Capitol Hill Prayer Partners "Daily Brief": CHPP Daily Brief "Praying for All in Authority" Thursday, September 28, 2017

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Capitol Hill Prayer Partners
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The Daily Brief
"Praying for All in Authority"
Thursday, September 28, 2017

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Focus on Israel

1. Netanyahu says he convinced White House that 'settlement blocs' don't exist (Times of Israel)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he convinced Donald Trump to drop distinction between isolated outposts and settlement blocs in the West Bank.

Speaking to leaders of the pro-settlement Yesha council, Netanyahu says that "we assume the Americans plan to lay down a political plan soon. I managed to convince the government there was no such term 'settlement blocs,'" he says according to the Walla news site.

Netanyahu makes the remarks during a closed-door meeting with Yesha leaders who called on the prime minister to lift an Obama-era "freeze" on new construction in the West Bank.

Trump, too, had asked Netanyahu to "hold back" on settlement building.
(Read more)

2. Netanyahu vows that Israel will never evacuate settlements again - Jerusalem Online

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed on Wednesday that no West Bank settlement will ever be evacuated again. He made this announcement during a controversial ceremony in Gush Etzion marking 50 years of settlements.

"The settlements are as important to me as they are to you," Netanyahu told the crowd, "which is why I'm saying this clearly - there will never be an evacuation of settlements again in the Land of Israel."
(Read more)

3. In blow to Israel, Interpol admits Palestine as full member - Times of Israel

In a stinging diplomatic defeat for Israel, the world's largest international police organization on Wednesday accepted the "State of Palestine" as a full member. At Interpol's annual General Assembly in Beijing, the Palestinians' membership bid was accepted with 75 counties voting yes, 24 voting no, and 34 abstaining.
(Read more)

4. UN warns companies doing business in Judea and Samaria - Israel National News

The UN's Human Rights Commissioner has begun sending letters to 150 companies in Israel and around the world, warning them that they are about to be added to a database of companies doing business in Israeli communities in Judea, Samaria and eastern Jerusalem, senior Israeli officials and Western diplomats involved in the matter told Haaretz on Wednesday.

The letter-sending process began two weeks ago, the officials told the newspaper.

The Israeli official, who requested to remain anonymous due to the sensitivity of the issue, noted that the letters, sent by Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, said these firms were doing business in the "occupied Palestinian territories" and could thus find themselves on the UN blacklist for companies acting in violation of "internal law and UN decisions."
(Read more)

5. Turkey threatens to sever ties with Israel over support for Kurdish independence - World Israel News

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan indicated Tuesday he would mull severing ties with Israel if the Jewish state does not withdraw its support for an independent Kurdish state.

"If Israel does not reconsider its support for Kurdish independence, Turkey could not take any steps [with Israel]," Erdogan said, the Turkish news outlet Daily Sabah reported.
(Read more)

The Daily Brief

1. Trump Goes Straight to the People on Tax Reform: Call Your Congressmen and Demand It - TownHall

Speaking from the Indiana State Fairgrounds Wednesday afternoon, President Trump officially rolled out his plan to overhaul the American tax system and urged voters to call their congressmen in support.

"Today I am asking all Americans, Republican, Democrat, Independent, to join with me and with each other to demand tax reform that will truly, truly, truly, make American great again," Trump said. "Call your congressmen, call your senators, let them know you are watching. Let them know you're waiting. Tell them that today is the day for decision. That now is the time to heal this self-inflicted economic room and that with their action, the future would belong to all of us."

"If you demand it, the politicians will listen. They will answer and they will act," he continued. "Tax reform has not historically been a partisan issue and it doesn't have to be a partisan issue today."

President Trump also went after Indiana's Democrat Senator Joe Donnelly, who was invited to attend the speech along with North Dakota Democrat Senator Heidi Heitkamp. Donnelly rode from Washington D.C. to Indiana on Air Force One Wednesday with the President ahead of the announcement.

"If Joe Donnelly doesn't approve it [tax reform] we will come here -- we will campaign against him like you wouldn't believe," Trump said.

During his remarks, the President reiterated details about the plan released by the White House Tuesday morning. Just before the President took the stage, the White House released the full tax reform plan. (Read more)
- Father, we pray this political momentum will get tax reform accomplished for the American people.

