Mumbai, India

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As you know, Thanksgiving this year is marred by the fact that the terrorist attack in Mumbai, bad enough in and of itself, includes hostages from Chabad. It is quite odd that of all the places they could attack, in a country with so many people, they happened to attack where Chabad is. There are only some 5,000 Jews in India and I would suspect that Chabad is one of the more identifiable Jewish places.

Rabbi Holtzberg and his wife are among the hostages. The nanny and their two-year old were able to escape. Reports are that the rabbi and his wife are unconscious but I am unsure how that information was obtained.

Regardless, please keep them and all the hostages in your prayers. Their Hebrew names are Gavriel Noach ben Frieda Bluma, Rivka bas Yehudis and Moshe Tzvi ben Rivkah. It is the custom to pray Psalms 20 in such circumstances.


Psalms 20

1. For the Conductor, a psalm by David. 2. May the Lord answer you on the day of distress; may the Name of the God of Jacob fortify you. 3. May He send your help from the Sanctuary, and support you from Zion. 4. May He remember all your offerings, and always accept favorably your sacrifices. 5. May He grant you your heart's desire, and fulfill your every counsel. 6. We will rejoice in your deliverance, and raise our banners in the name of our God; may the Lord fulfill all your wishes. 7. Now I know that the Lord has delivered His anointed one, answering him from His holy heavens with the mighty saving power of His right hand. 8. Some [rely] upon chariots and some upon horses, but we [rely upon and] invoke the Name of the Lord our God. 9. They bend and fall, but we rise and stand firm. 10. Lord, deliver us; may the King answer us on the day we call.
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