Team Shaviv found a good one in their morning mail. If you're too lazy to click to bloghead, here's the sweet summary:
1 - Joe Jew is facing charges for "tax evasion.”
2 - Joe Jew gives lots of money to a Benai Brak Charity.
3 - The Rabbi, the Charity employs for this purpose, prays. And hums. And prays some more.
Hallelujah!
4 - Charges against Joe Jew are dropped.
If this actually happened (which I doubt) why didn't the Charity return the money with a polite, handwritten note, reading, "Thanks, but we do not accept blood money."
If this actually happened (which I doubt) why isn't this Rabbi praying and humming full time on behalf of the starving and the homeless and the bloggers who don't get sufficient notice from their peers? Does it take money for the magic to work? If he is a tazdick, why does he deny miricles to people too poor to pay? Does it seem likely that the God you and I both know would give a fantastic gift to some petty businessman who gleefully puts it at the service of the highest bidder?
Unfortunately, the world is overflowing with stupid, gullible Jews who run, with money in hand, to anyone with a beard who can promise a miracle. It's disgusting, but it happens everyday.
I, myself, have heard about so-called Rabbis, with so-called powers, who take large sums of money for tricks any half-trained Gypsy fortune-teller could perform. Unfortunately, criticizing these crooks is hard to do. Their supporters, immature-men who have been raised on Rebbee stories, believe such wonders are possible, and call you “skeptic” or “disbeliever” or “apikorus” when you point out that thieves with crystal balls have been pulling similar scams for hundreds of years.
So as a public service, let’s put a fine point on it: A rabbi who offers you a miracle in exchange for cash is a crook and a liar, no matter how big his beard is.
6 comments:
You say..
"Thanks, but we do not accept blood money."
Why are you assuming gilt AFTER THE CHARGES WERE DROPPED.
I herd of “guilty until innocent” but not “guilty after innocent”. They don’t just drop charges for no reason.
You say..
If this actually happened (which I doubt)
Why do you doubt it? Even a broken clock tells the correct time twice a day.
Out of the thousands of cases that are dropped each year why is it impossible that one of them belonged to one of the stupid people that paid for a Rabbi’s blessing. After all, the world is overflowing with them so statistically there is a good chance of it happening.
You Say..
Why isn't this Rabbi praying and humming full time on behalf of the starving and the homeless.
Why don’t you ask this question to Moses or Joshua who made the sun stand still?
Once again you are ambiguous.
Do you conceptually deny the ability of a Tzadick to perform miracles or is your beef only with fakes who charge.
My take when I hear a miracle.
Did it happen? I don’t know. Can it happen YES
The charity should have returned the money, pending a decision from the court. This would have been the scrupulous course of action.
I doubt that the charges were dropped as a result of the Rabbi's humming and praying. The clock may have been right, on that day, but not because of anything the praying fraud did.
Also, I do "conceptually deny the ability of a Tzadick to perform miracles." It's is not possible in our day.
If you have evidence to the contrary please supply it.
DovBer
Since you agree that long ago it WAS possible for a Tzadik to perform miracles, the bourdon of proof is on you. What is your proof that things have changed?
Darling, I try to be an empiricist. As a result, I only believe what Jewish law requires me to beleive.
I am required by Jewish law to believe that the Torah is true. Fine. The torah tells me that God performed miricles for certain people. Fine. The Torah tells me that certain people (Eliyahu, for example) could perform miricles themselves. Also fine. Tzoriach iyun, but fine.
However, the Torah says nothing about Rabbis performing miracles in our day, so I am not required to believe it is possible. And I don't.
If you think it is possible, supply the proof. If you think I am required by Jewish law to beleive it is possible, supply the proof.
Otherwise, you lose.
Empiricist. ? You can’t men that literally because that negates religion. But I get your drift.
On the topic of proof.
In order to prove my point I must first know what sources you would consider proof (You obviously don’t mean scientific proof). I seem from your post that you do consider “Tanach” as proof (with a Tzorich Iyun). Would you consider the Talmud proof? Rishonim?
Also,
The torah says nothing about keeping Kosher in our days. It just never said the law stopped.
I have two additional questions
1. Why do you ignore all the Miracles mentioned in the Talmud? (Eliyahu is way way back)
2. When someone tells you a personal story about a miracle that happed to them, I understand that there is no OBLIGATION to believe them, but why don’t you believe them? Why are you sure they cant happed?
:: I seem from your post that you do consider “Tanach” as proof (with a Tzorich Iyun). Would you consider the Talmud proof? Rishonim? ::
You can't prove this from the Talmud or the Rishonim. You're welcome to try, but I assure you it can't be done. Smarter people than you have tried, and, in the end, conceded to my counter points. So proceed at you own risk.
::1. Why do you ignore all the Miracles mentioned in the Talmud? (Eliyahu is way way back)::
Because I am not required by Jewish law to take aggadot literaly. See Shmuel Hanagid, M'voh l'Talmud, and much more.
::When someone tells you a personal story about a miracle that happed to them, I understand that there is no OBLIGATION to believe them, but why don’t you believe them? Why are you sure they cant happed?::
They may be telling the truth, or their version of the truth. But their testimony is no proof of a miracle. Anyone leaving a magic show could also testifty to strange events. That isn't proof a miracle occured. And neither is a personal story. People who visit Gypsies also think they've seen miracles, but people - Jews and non-Jews alike - are easily fooled.
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