- Now finish the work, so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched by your completion of it, according to your means. (2 Corinthians 8:11)

2. Taliban Tries To Kill Mattis During Surprise Afghanistan Visit - Daily Caller

The Taliban claimed responsibility for an attack on Kabul International Airport Wednesday morning targeting Defense Secretary Jim Mattis who was making an unscheduled visit to Afghanistan.

Mattis had left the airport by the time the attack started, NBC News reports, and no casualties have been reported.

The airport said two missiles were fired toward the airport at around 11:00 a.m. local time, and the U.S. embassy warns that the attack may still be ongoing.

"At 11.36 am two missiles were fired on Kabul International Airport from Deh Sabz district, damaging the air force hangers and destroying one helicopter and damaging three other helicopters, but there were no casualties," airport chief Yaqub Rassouli said according to USA Today. (Read more)
- Father, we pray Secretary Mattis and all our military personnel will be protected as they accomplish their missions overseas.

- O Lord, rescue me from evil people. Protect me from those who are violent.
(Psalm 140:1)

3. Trump cuts Obama's refugee target in half, takes more Christians than Muslims - Washington Times

President Trump, in just eight months in office, has succeeded in upending U.S. refugee policy, cutting by more than half the 110,000-refugee target that the Obama administration had bequeathed him and dramatically shifting the demographics of who is accepted.

Gone is President Obama's overwhelming focus on Muslims, and particularly on Syrians fleeing a civil war that his administration facilitated. Under Mr. Trump, the rate of Syrian refugees has been cut by more than 80 percent, and Christians have overtaken Muslims in total refugees resettled.

"It's impossible to escape the clear message that there's a new sheriff in town," said Matthew O'Brien, research director at the Federation for American Immigration Reform, which advocates for stricter refugee controls.

The Trump changes have reverberated around the globe, with the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees drastically cutting the number of refugee candidates it submits to the U.S.

After recommending nearly 35,000 refugee candidates last year, the UNHCR submitted just 3,591 applications from January to July.(Read more)
- Thank-You, Jesus! We pray our policies will continue to admit vulnerable Christians while screening out those who would do our nation harm.

- He strengthens the bars of your gates and blesses your people within you.
(Psalm 147:13)

4. Lawmakers Set Sights on Obama Unmasking Scandal - Washington Free Beacon

Senior congressional leaders are renewing their focus on an investigation into efforts by the Obama administration to obtain highly classified intelligence information on Trump administration allies in what many allege was an effort to undermine the president and his national security team, according to conversations with multiple senior U.S officials familiar with the situation.

The recent admission by Obama administration National Security Adviser Susan Rice that she requested the unmasking of Trump associates named in highly classified intelligence community reports has placed renewed attention on an investigation into why this information was obtained and then leaked to the press.

In addition to Rice, former United Nations Ambassador Samantha Power and other senior Obama officials made hundreds of similar unmasking requests in what many allege was a campaign to handicap the incoming Trump administration's national security agenda, according to multiple sources familiar with the ongoing investigation into the matter. (Read more)
- Father, we pray Obama administration officials who violated the privacy of American citizens, particularly of their political opponents, will be fully exposed and prosecuted.

- How terrible it will be for those who try to hide things from the Lord and who do their work in darkness. They think no one will see them or know what they do.
(Isaiah 29:15)

5. Sessions: 'Freedom of Thought and Speech' Are Under Attack on U.S.College Campuses - CNS News

In a speech delivered at Georgetown University, Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Tuesday warned that free speech is under attack on U.S. college campuses, citing recent examples where school administrators banned speech deemed offensive, set up "cramped" free speech zones, disinvited speakers and even offered counseling ahead of planned speeches.

Sessions pointed to a survey by the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education that found that 40 percent of U.S. college speech codes "substantially infringe" on protected speech.

"In 2017, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education surveyed 450 colleges and universities across the country and found that 40 percent maintain speech codes that substantially infringe on constitutionally protected speech. Of the public colleges surveyed, which are bound by the First Amendment, fully one-third had written policies banning disfavored speech," he said. (Read more)
- Father, we pray for our universities and the young people who are taught without the light of Your Truth. We pray our youth will turn from the darkness to Your marvelous light.

- But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. (1 Peter 2:9)

6. Sessions: NFL Should Require Players to Stand for Anthem - Fox News

Attorney General Jeff Sessions said the National Football League should crack down on players kneeling in protest during the national anthem. Asked whether he thought the NFL should require players to stand at attention, Sessions was firm.

