HaRav Tzvi Kogan, who is thought to have been abducted and possibly murdered by Iranian agents, is married to the niece of Harav Gavriel Holtzberg, H’YD, the Chabad shliach who was murdered by terrorists in Mumbai on November 26, 2008.

Hebrew Mishpachah editor Yossi Elituv wrote on Motzei Shabbos that “Rav Tzvi Kogan, who is responsible for all purchases for the Jewish kehillos in the country on behalf of Chabad is married to the niece of HaRav Gavriel Holtzberg, H’YD, the Chabad envoy in India who was murdered 16 years ago in Cheshvan, just before the international gathering of Chabad shluchim.” [The 2024 gathering begins this Wednesday.]

“His older brother, Rav Reuven Kogan, is the brother-in-law of Rav Levi Duchman, the chief shaliach in Dubai. HaRav Reuven manages all the organizational and administrative aspects of the Jewish kehillos and is considered a central figure in the community alongside Rav Duchman.”

“The two Kogan brothers grew up in Jerusalem in a Litvak family, became close to Chabad, and have turned into key figures in the Jewish kehilla in the UAE.”

According to witnesses, minutes after Shabbos began, security and police personnel arrived at the home of Rav Tzvi’s parents, who live in the Ramat Shlomo neighborhood of Jerusalem.

(YWN’s Jerusalem desk is keeping you updated after tzeis ha’Shabbos in Israel)