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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Saturday, November 29, 2008

No Isle residents injured, but rabbi had Hawaii ties

Advertiser Staff and News Services

Sheila Watumull, whose family members have served as the state's honorary consul general for India for years, said she wasn't aware of any Hawai'i residents who were killed or injured during the attacks in Mumbai.

Manoa resident Shaaroni Wong yesterday remembered the rabbi and his wife who were killed in the siege of a Jewish outreach center in Mumbai as warm, welcoming people. Wong often visited with New York Rabbi Gavriel Noach Holtzberg and his wife, Rivkah, from 2005 to 2006, when Wong was studying in India.

Yesterday, Wong expressed shock at the deaths of the couple, and of the violence in Mumbai.

"My heart breaks for everyone who lost family and friends in the attacks and for the loss of so many lives, good lives like those of my friends," Wong said, in a news release issued by Temple Emanu-El.

The State Department has set up a call center for Americans concerned about family members who may be in Mumbai. The number is 888-407-4747.