"I do," Sessions responded. "I think it should be a formal rule of the league. They should be able to say to the players, 'If you're on our field, in our game, paid by us, you should respect the flag and the national anthem,'" Sessions told "Fox & Friends" on Wednesday.

Players across the country and some entire teams refused to stand for the anthem over the weekend, many pushing back on President Trump's heavy criticism at a Friday rally in Alabama.

"Wouldn't you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, 'Get that son of a ***** off the field right now, he's fired,'" Trump said.

Sessions said Trump was "exactly right" to speak out against the disrespect towards the anthem. (Read more)
- Father, as this situation continues to escalate, we pray You would bring peace and civility to the conversation. We pray for leadership to emerge within the NFL to resolve this issue, showing respect for everyone.

- Show respect for all people: Love the brothers and sisters of God's family, respect God, honor the king. (1 Peter 2:17)

7. US spy chief urges Congress to renew surveillance authority - McClatchy DC

Intelligence Director Dan Coats Monday urged Congress to tread carefully as it considers imposing limitations on surveillance authorities enjoyed by the nation's spy agencies for nearly a decade.

"This is clearly a major issue for the intelligence community," Coats told a group of journalists at his office complex in suburban Virginia. "It's one of our top priorities."

The administration of President Donald Trump has called on Congress to renew and make permanent some powers under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which expire at the end of this year. Those powers permit collection of electronic communications of foreigners who are deemed potential threats to U.S. national security, a list of targets that this year topped 106,000.

A scattering of legislators from both parties have called for limitations on surveillance power, voicing concerns from libertarian and civil liberties perspectives that U.S. citizens are getting swept up in the data collection. (Read more)
- Father, we pray, as a condition of renewal, Congress will provide additional protections for citizens and place Constitutional limits on the information gathered by our intelligence agencies.

- We talked about this problem because some false believers had come into our group secretly. They came in like spies to overturn the freedom we have in Christ Jesus. They wanted to make us slaves. (Galatians 2:4)

8. GOP Controls Labor Board - Washington Free Beacon

Republicans hold majority on the nation's top federal labor arbiter for the first time since 2007 after the Senate confirmed Trump nominee William Emanuel on Monday.

The Senate voted 49-47 to confirm Emanuel, a management-side labor attorney at Littler Mendelson and member at the conservative Federalist Society, to fill the final vacancy at the National Labor Relations Board, which oversees workplace disputes and union elections.

Emanuel's appointment marks the first time Republicans have controlled the five-member board since 2007 and follows the confirmation of chief counsel of the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission Marvin Kaplan in August. The 3-2 GOP majority comes as the agency considers challenges to several controversial decisions made under the Obama administration.

Emanuel won praise from conservative think tanks, as well as business groups, which frequently criticized the NLRB for disregarding precedent to advance the interests of organized labor.

Trey Kovacs, a labor policy expert at the pro-free-market Competitive Enterprise Institute, said that a Republican majority could undo the NLRB's approach to micro-unions, holding parent companies and contractors liable for labor practices of franchisees and subcontractors, as well as union election practices.

"It's essential that the NLRB start to undo the harm caused during the Obama administration, when the board put out numerous job-killing decisions and rules that weaken worker choice," Kovacs said in a statement. (Read more)
- Father God, we thank You for filling this position with William Emanuel and pray Your blessing upon him as he shifts the NLRB to pursue policies that enhance job growth and improve business.

- The righteous man walks in his integrity; His children are blessed after him. (Proverbs 20:7)

9. Critics: State Department Delaying Aid Congress Provided to Yazidis, Christians in Iraq - Washington Free Beacon

Human rights activists and Catholic groups are questioning why the State Department still appears reluctant to direct money Congress appropriated to assist Christians, Yazidis, and other persecuted religious minorities in Iraq but this week quickly dispatched $32 million to help a majority Muslim group fleeing violence in Burma.

The State Department on Thursday announced it would provide a humanitarian aid package worth nearly $32 million to the Rohingya, a persecuted minority group in Burma, most of whom are Muslim. More than 400,000 Rohingya have fled Burma, a majority Buddhist nation, for Bangladesh over the past month to escape wide-scale violence that the United Nations' top human rights official has labeled ethnic cleansing.

