'Bring Our Mumbai Martyrs Home'

Foreign Ministry officials say the bodies of Rabbi Gavriel and Rebetzen Rivka Holtzberg are not being delayed at this point by anything other than typical flight scheduling problems. "A plane already left Mumbai today," said spokesman Yossi Levi. "We are not sure it will be possible to arrange for another one later in the day. We are trying, but we will see."

The families of the Holtzbergs had requested that Indian and Israeli authorities expedite the return of their loved ones' bodies so they may be buried promptly in accordance with Jewish law.

Both were savagely murdered last week by Islamist terrorists along with six other Jews in the Chabad House they ran in Mumbai, India.

The attack, part of a multi-site massacre that targeted 10 different sites in the city, left at least 174 dead and more than 300 wounded, including at least eight Jews, six of whom were Israelis. Four Israelis still remain unaccounted for, according to Foreign Ministry spokesman Yossi Levi.

Rabbi Yitzchak David Grossman, Rivka's uncle, spoke with Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, asking her to take action to ensure a speedy return of his niece's body and that of her husband, as well as those of the others who were murdered. "Our family requests that you do not wait," he said. "The plane should return with the bodies of the martyrs immediately."

Rivka's parents, Rabbi Shimon and Rebetzin Yehudit Rosenberg, are both currently in India with their small grandson, Moshe Tzvi, who was rescued from the pogrom by his nanny, Sandra Samuel.

"We Jews believe that it is forbidden to delay a funeral," the Rosenbergs explained to media in India. "We ask that they be brought to burial in Israel immediately.

Amidst the Preparations, Moshe Tzvi Needs His Nanny

While preparations and travel plans are being debated and made, two-year-old Moshe Tzvi wants only his nanny.

The toddler responds only to the Indian babysitter in whose arms he escaped the shattering bloodbath and bullets that transformed his world last week. "In the evening his mother always puts him to sleep and now he doesn't understand what's going on," explained Samuel to reporters. "It was terrible, there were explosions everywhere, gunfire… they tried to shoot me."

Traumatized and bereft of his mother and father, Moshe is unwilling to be separated from the only person left with whom he has a connection to his former life.

His grandparents and the rest of his family agree, as does the Chassidic movement his parents represented in Mumbai when their Nariman Chabad House was attacked by Islamist terrorists.

Chabad-Lubavitch spokesman Rabbi Menachem Brod said in a statement that the grandparents on both sides feel that Moshe Tzvi's nanny should be allowed to accompany him back to Israel. "But there is paperwork to arrange," he pointed out. "We ask the government to work towards bringing her here."

The Foreign Ministry told Israel National News that it was preparing its response to the question of whether the nanny would be allowed to come to Israel and would have an answer shortly.