Baby Moshe, the ‘Miracle of Mumbai’ of 26/11, celebrated his third birthday on Thursday — where he cut a “huge cake”, shared goodies and received presents at a largely family gathering attended by 100-150 people.

A more public celebration was held a day earlier, an event which also commemorated the first death anniversary of Moshe’s parents Gavriel and Rivka Holtzberg according to the Jewish calendar. It was attended by over 2,000 people, many from the orthodox Chabad-Lubavitch movement the Holtzbergs belonged to.

The public event at Kfar Chabad, a village outside Tel Aviv, also saw Moshe get his first haircut as part of a Jewish tradition where locks of children are not trimmed until they are three. Among those who clipped the hair were Chabad rabbis from the movement’s headquarters in New York.

In Mumbai last November, his Indian nanny Sandra Samuel and Jackie, the Holtzbergs’ cook-cum-handyman, were planning a birthday party for Moshe but Rivka was not too enthused and was in favour of just a sit-down dinner. That was before 26/11.

The terror attack meant Moshe’s second birthday two days later went unnoticed.

“He is full of life now,” Sandra told The Indian Express over the phone. She had managed to flee Nariman House with Moshe the morning after the attack and has since been in Israel caring for him. “No one thought he would settle down so well here. He is quite happy and doesn’t seem to miss his parents. In fact, whenever he sees their pictures, he smiles. He is still a kid. Who knows how he will react when he grows up?”

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