The aid package came the day after Secretary of State Rex Tillerson spoke with Aung San Suu Kyi, the de facto leader of Burma, and urged the Burmese government and military to "address deeply troubling allegations of human rights abuses and violations." (Read more)
- Father, we pray these actions will expose those in the State Department who are malevolently withholding funds from the people who need it most.

- God will judge those on the outside; but as the Scriptures say, "You must remove the evil person from among you." (1 Corinthians 5:13)

10. Kurds Threatened With Starvation For Independence Vote - Daily Caller

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened to seal his border with Iraqi Kurdistan Tuesday after the regional government held an independence referendum.

Iraqi Kurds rely on an oil pipeline running through Turkey to reap profits and gets much of its food supplies from its neighbor, but have long sought an independent state. Kurds turned out in large numbers Monday in a likely vote to separate from the Iraqi government, threatening to vault much of the region into chaos.

Erdogan's threat comes as the country conducts military exercises along the Kurdish border in another signal of its disapproval with the decision to hold the referendum.

"This referendum decision, which has been taken without any consultation, is treachery," he blustered. Turkey has long battled a Kurdish insurgency within its own country and likely fears that the independence vote may spark increased tensions within its own country.

Turkey and Iran issued a joint statement before the referendum foreshadowing his Monday threat of "counter-measures" if the country took any move at independence too quickly. Iran also has a large Kurdish population. (Read more)
- Father, we pray for the Kurdish people and lift up their desire to have a homeland. They have been persecuted from all sides and need Your help, Lord. We pray Turkey, Iraq and Syria would not be able to cut them off.

- The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance. (Psalm 16:6)

The Daily Jot

The Daily Jot

America the divided

The ire of the American people is coming to a crescendo. The division in this country is perhaps worse than it was in the 1960s. Friends won't talk to friends. Threats are made. Misunderstandings are heightened. It's becoming everyday business to be a part of a visceral environment. The frustrations of everyone seem to be bubbling to the top. This is very serious. We are Americans. Most of us are Christian Americans. Yes, we have various gradients of what all that means, but the bottom line is that we are losing our ability to be civil to one another. We can blame it on a lot of things, excuse our feelings, but in reality, it is on each of us individually. We can control who we are, what we say, how we feel.

I have to ask the question: What circumstances would ever arise where a president of the United States can feel comfortable publically calling a segment of the American citizenry "Son of a b----es"? Think about that. We have an environment in this country where it appears OK to do that-and a lot of people support him in doing so. Quite frankly, and I may become very unpopular for this opinion, I just don't think elected officials of any political stripe should refer to Americans as SOBs. But this is all part of the lack of civility in our nation at this point in time. It's easy to say, "Well, these guys shouldn't be doing this...Or, those guys shouldn't be doing that," but should we be so uncivil to one another?
Many who are reading this column would be the first to scowl if I called a group of people, SOBs. There would be a lot of "unsubscribes" in the wake of it. To the point, President Donald Trump should begin acting "presidential" instead of like a bully in a school yard. Yes, he has the majority on his side about issues like taking a knee during the National Anthem, but does he have to resort to such a base level? What does this say to our country, to the rest of the world? I supported this man for President despite his being rough around the edges, but after nine months on the job, he should become at least a little more polished in how he behaves, AND in what he says and how he says it. We need statesman-like leadership not more division.

For Trump's presidency to be successful, he will have to unify a deeply divided, and quite frankly, angry, nation. Empathy, Statesmanship, and a sense of positive direction would go a long way in making America great again. Proverbs 15:1 says, "A soft answer turns away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger." Proverbs 15:18 says, "A wrathful man stirs up strife: but he that is slow to anger quiets strife." Our president would be well to heed these nuggets of wisdom because as in Matthew 12:25, "And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand." Let us pray that we can begin to stand in unity as a nation.

Have a Blessed and Powerful Day!
Bill Wilson
www.dailyjot.com

Please View This Video

Please View This Video:

"The Baby Savers"

"The Baby Savers" is a pro-life video that honors the work of the pro-life movement, while also featuring very revelatory information about the work and the true agenda of the founder of Planned Parenthood, Margaret Sanger.
Although the Graham-Cassidy Bill seems to have failed (when the Senate Majority Leader pulled the bill), our movement for LIFE continues, and you will soon see other strategies (legislation) coming out of Congress that will work towards curtailing abortion in our nation.
Please stay tuned . . .
In the meantime, please do view this brief video, produced by the "Baby Savers" now, by going here.
Thank you.

