Responding to terror with hope: Honouring a fallen rabbi

TWO THURSDAYS ago, darkness tried to claim victory. Rabbi Zvi Kogan, a 28-year-old Chabad emissary who had dedicated his life to building Jewish community in the United Arab Emirates, was brutally kidnapped and murdered by terrorists in Dubai. But, like the verse shared above, in the Jewish tradition, darkness never has the final word.

The details are heartbreaking. On Thursday, November 21, word got out that Zvi went missing and his family couldn’t contact him. It was feared that Zvi had been kidnapped on his drive from Dubai to his home. For days, people around the world waited with bated breaths to hear if Zvi were found. However, on Sunday morning, his body was recovered. A young man with a young wife, killed simply for being Jewish. His wife Rivky, who comes from a family that has already experienced terrorist tragedy, is now a widow at 28.

I didn’t know Zvi personally, but I knew his spirit. He was a Chabad emissary much like myself, committed to spreading light in the most unexpected places. Imagine a Jewish businessman in Dubai, far from home. Or a young professional feeling isolated in a foreign land. Chabad emissaries like Zvi are there – offering a warm meal, a moment of spiritual guidance, a connection to tradition.

We establish kosher markets, community centres, and educational programmes. But our work transcends religious boundaries. We’re here to serve, to uplift, to create light wherever we are. In places where Judaism is sparse or challenging, we don’t just maintain Jewish life – we make it vibrant, accessible, and meaningful.

Dubai is not an easy posting. It’s a challenging environment where building Jewish life requires courage, creativity, and an unbreakable spirit of hope. Zvi embodied all of these qualities.

But this is not a story of defeat. This is a story of resilience.

My mentor and spiritual teacher, the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory, taught something profound about responding to terror. Having survived persecution in Soviet Russia and Nazi Germany – where his own brother and sister-in-law were murdered – the Rebbe never responded to tragedy with anger or despair. Instead, he taught us to transform darkness into light.

After the 1956 terrorist attack in Kfar Chabad, when terrorists massacred five students and their teacher in a vocational school, the Jewish community was devastated. They sought the Rebbe’s guidance. His response was simple yet revolutionary: “Rebuild”. Not retreat, not retaliate – rebuild.

This has been the Jewish approach throughout history. When pogroms destroyed our communities in Ukraine, we rebuilt. When the Holocaust decimated our people in Europe, we continued forward. When terrorists strike, we respond by creating more light, more connection, more Jewish life.

Rabbi Zvi understood this mission perfectly. In Dubai, he wasn’t just maintaining a Jewish presence – he was creating community. He established the first mikvah, or Jewish ritual bath, in the Emirates. He ran a kosher market, ensuring Jewish visitors and residents could eat kosher food. He hosted dozens for Shabbat meals, creating a home away from home for Jews from all backgrounds.

So, how do we respond to such senseless violence and honour Rabbi Zvi’s memory?

We increase our acts of kindness. We build more connections. We continue his mission. We refuse to let terror dictate our narrative. We stand proud and tall as Jews.

For some, it might mean learning more about Jewish traditions. For others, it could mean supporting Jewish community centres, increasing charitable giving, or simply reaching out to someone who might feel isolated.

On multiple occasions, the Rebbe was quoted as saying, “A little bit of light pushes away a lot of darkness”. Zvi lived by this principle and it’s our turn to carry his torch. This is especially poignant as we prepare to celebrate the holiday of Chanukah, which begins on the evening of December 25, 2024 and ends on Thursday, January 2, 2025. Chanukah commemorates the ancient miracle of the menorah – the seven-branched candelabra – in the holy Temple. A tiny amount of oil, enough to light the menorah for only a single day, burned brightly for eight full days, symbolising the power of light and hope to triumph over darkness and despair.

Chabad of Jamaica’s One Love, One Light music festival, on Sunday, December 29 at Chances Beach in Negril, will be a chance to celebrate this spiritual resilience.

To the terrorists who thought they could extinguish Jewish spirit: You have failed. For every act of hatred, we will respond with an act of love. For every moment of darkness, we will create light. Zvi Kogan’s life was cut short. But his spirit? His mission? Those continue through each of us. We will build. We will connect. We will shine.

May his memory be a blessing and a revolution of light and kindness.

Rabbi Raskin is Jamaica’s only rabbi and co-directs Chabad of Jamaica with his wife Chaya Mushka. Email info@jewishjamaica.com.