Weird fish story

[InfoisPower]

http://www.observer.co.uk/internatio...915125,00.html

An obscure Jewish sect in New York has been gripped in awe by what it believes to be a mystical visitation by a 20lb carp that was heard shouting in Hebrew, in what many Jews worldwide are hailing as a modern miracle.

[steph]

wow - not sure what to make of that....

[DaryLLL]

That's really werid.

Reminds me of this guy. Less apocalyptic tho. I had seen, heard and loved Hoover on several occasions before he passed away.

Hoover the talking seal


You could tell when Hoover was going to talk, because he would come to just under the surfaceof the water. Press his muzzle against the side of the tank and blow bubbles really hard. It would make a loud vibrating sound, which I thought was the Hoover idea. Then he would pop up and start shouting phrases. Everyone would laugh, and he would too, in a loud gruff way, just like an old man.

His tank was outside so you could go see him anytime without paying. It was sad when he passed away.

[merpk]

If I may just ... flesh this out a little ...

First, contrary to the news report : nobody but nobody in this tale believe that "G-d revealed Himself in fish form." Ummm ... not a Jewish concept, G-d does not reveal Himself and does not take on a form (no offense meant by that to any Christians out there ...)

Well, correction: He did reveal himself to Moses. That's about the whole of it.

Second, the idea of tzaddikim being reincarnated as fish is not new in Jewish mysticism. It is one of the specific reasons that a traditional Jewish food on Shabbos is fish ... whether gefilte or otherwise. Remembering that Jewish mysticism believes we keep being reincarnated until we "get it right," or fulfill all the mitzvot we can ... also, mystical teachings say that in the time of Noah, one reason the world was destroyed by flood was so the fish would survive, as they were they only other creatures on earth that remained ... well, good.

Personally, I've heard the story for weeks, but never heard about that Luis fellow. I guess that's why the story has gotten so huge ... it's not just one "crazy person" who heard it ... and not only a Jewish person, at that.

Fascinating to me that it's in the international press altogether ...

[BelovedBird]

Yes Amy : : "Word is made flesh as God reveals himself... as a fish" Made flesh? G-d reveals himself AS an animal? Definately *NOT* anything jewish....
It is so strange that they would tell the story but not bother to filter out the Christian lens....
The fish being a gilgul (reincarnation) of a person- absolutely possible...
I have heard the story and heard that it was reliable.

[dandelion]

You mean this isn't just a Purimshpiel?

[merpk]

That's a lot of people's reactions ... they hear that the gilgul's name was Moshe ... so swirl around on your tongue the probable pronunciation of the name "Moshe" in a Skver community ... sounds an awful lot like "Meesh" ... which sounds an awful lot like "meeshenikhnas Adar" ...

As to my own reaction ... in the spirit of Queen Esther ... I ain't tellin'.

[sunmountain]

They covered this story on NPR this morning...so it must be true!

[captain optimism]

oh come on...

if this doesn't turn out to be a Purim prank...

and a GREAT one, you must admit...

but still, I think I won't be buying any gefilte fish from New Square!

[Umm Zaid]

I don't know, I just *had* to do some searching on this story after I read about it, and it doesn't seem to be a Purim joke (unless they are holding themselves in from laughing *really* *really* hard). But it seems to be generating some confusion as to whether it is or not.

Anyway, for a non-Christian perspective of the talking fish, I did find this:

http://www.forward.com/issues/2003/03.03.14/news15.html (From the Forward)

http://hasidicnews.com/News/News25.htm (a Hasidic news site that doesn't update very often, but did have the story)

[BelovedBird]

I highly doubt that "hassidic news" is run by anyone chassidishe. It is a weeeird site. And it links to an equally weird one.

The fish story, to me, is no big deal, either its true, or its not. Doesn't make any difference either way, IMO.

-BelovedBird

[merpk]

T

BB ... that is a very weird site. And this is a thread with the word "weird" in the title.

No point, just feeling ... weird ...

[flminivanmama]

LOL Amy

[Tracy]

has anyone heard any update on this story?

I actually was thinking about it the other day....don't ask...

[merpk]

Actually heard about it the other day, in the context of wry retrospect ... and it was pointed out that one of the things supposedly said by the fish was that we should return our hearts to G-d, or repent, is another way to put it.

As was pointed out ... who cares if the actual talking fish part is true? Real or imagined, that fish spoke the emes (truth) ...


get back, get back ...
get back to where you once belonged ...