Honoring AGLOW

Honoring AGLOW:

As They Celebrate Their 50-Year, Jubilee Anniversary this Weekend!

Dear CHPP Family,

As we prepare to "stand down" from publishing The Daily Brief for the remainder of this week, Capitol Hill Prayer Partners wishes to pause to congratulate AGLOW International as they celebrate their 50th anniversary - a true "Jubilee" year!
This weekend, approximately 9,000 guests will gather at the Richmond Convention Center in Richmond, VA, to celebrate this wonderful anniversary together, and to honor AGLOW's founder, Jane Hansen Hoyt, for her faithful and unwavering service to AGLOW and to our nation over these past 50 years.

Over many of these years, CHPP has been privileged, too, to participate in a number of strategic prayer assignments with these wonderful prayer warriors.

So now we say . . .

CONGRATULATIONS, AGLOW!

Amen!

And honoring others, too!

And honoring others, too . . .

"For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ." (I Corinthians 12:12)

As we have paused to honor the work of AGLOW over all these past years, we wish to honor the work of three other ministries, all of which were born by the Hand of God in the same era, on or about 50 years ago.

These are:

Intercessors for America (Founded 1973)

End-Time Handmaidens and Servants

Lydia Fellowship (Now ASK International)

We thank our Lord for each one of you, too, and we have been richly blessed and strengthened as we have stood, in united prayer and action, with each ministry team during our own 23 years on Capital Hill.

GOD BLESS YOU ALL!

Sara C. Ballenger, Founder and President
Capitol Hill Prayer Partners

More Daily Features

Prayers for the Persecuted Church

"Remember the prisoners, as though in prison with them, and those who are ill-treated, since you yourselves also are in the body." (Hebrews 13:3)

Please visit the website for International Christian Concern to lift up prayers for the persecuted around the world, every day. Their link is: www.persecution.org -- or go here to connect. Thank you for interceding for our brothers and sisters who are suffering in Asia, the Islamic World, and the Far East.

Classic Hymns

A MIGHTY FORTRESS IS OUR GOD

"God is our Refuge and Strength, a very present Help in trouble." (Psalm 46:1)

Lyrics

A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing; Our helper He, amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing: For still our ancient foe doth seek to work us woe; His craft and power are great, and, armed with cruel hate, On earth is not his equal.

Did we in our own strength confide, our striving would be losing; Were not the right Man on our side, the Man of God's own choosing: Dost ask who that may be? Christ Jesus, it is He; Lord Sabaoth, His Name, from age to age the same, And He must win the battle.

And though this world, with devils filled, should threaten to undo us, We will not fear, for God hath willed His truth to triumph through us: The Prince of Darkness grim, we tremble not for him; His rage we can endure, for lo, his doom is sure, One little word shall fell him.

That word above all earthly powers, no thanks to them, abideth; The Spirit and the gifts are ours through Him Who with us sideth: Let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also; The body they may kill: God's truth abideth still, His kingdom is forever.

Melody

Listen to 3,000 men singing this great hymn.
Awesome!
Go here.

About the Author:

Words: Martin Luther, 1529

Melody: Frederic H. Hedge, 1853.

This song has been called "the greatest hymn of the greatest man of the greatest period of German history" and the "Battle Hymn of the Reformation."

This hymn was sung at the funeral of American president Dwight Eisenhower at the National Cathedral in Washington, DC, March 1969.

About the Hymn: In 1720 a remarkable revival began in a town in Moravia. Jesuits opposed it, and the meetings were prohibited. Those who still assembled were seized and imprisoned in stables and cellars. At David Nitschmann's house, where a hundred and fifty persons gathered, the police broke in and seized the books. Not dismayed, the congregation struck up the stanzas of Luther's hymn,

"And though this world, with devils filled,
Should threaten to undo us;
We will not fear, for God hath willed
His truth to triumph through us."

Twenty heads of families were for this sent to jail, including Nitschmann, who was treated with special severity. He finally escaped, fled to the Moravians at Herrnhut, became a bishop, and afterwards joined the Wesleys in 1735 in their expedition to Savannah, Georgia.

Signs and Wonders

As Prophesied, Massive Bird Die-Off Presages Volcanic Eruption in Bali

As the island of Bali waits for a catastrophic volcanic eruption expected at any moment, residents discovered a chilling scene straight from the Book of Prophets: thousands of birds died overnight, inexplicably, falling to the ground en masse. One rabbi warned that this message is a last minute hint of man's mission on earth, a mission that is mankind is clearly failing.

