Mission of his life: The emissary to Chabad India is back
Despite Losing Wife, Shliach Returns to India
Having recovered from his injuries, Rabbi Shmuel Scharf will reassume his old post as director of New Delhi's Chabad House, nine months after his family was hurt in a rocket attack
2 Elul 5773 (08.08.2013) Mati Tuchfeld - Israel Hayom
Only nine months ago, during Operation Pillar of Defense, Rabbi Shmuel Scharf's wife, Mira, was killed when a Hamas rocket struck their home in Kiryat Malachi. Now, about a month before the Jewish High Holy Days commence, Shmuel is going back to Chabad India with his kids, where he will once again serve as the Rabbi of New Delhi's Chabad India.
Scharf, who was injured along with his children during the rocket attack, is moving to India against the advice of psychologists, who believe it would be premature to resume his activities as a Chabad emissary. But Scharf, having largely recuperated from the attack, says he must pick up from where he and his wife left off.
Scharf says he plans to dedicate a memorial for his wife. "Beit Mira," as it would be known (literally The House of Mira), would also serve as "proof of the Jewish people's endurance," he stresses.
"The more we get hit, the more we spread the light," Scharf explains.
Scharf has just recently visited India to make the necessary preparations for his children's arrival. In the wake of the Scharfs' absence, the Chabad House has been run by another couple, Akiva and Mushka Sudri.
On his visit, Scharf met with Eyal Siso, a staffer at the Israeli Embassy in New Delhi, and found a plot for Beit Mira. "Our decision to resume our Chabad mission is not just about continuing our activities. We want to bolster them and expand them," Scharf told Israel Hayom on Wednesday, shortly after returning from India.
"The Lubavitcher Rebbe has dispatched us and has instructed us to spread the message of redemption all over the world, and that is why you need to learn how to set aside your personal loss and pain and plough through."
