Book of Jeremiah
Platinum Member
- Nov 3, 2012
- 37,635
- 4,527
Miracle? Dream? Prank? Fish Talks, Town Buzzes - NYTimes.com
......and now the story of the "talking fish". This story is from 2003. It has been ten years since this happened. This afternoon this story was brought back to my remembrance and I realized that perhaps some of you have never heard of this story before. It happened in New York. The only two witnesses to hear this "talking fish" were a holy Jew and a born again Christian.
To this day neither man has ever recanted their story. Some say it is a whopper of a fish tale. Others believe it was a warning from G-d that America is under judgment and our days are numbered. The reader can decide for themselves. Could G-d speak through a fish to warn the world?
Here is a clip from the article:
And so it came to pass that a talking carp, shouting in Hebrew, shattered the calm of the New Square Fish Market and created what many here are calling a miracle.
Of course, others are calling it a Purim trick, a loopy tale worthy of Isaac Bashevis Singer or just a whopping fish story concocted by a couple of meshugenehs.
Whatever one calls it, the tale of the talking fish has spread in recent weeks throughout this tight-knit Rockland County community, populated by about 7,000 members of the Skver sect of Hasidim, and throughout the Hasidic world, inspiring heated debate, Talmudic discussions and derisive jokes.
The story goes that a 20-pound carp about to be slaughtered and made into gefilte fish for Sabbath dinner began speaking in Hebrew, shouting apocalyptic warnings and claiming to be the troubled soul of a revered community elder who recently died.
Many people here believe that it was God revealing himself that day to two fish cutters in the fish market, Zalmen Rosen, a 57-year-old Hasid with 11 children, and his co-worker Luis Nivelo, a 30-year-old Ecuadorean immigrant.
Some people say the story is as credible as the Bible's account of the burning bush. Others compare it to a U.F.O. sighting. But the story rapidly spread around the world from this town about 30 miles northwest of Manhattan, first through word of mouth, then through the Jewish press.
The two men say they have each gotten hundreds of phone calls from Jews all over the world.
''Ah, enough already about the fish,'' Mr. Rosen said today at the shop, as he skinned a large carp. ''I wish I never said anything about it. I'm getting so many calls every day, I've stopped answering. Israel, London, Miami, Brooklyn. They all want to hear about the talking fish.''
Here then is the story, according to the two men, the only witnesses. Mr. Rosen, whose family owns the store, and Mr. Nivelo, who has worked at the shop for seven years, say that on Jan. 28 at 4 p.m. they were carving up carp.
Mr. Nivelo, who is not Jewish, lifted a live carp out of a box of iced-down fish and was about to club it in the head.
But the fish began speaking in Hebrew, according to the two men. Mr. Nivelo does not understand Hebrew, but the shock of a fish speaking any language, he said, forced him against the wall and down to the slimy wooden packing crates that cover the floor.
He looked around to see if the voice had come from the slop sink, the other room or the shop's cat. Then he ran into the front of the store screaming, ''The fish is talking!'' and pulled Mr. Rosen away from the phone.
''I screamed, 'It's the devil! The devil is here!' '' he recalled. ''But Zalmen said to me, 'You crazy, you a meshugeneh.' ''
But Mr. Rosen said that when he approached the fish he heard it uttering warnings and commands in Hebrew.
''It said 'Tzaruch shemirah' and 'Hasof bah,' '' he said, ''which essentially means that everyone needs to account for themselves because the end is near.''
......and now the story of the "talking fish". This story is from 2003. It has been ten years since this happened. This afternoon this story was brought back to my remembrance and I realized that perhaps some of you have never heard of this story before. It happened in New York. The only two witnesses to hear this "talking fish" were a holy Jew and a born again Christian.
To this day neither man has ever recanted their story. Some say it is a whopper of a fish tale. Others believe it was a warning from G-d that America is under judgment and our days are numbered. The reader can decide for themselves. Could G-d speak through a fish to warn the world?
Here is a clip from the article:
And so it came to pass that a talking carp, shouting in Hebrew, shattered the calm of the New Square Fish Market and created what many here are calling a miracle.
Of course, others are calling it a Purim trick, a loopy tale worthy of Isaac Bashevis Singer or just a whopping fish story concocted by a couple of meshugenehs.
Whatever one calls it, the tale of the talking fish has spread in recent weeks throughout this tight-knit Rockland County community, populated by about 7,000 members of the Skver sect of Hasidim, and throughout the Hasidic world, inspiring heated debate, Talmudic discussions and derisive jokes.
The story goes that a 20-pound carp about to be slaughtered and made into gefilte fish for Sabbath dinner began speaking in Hebrew, shouting apocalyptic warnings and claiming to be the troubled soul of a revered community elder who recently died.
Many people here believe that it was God revealing himself that day to two fish cutters in the fish market, Zalmen Rosen, a 57-year-old Hasid with 11 children, and his co-worker Luis Nivelo, a 30-year-old Ecuadorean immigrant.
Some people say the story is as credible as the Bible's account of the burning bush. Others compare it to a U.F.O. sighting. But the story rapidly spread around the world from this town about 30 miles northwest of Manhattan, first through word of mouth, then through the Jewish press.
The two men say they have each gotten hundreds of phone calls from Jews all over the world.
''Ah, enough already about the fish,'' Mr. Rosen said today at the shop, as he skinned a large carp. ''I wish I never said anything about it. I'm getting so many calls every day, I've stopped answering. Israel, London, Miami, Brooklyn. They all want to hear about the talking fish.''
Here then is the story, according to the two men, the only witnesses. Mr. Rosen, whose family owns the store, and Mr. Nivelo, who has worked at the shop for seven years, say that on Jan. 28 at 4 p.m. they were carving up carp.
Mr. Nivelo, who is not Jewish, lifted a live carp out of a box of iced-down fish and was about to club it in the head.
But the fish began speaking in Hebrew, according to the two men. Mr. Nivelo does not understand Hebrew, but the shock of a fish speaking any language, he said, forced him against the wall and down to the slimy wooden packing crates that cover the floor.
He looked around to see if the voice had come from the slop sink, the other room or the shop's cat. Then he ran into the front of the store screaming, ''The fish is talking!'' and pulled Mr. Rosen away from the phone.
''I screamed, 'It's the devil! The devil is here!' '' he recalled. ''But Zalmen said to me, 'You crazy, you a meshugeneh.' ''
But Mr. Rosen said that when he approached the fish he heard it uttering warnings and commands in Hebrew.
''It said 'Tzaruch shemirah' and 'Hasof bah,' '' he said, ''which essentially means that everyone needs to account for themselves because the end is near.''
Last edited:
