‘Zvi was innocent’ – Rabbi murdered in Abu Dhabi buried in Israel

Zvi Kogan, 28, was murdered last week by Islamic terrorists in the UAE; his uncle was murdered in the 2008 Mumbai Chabad House terror attacks.

By World Israel News Staff

A Chabad rabbi who was murdered in an antisemitic terror attack in the United Arab Emirates last week was buried in Jerusalem on Monday evening.

Tzvi Kogan, 28, was a Chabad emissary in Abu Dhabi and ran Rimon Market, a kosher grocery store and deli in the Emirati city.

Kogan was originally reported missing last Wednesday, and his body was discovered several days later.

Three Uzbek nationals, who had fled to Turkey following the killing, were repatriated to the UAE and are expected to stand trial for Kogan’s murder.

The funeral began in Kfar Chabad, a town established by members of Kogan’s Jewish stream, with hundreds gathered in the streets amid pouring rain to mourn the rabbi.

The procession eventually traveled to Jerusalem, where Kogan was buried on the Mount of Olives.

“How can you already be gone?” Kogan’s father, Alexander, said at the funeral.

“Zvi was innocent, and that’s how he arrives in heaven,” he added.

“When a part of your body is cut off, it hurts. We had part of our souls cut off. It’s painful. We are small people and do not understand God’s ways,” the victim’s father continued.

“We must fill in that which is missing. We must be like Zvi. Look for what others need. Maybe this is what God wants from us now.”

“Dear Zvi, let us wake up and tell us this is a bad dream. You never hurt a fly. You only helped, aided and brought joy,” said Rabbi Shneur Ashkenazi of Chabad Rishon LeTzion.

“You fell like a soldier at his post. When they wanted to hurt the Jewish people, they knew whom to attack. They attacked our soul, which you exemplified with your generosity.”

Kogan is not the first person in his family to be murdered by Islamic terrorists.

In 2008, Kogan’s uncle Gavriel Holtzberg was murdered in the Mumbai Chabad House terror attacks.

Kogan wore his uncle’s suit at his own wedding, just two years ago.

He is survived by his wife, Rivky, parents, and siblings.