Early this morning I read in the most recent edition of Zman magazine the story of the siddur that accompanied the Navy SEALs team that killed Osama Bin Laden.

I have no idea if it is really true or not. I mean, why would they turn a religious book that they dont understand and simply found (rather than having been given it by a rabbi or a mystic) of a different religion into an amulet for good luck rather than something of their own religion, or getting an amulet that was blessed and granted?

But, ok. I guess it is possible. And that they would shlep this siddur around the world, even in a helicopter that they had to take out the seats in order to conserve fuel, sounds strange, but it is possible.

My real question is why did they have such a difficult time finding the owner. First of all the name "Sorotzkin"  is a fairly well known name in the frum world. It would not have been a big deal to go to any kollel or yeshiva and get some direction as to where to locate a Sorotzkin, and probably most Sorotzkins could at least point them in the right direction of the specific one that owned the siddur.

And to require the use of CIA resources and travel across the world to figure out who the owner was? Did they never hear of Google? I did a search for "Chaim Dov Sorotzkin" on Google and came up with the exact information within seconds. Did the CIA and the Navy SEALs really have such a difficult time finding otu who the owner was and where he lived? It seems they had an easier time locating Bin Laden himself than locating the owner of the siddur!

Did you read the story? Do you think it is true or not?