SYDNEY, Australia (JTA) – A rabbi in Sydney is praying for a man who was hospitalized following a shark attack at Bondi Beach.
Glenn Orgias, 33, was surfing at the iconic beach Thursday evening when he was attacked by the marine predator.
He underwent 10 hours of surgery on his arm Friday and is in serious but stable condition, according to a hospital spokesperson.
Rabbi Jeffrey Kamins, of Emanuel Synagogue, said he would be saying prayers over Shabbat for Orgias, whose father-in-law, Alan Slade, is a former Jewish National Fund president.
One eye-witnesses said Orgias’ hand was “hanging by a small piece of skin” following the attack.
Another surfer told the Sydney Morning Herald: “He was in a fair bit of a mess. He said: ‘Tell Lisa, that I love her.’ Then he said, ‘She’s pregnant’. He thought his number was up, I guess.”
It is the first shark attack at Bondi Beach since 1951, but the second in Sydney within 48 hours.
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