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Ronen Dvash talks to Mishpacha Magazine in Jerusalem. Ronen became a Bal Teshuva after his imprisonment in Mumbai and miraculously escaped he contributes his amazing return to Hashem with the Help by Kedosihm Holtzbergs

Jerusalem - In India’s notorious Arthur Road prison, Ronen Dvash’s survival was dependent on becoming chummy with the terrorists who would eventually be involved in the Mumbai massacre. The only bright light during that dark period was his relationship with the Holtzbergs, who saved his life.

The Shabbos of the Mumbai massacre was the hardest one Ronen Dvash experienced since he escaped from Mumbai’s notorious Arthur Road Prison. Until the last minute he held out the hope that he would merit to see Rabbi Gavriel and Rivka Holtzberg come out alive from the Chabad House in Mumbai.

In July 2004, Ronen Dvash was arrested in the Mumbai airport after customs officials found five kilograms of drugs in his suitcase, which he says a friend had asked him to take.

He was tried and incarcerated in the Arthur Road Prison, one of the most horrible and crowded jails in the world. Miraculously he managed to escape and return to Israel.

On that fateful Wednesday evening when news began to filter in about the events in Mumbai, and before it was clear who was behind the horrific attacks, Dvash already knew. A year and half among the members of the Islamic mafia known as “Daoud Ibrahim,” including Iqbal Ibrahim Quasqar, brother of the notorious criminal Daoud Ibrahim, made it clear to him that there was no one else who could be behind the horrible carnage in India aside from Daoud Ibrahim.

Ibrahim is considered one of the most well-known terrorists in Pakistan. He is apparently connected to an entire network of organizations, including al-Qaeda. Ibrahim is a multimillionaire who operates out of several countries and has extensive connections in India, primarily in Mumbai.

The last major terrorist act that he is known to have been involved in was the previous attack on Mumbai in 1993, in which 257 people were killed. At that time, the Pakistanis provided Ibrahim and his men with dozens of kilograms of explosives, which they smuggled into Mumbai. The attack was Ibrahim’s revenge for the massacre of Muslims throughout India by nationalist Hindus, in which 2,000 people were killed.

The only terrorist left alive and captured after the string of attacks in Mumbai last week, Mohammed Ajmal Mohammed Amin Kassab, related under interrogation that Ibrahim had organized the members of his network from Karachi, Pakistan and smuggled them into India to perpetrate the attacks.

Ronen In his early days in India before becoming a Bal Teshuva

Ronen Dvash, whose own odyssey is described in his book Escape from India, written by Avigail Meizlick, told Mishpacha about his relationship with two of the victims, the people who illuminated the most dismal chapter in his life, Gavriel and Rivka Holtzberg, Hy”d.

Hell Was Better
Over 3,500 prisoners are housed in the Arthur Road prison, built in the 1920s to accommodate 800 inmates. The prisoners live in subhuman conditions of crowding, disease, infection, and hunger.
“There were no beds, tables, or chairs in the prison, only walls and the floor. The prison is divided into wings, each of which consists of one large room with 400 prisoners, all of whom sleep on the floor, lined up one next to the other, literally like “There were no beds, tables, or chairs in the prison, only walls and the floor. Each wing consists of one large room with 400 prisoners, all of whom sleep on the floor, lined up one next to the other, like sardines in a can” prisoner can only sleep on his side; he would take up too much space lying on his back. The floor is filthy and unsanitary because the entire huge room had only four holes that serve as bathrooms for 400 prisoners. The stench and filth were unbearable.”

Thanks to bribes that Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg paid to the prison managers, Dvash was transferred to the “VIP” ward of the prison, which belonged to the Muslim mafia. The prisoners there were considered more dangerous, and the rest of the inmates were afraid of them and therefore their conditions were somewhat better. Of the thousands of prisoners, Dvash became friendly with Iqbal Ibrahim Quasqar, Daoud’s brother, and Abdul Raman Gafour, the religious leader considered Daoud’s sidekick. Laws of survival in the prison made Dvash maintain good ties with the two. “They knew I was a Jew and an Israeli,” Dvash recalls. “They spoke fluent English. We would sit for hours and talk about religious subjects, stories from the Torah. They admired my expansive knowledge of the written works.

Ronana visting the grave site of the Holy Baal Shem

There was no talk of the enmity between the two nations. They primarily expressed hatred towards the Indians. Everyone was afraid of the members of the cell, but they treated me in a friendly manner.”

When Ronen Dvash heard about the attack on Chabad House, he thought about picking up the phone and calling his old prison friends; perhaps they could help save the Holtzbergs, who had helped him throughout his ordeal in the prison with kosher food, a good word, connection to Israel, and obtaining legal assistance. “I wanted to explain to them that these were religious people who had nothing to do with what goes on in India, but I had no way to track them down.”

Someone Was Watching His days in prison dragged on, and with time Ronen Dvash discovered that besides the Holtzbergs, who had taken care of all of his needs outside of the prison, there was also Someone inside worrying about him.

As a result of his torturous ordeal, Dvash, who had already begun the process of teshuvah several years earlier, rediscovered G-d. He spent his days learning Torah and saying Tehillim. On Friday, when the sun began setting over Arthur Road in India and the muezzin would herald the beginning of prayers for the Muslim inmates, Ronen Dvash would conduct his own personal Kabbalas Shabbos service. He and his friend Gidi, another Israeli incarcerated with him, would outshout the muezzin with their own Lecha Dodi. When the song finished the two would hug and wish each other a Good Shabbos. Gidi would then go smoke and Dvash would make Kiddush on his rolls. “My primary source of suffering was the lack of certainty regarding the legal proceedings and my longing for my wifeand baby daughter.

In the prison I met people who were waiting four, five, and even six years for a trial and the process was endless. “I knew the whole time that I would try and escape because I did not believe I could survive there more than a year. When I shared my sentiments with Rabbi Holtzberg, he requested that if I did flee, I should not make any contact with Chabad House, because it could jeopardize their activities.”

After a year and a half in prison Dvash contracted malaria. Ill and weak, he was taken to a medical clinic for treatment. He was asked to go to a bathroom to give a urine sample. According to the prison rules, Dvash left the door open a crack to enable his guards to maintain eye contact with him. But then, to his shock, he was asked to close the door completely. He realized once inside that this was his chance to escape. For seven minutes he fought his way through the metal bars and glass panes that fell and broke. Despite his weak state, he succeeded in climbing his way out. To this day he does not understand how the guards outside did not make a sound.

After wandering from one place to another and despite Rav Holtzberg’s warnings, Dvash made his way to Chabad House. Rivka was home alone at the time. Despite her fears, she calmly gave Dvash food and drink, provided him with money, and even gave him some of Gavriel’s clothes and a hat.

Dressed in these clothes, Dvash fled to freedom beyond India’s borders. He left behind the two people who saved his life until their own tragic deaths last week.

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