that his dad ran the bakery and his was the clinic. While the locals were slightly uncomfortable at having a Jewish family move into their midst, the surgeon says he was not very surprised to see them arrive.
"I knew the builder was desperate to sell the building and only NRIs would have that kind of money to put in." The locals eventually adjusted to having the family live nearby because they kept to themselves and did not disturb anyone.
While most of their interactions were confined to neighbourly banter, Dr Zorabi felt that they had a connection because they had Middle Eastern origins. "We are Iranis and there were a lot of Jewish people in Iran too."
As the Mumbai directors and emissaries of the Chabad-Lubavitch Centre, the Holtzbergs always had numerous guests -- "They always had a lot of communal gatherings and the Israeli consulate people would often drop in" -- backpackers, students and even young couples who were married by the rabbi. Rivka, who was as much a mainstay of the centre as her husband, often served kiddush -- cake, crackers and fish -- the ceremonial Sabbath meal to Jews visiting Mumbai at Nariman House.
Their social functions were quite well known in this area and Rivka regularly cooked for 20 to 60 people. Many neighbours, some of them at adjoining Prem Bhavan, and even ordinary folk in the market, have spoken about the elegant dinners they gave. Says Kuresh, "Candles would be lit, light music played. Bottles of champagne and wines were opened. A lot of meat was cooked. His wife looked after the kitchen herself always. On Fridays lots of candles would be lit and even chandeliers, those halogen kind of lights on the ground floor."
Image: A narrow lane adjoining Nariman House. Photograph: Vaihayasi Pande Daniel
Also read: 'Rabbi Holtzberg has suffered a lot of hardship'
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