Bali has been on edge for almost a month as hundreds of tremors shake the volcanic Mount Agung, the most prominent feature on this Indonesian island in the Pacific. Seismologists have warned that a major eruption is imminent, leading officials to declare a state of emergency. More than 75,000 people have been evacuated from this island paradise. In a scene reminiscent of Mount Sinai, the archetypal fiery mountain, a 7-mile exclusion zone has been set up around the volcano, preventing people from approaching.

Mount Agung hasn't erupted for more than 50 years, but the last time it did, in 1963, almost 1,600 people were killed and hundreds more were injured.

In the midst of all the fear, another strange note of warning was heard. After a night of heavy rains, Amin Basri, a park gardener and Bali resident, was shocked to find thousands of dead sparrows covering the ground when he made his rounds through a park, usually full of singing birds, on Monday morning.

"Every night, the birds sleep in the tree. But strangely, the birds suddenly just died," Amin Basri told Tribun Bali.

What the gardener had witnessed was a scene straight from the Bible. The prophet Ezekiel relates the activity of animals, including birds, to seismic activity, precisely as it is currently taking place in Bali:

"The fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the beasts of the field, all creeping things that move on the ground, and every human being on earth shall quake before Me. Mountains shall be overthrown, cliffs shall topple, and every wall shall crumble to the ground." (Ezekiel 38:20)

(Source: Breaking Israel News)

Read more.

The Good News Corner

In Numbed and Dazed Puerto Rico, 'Beautiful' Rosh Hashanah Services
- Flooded synagogue serves as a shelter and place of worship

As Rabbi Mendel Zarchi was rushing to make last-minute preparations for Rosh Hashanah services in the badly flooded synagogue where he and his family had taken refuge, he was not sure what exactly had occurred in the world around him on that final day of the Jewish year 5777.

Zarchi, co-director of Chabad of Puerto Rico with his wife, Rachel, had no Internet or phone connection for more than 14 hours, so he had no way of knowing the full impact of Hurricane Maria, which struck the island with a force that hadn't been seen in a century.

When he finally was able to make a satellite phone call to a friend in Florida, he learned that the devastating storm had hit the U.S. territory with 155 mph winds. It knocked out electricity, cell phone and Internet service on the entire island; flooded roads, homes and buildings, especially in San Juan, which bore the brunt of the storm; and destroyed farms, buildings and entire towns. He could look outside the Chabad Jewish Center of Puerto Rico and see some of what that meant.

"The natural flow of water on Rosa Street, where Chabad is located, is towards the north in the direction of the ocean," Zarchi tells Chabad.org. "At 5:30 a.m., there was a raging river with waves about 3 feet high flowing in the opposite direction towards the south."

The synagogue was flooded with hundreds of gallons of water, he estimates. He stepped outside from his shelter and saw "blasted-out windows, toppled utility poles mangled with an overwhelming amount of downed trees, smashed cars . . . ripped-off roofs from nearby homes and major hotels, with massive commercial signs littering the roadways."

"We were met by devastating destruction; a numbness and a daze [could] be seen over the faces of the few that ventured out at that time," according to the rabbi.

Still, they decided to hold Rosh Hashanah services that night and were joined by a few neighbors. "We had a beautiful Yom Tov meal, and we all thanked G‑d for allowing us to enter into the new year after experiencing so much devastation," states Zarchi.

Early the next morning, he walked down his street and witnessed a devastated tourist area.

"Hampton Inn wrecked, InterContinental [San Juan] a disaster, the Ritz-Carlton Hotel was covered with trees and parts of its missing roof. I was told they would need to close for repairs for some time," he relates.

"The main street was flooded and impassable; amidst all this, one person stopped to look around and amazingly chose to do something about it," says Zarchi. "He bent down and started cleaning out the street drain, and the water started gushing into the drain, I was told he was still there an hour later working with the drain. What an inspiration-this person chose to take action and bring order to the chaos. Right there was fantastic sermon material."

"Our heartfelt wishes for a G'mar Chasima Tova, a year filled with complete health and happiness with blessings for abundance to all," says Zarchi. "With complete appreciation and admiration for the continued expressions of warmth and friendship by so many from every walk of Jewish life-humbling and inspiring." (Chabad.org)