Who gives a shiat? The guy is fabricating stories about rescuing fabricated stories.
I mean hey, it's not like he ripped off some ancient culture's pre-history story of a big-ass flood and make it part of the history of his own people who came much later to get people to worship him as a messenger of some invisible sky-wizard.

That's a shame and a disservice. I'm not going to try and push a stereotype here, but there is a common pattern I've notice among my Jewish friends and Jewish people in general. They sometime try very hard to do something they believe should be in their interest but completely miss the point of how badly it could backfire.

I'm not talking about things that could go wrong one in a million, I'm talking about things that are evidently bad ideas from the get go.

/Must be a cultural thing

//I'll give it a week or two before this guy is mentioned by A-nejad.

Leave me out of this.

Indiana Jones: Leave me out of this.

In your view, where do these artifacts belong?

Donald_McRonald: Indiana Jones: Leave me out of this.

In your view, where do these artifacts belong?

Well he can only sell them in Marrakesh.

Donald_McRonald: Indiana Jones: Leave me out of this.

In your view, where do these artifacts belong?

I saw where you were going, there, but he didn't follow through

Nazis. Very dangerous. You go first.

We all know

THAT BELONGS IN A MUSEUM!

Indiana Jones: We all know

THAT BELONGS IN A MUSEUM!

SO DO YOU!

/much better, thank you

I logged onto Fark for the first time in a long time today, and had happy 91st and 92nd birthday messages. But I chose wisely so...

Tatsuma: We've known about this for a while.

It's really sad.

"We"

Wow, Tats has upgraded himself to spokesperson for all Jews now.

Gee, you'd think the Jews would have been better shoppers.

/window seat, next to the emergency exit

oy! snakes it had to be!

Donald_McRonald: Indiana Jones: Leave me out of this.

In your view, where do these artifacts belong?

WITH TOP MEN

rcain: Who gives a shiat? The guy is fabricating stories about rescuing fabricated stories.

I think it's the "i'm selling you a piece of history for inflated prices" element that has people bothered.

I'm assuming you have no religious beliefs, yes? Would you possibly be interested in owning and artifact, though? A gold-leafed copy of the Q'ran from 16th Century Persia? Now after you'd paid thousands of dollars for that copy, would you be pissed off to find that it's actually a recently published edition done in a very convincing 16th century style? That it can be purchased (sans "aging" and other trickery) from any number of street vendors in Cairo?

I think "fraud" is the correct word for that.

Wait, religious people actually requiring proof and authenticity that something ACTUALLY happened?

Someone who believes all the stories of the Torah is a fool; someone who looks at any single story and says, "That one could not be true" is a heretic.

~Paraphrased

abb3w: "Was the earth created in seven days? No. For those of you who believe it was, for you Christians, let me tell you, then you do not understand the Jewish people. We Jews understand that it did not take place in seven days, and that's 'cause we know what we're good at, and what we're really good at is bull****in'. This is a wonderful story that was told to the people in the desert in order to distract them from the fact that they did not have air conditioning." - Lewis Black

I have no explanation for this rabbi's air conditioner.

his hair conditioner?

/French Canadian accent

Tatsuma: RocketRod: It's sadder that so many rabbis and scholars have been letting him get away with it for so long.

1) They didn't 'let him get away with this'
2) What could they do except what they did, issue warnings?

Well, they brought the Maryland Attorney General and prosecutors in on it to investigate alleged fraud. That's not nothing.

So is it OK for us goyim to deny this holocaust story?

Or should we believe it to just to be on the safe side?

DavidVincent: So is it OK for us goyim to deny this holocaust story?

Or should we believe it to just to be on the safe side?

Burn in hell. The only thing worse than a Nazi is an opportunist Nazi.

indylaw: DavidVincent: So is it OK for us goyim to deny this holocaust story?

Or should we believe it to just to be on the safe side?

Burn in hell. The only thing worse than a Nazi is an opportunist Nazi.

ouch.

So they're arguing about whether the made-up stories were real made-up stories or just fabricated made-up stories?

C'mon religions, just let it go and focus your energies on real peace and progress for everyone, OK? Is it that hard?

And no, I'm not going to flip your light switch or turn your TV on for you.

I am not a fan of religions. But I have an urge to smack the smug off the face of that "rabbi". religious folks don't deserve to be defrauded like that.


Anyone check on his claims to be a "Rabbi"?


Honest question, Is there a process to be acclaimed a Rabbi? or it it like calling yourself a "pastor"?

ritalinchild 54: I am not a fan of religions. But I have an urge to smack the smug off the face of that "rabbi". religious folks don't deserve to be defrauded like that.


Anyone check on his claims to be a "Rabbi"?


Honest question, Is there a process to be acclaimed a Rabbi? or it it like calling yourself a "pastor"?

Within the mainstream sects or "movements" in Judaism, Orthodox (and its many submovements), Conservative/Masorti, Reform & Reconstructionist, there are specific methods one must follow to become a rabbi, by obtaining a "semichah" or certification that one is an expert on Jewish law and therefore qualified to provide advice and opinions on Jewish law.

