Miracle of talking carp

Somehow I hadn't heard of this until picking up today's NY Times:

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. . .

Whether hoax or historic event, it jibes with the belief of some Hasidic sects that righteous people can be reincarnated as fish. . .

Zev Brenner, who last week broadcast a show about the fish on "Talk Line," his talk radio show on Jewish issues. . . said the story is so well known that it has inspired a whole new genre of wedding jokes for Jewish comedians. "The station had an advertiser, a gefilte fish manufacturer, who considered changing his slogan to `Our fish speaks for itself,' but decided people would be offended," he said.

Posted by David on March 15, 2003 9:04 AM