(Nov. 28, 2008) -- "We will never allow terror to win," said Shul by the Shore Rabbi Abba Perelmuter shortly after learning that American-born Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg and his Israeli wife Rivka were killed at the terrorist-targeted Chabad (Jewish community) house in Mumbai (formerly Bombay), India.

Shul by the Shore Rabbi Abba Perelmuter (file photo)

"I hope the world will see this and condemn this for the heinous crime it was," Rabbi Perelmuter said. He said Chabad emissaries are stationed around the world providing help and comfort to Jewish communities, travelers and others...and the Mumbai house was "a home for people to come and stay and eat."

Congregation Lubavitch Assoc. Dir Rabbi Moishe Engel (file photo)

Rabbi Moishe Engel, Associate Dir. of LB's Congregation Lubavitch said, "I am brokenhearted for the family...I admire the Holtzbergs greatly [for their work.] Our attitude is not to run. Our attitude is to stand up..."

Mumbai's Chabad (Jewish community) house was one of multiple locations struck by terrorists, who attacked hotels, a restaurant, a hospital and a train station. Witnesses said some of the terrorists demanded to see passports to identify U.S. and UK citizens.

At least two other Americans are known to be dead: Alan Scherr and his daughter, Naomi, 13, of Virginia...who were in India as part of a meditation program. For Reuters.com coverage: click here.

At least 124 people are believed dead with an estimated 200+ people of various nationalities injured (current figures, expected to rise). The situation is still not fully under control over 48 hours after it began.

Many within LB's Lubavitch Jewish community either know or know others who know Rabbi Holtzberg's family, friends and/or acquaintances as part of the large Crown Heights, Brooklyn Lubavitch community...and the deaths were treated as that of familymembers.

The Holtzberg's child, Moshe [Moses], managed to escape alive through the actions of a nanny...and the Brooklyn Chabad-Lubavitch community quickly put Rabbi Holtzberg's parents aboard a plane to be reunited with their grandchild...who turns two years old tomorrow as an orphan.

Mumbai, a port city, is one of the world's largest cities...with a population estimated at roughly 13 million in the city itself and an estimated 19+ million in its metro area.

Mumbai was visited earlier this year by a trade delegation including Councilwoman Suja Lowenthal. In an April 2008 report to the City Council on the trade mission, Councilwoman Lowenthal said the preliminary outcome of the trade mission (organized in coordination with the L.A. Economic Development Corporation) included (among L.A. regional benefits) "a hotel attraction that could bring up to $100,000,000 in Indian investment to Long Beach and the region and add 500 to 600 jobs."

Councilwoman Suja Lowenthal was born in Madras, India in 1970 and she and her parents came to the U.S. when she was a child.