It should be noted that the role of Rabbi isn't quite the same as the role of Christian priests or ordained ministers, in that rabbis don't have any special sacramental powers which make them an intermediary between lay people and God. They do perform some traditional clerical roles like officiating at weddings, but they're not as indispensable as traditional Christian clergy.

However, just like Christianity, there's nothing under U.S. law to stop someone, Jewish or not, to start his own spinoff of Judaism on his own authority and call himself "Rabbi" without authorization from any yeshiva or rabbinical school. See, for example, the "Black Hebrew Israelites" movement.

Bill_Wick's_Friend: rcain: Who gives a shiat? The guy is fabricating stories about rescuing fabricated stories.

I think it's the "i'm selling you a piece of history for inflated prices" element that has people bothered.

I'm assuming you have no religious beliefs, yes? Would you possibly be interested in owning and artifact, though? A gold-leafed copy of the Q'ran from 16th Century Persia? Now after you'd paid thousands of dollars for that copy, would you be pissed off to find that it's actually a recently published edition done in a very convincing 16th century style? That it can be purchased (sans "aging" and other trickery) from any number of street vendors in Cairo?

I think "fraud" is the correct word for that.

Not at all. There is no claim of fraud, nor any dispute as to the validity of the merchandise, only the manner in which he procured the articles. The investigators could neither prove nor disprove his claims and the subject in question could not verify his claims either. So he was asked to stop telling these outlandish stories. However the goods he sold seem to be authentic and not part of any scam, nor were they said to be relics or antiquities, just old copies of the Torah owned by WWII era families that he managed to recover and restore.

And if you're going out to buy antiquities, you better be ready to do your homework and count on most items either being frauds or illegally obtained either by theft from museums or by looting.

rcain: Not at all. There is no claim of fraud

Yes there was.

Rosensaft wrote to Attorney General Douglas Gansler earlier this year, charging Rabbi Youlus with "possible fraud and/or misrepresentation" and "soliciting funds under false pretenses."
Rosensaft said he is disappointed that the agreement carries no monetary penalty or admission of guilt, adding, "there is an admission of guilt implied."
The agreement likely represents a "conservation of judicial resources," preventing Maryland from spending more time or money on this case, he said

http://www.thejewishweek.com/news/national/wrist_slap_deal_struck_torah_'charla t an'

Pork.

Why did it have to be... pork?

rcain:
Not at all. There is no claim of fraud, nor any dispute as to the validity of the merchandise, only the manner in which he procured the articles. The investigators could neither prove nor disprove his claims and the subject in question could not verify his claims either. So he was asked to stop telling these outlandish stories. However the goods he sold seem to be authentic and not part of any scam, nor were they said to be relics or antiquities, just old copies of the Torah owned by WWII era families that he managed to recover and restore.

There were claims of fraud. The authorities investigated the truth of the rabbi's claims that he had unearthed lost Torah scrolls, and the reason they did that was that some Jews had suggested that the rabbi made false claims about his activities and the sources of the scrolls in order to induce people to pay extra money for the scrolls and otherwise provide financial support for the "nonprofit."

Presumably the investigation found some evidence of wrongdoing, but the state felt that it couldn't make out a slam-dunk case, so they reached an understanding with the sellers. But to say that no one was claiming fraud is absurd.

Subby:What's next? Jailing grandpa because he didn't really walk to school uphill in a blizzard?

Subby you new here?
you only go to jail if you pretend to be Jewish. walking up hill not an issue.

In other news, followers of Abrahamic religions are notorious exaggerators, liars and forgers.

So it's wrong to write fiction about finding a book of fiction???

Bill_Wick's_Friend: rcain: Not at all. There is no claim of fraud

Yes there was.

Rosensaft wrote to Attorney General Douglas Gansler earlier this year, charging Rabbi Youlus with "possible fraud and/or misrepresentation" and "soliciting funds under false pretenses."
Rosensaft said he is disappointed that the agreement carries no monetary penalty or admission of guilt, adding, "there is an admission of guilt implied."
The agreement likely represents a "conservation of judicial resources," preventing Maryland from spending more time or money on this case, he said


http://www.thejewishweek.com/news/national/wrist_slap_deal_struck_torah_'charla t an'

And yet, the authorities after investigating failed to find evidence of fraud.

Snarfangel: If they had this rule to start with, the Bible would be a lot thinner.

Technically a lot thicker.

The early church tended to cut a few pages here and there when they didn't agree with the cultural mores of the time.

Abstinence still sounds a lot better than just "respect your body"

klymen: That's a shame and a disservice. I'm not going to try and push a stereotype here, but there is a common pattern I've notice among my Jewish friends and Jewish people in general. They sometime try very hard to do something they believe should be in their interest but completely miss the point of how badly it could backfire.

I'm not talking about things that could go wrong one in a million, I'm talking about things that are evidently bad ideas from the get go.

FTFY. The schemes do seem to be getting much more elaborate over time, though.

Bagelox-99: As more and more Jews, and people in general, live secular lives, something interesting happens: Talking about Judaism the religion is more OK. Talking about Jewishness the culture is more taboo.


Says bagelox. I laffed.

Also, that's not true, in my experience. In fact, I think it's the reverse: talking about Judaism the religion is more taboo.