MUNSTER | Rabbi Eliezer Zalmanov's plan was to light up the darkness he said exists in today's world.

Zalmanov, head of the Chabad House of Northwest Indiana, led a memorial service Tuesday night for Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg and his wife, Rivkah, who were killed in the terrorist attacks in Mumbai last week. The couple's 2-year-old son Moshe survived the attacks.

At least 75 people attended the event at the Bernard and Estelle Marcus Jewish Federation Community Building. Chabad-Lubavitch is a branch of Hasidic Judaism.

Near the end of the service, Zalmanov asked attendees to circle the room and gave them candles to hold. One candle was lit and then it was passed around the room to signify the strength and unity of the Jewish faith. Prayers were read in Hebrew and English and a video chronology of the Holtzbergs' lives was shown.

"With so much evil and darkness one reaction is to run away from it all," Zalmanov said. "The other is to shower it with goodness and kindness."

Zalmanov said he grew up in the same neighborhood in Brooklyn as Holtzberg and they went to the same rabbinical school. He said it's difficult to lose a friend, but before he can turn the feelings into something positive, he has to work through other emotions.

"At first it's shock, then frustration, sometimes you even feel lost," Zalmanov said before the event.

Oded Fromovitz, 23, understands the type of work that the Holtzbergs did because he is working for the local Chabad house also doing outreach programs. Fromovitz, who was born in Israel, said even though the Holtzbergs lost their lives doing outreach, there still is a need for fellowship and to teach Jewish and non-Jewish people.

"On one side, it's kind of scary," Fromovitz said. "It's hard to imagine these types of things can happen, but it's not going to stop us because it's an important thing to do. It's a way of living."

The Holtzberg couple, both of whom were born in Israel, moved to India in 2003 and opened a Chabad house to serve as a meeting place for Jewish people in the community and visitors, and to serve as a base for a ministry.

At the event, Zalmanov said the Chabad House of Northwest Indiana was creating a memorial fund to support Moshe Holtzberg and to rebuild the Chabad house damaged in Mumbai in the attacks.