Can Fish Talk?CHECK THIS OUT:Carp speaks Hebrew...

[Anonymous]

Crazy world we live in. Talking fish! And this is out of the New York Times, a very credible source of information. Either the talking fish was a miracle and this really did happen, the government is making fun of how gullable we are, or the fish is crazy and these are not the times of the apocolypse. I wonder if that fish can tell me who I'll end up marrying. I'm hungry. I think I'll go buy myself a fish sandwich, and maybe ask it some questions. I'm sorry, but true or not, I have to laugh lol. That's just too funny.

-Don't worry, I'm not mocking anyone. Hey, you gotta figure, God knows a talking fish will get the attention of the people; if a person said all this, no one would listen, they'd just call the men in the white coats to come to take the man away.

[PeacefulWarrior]

I, am course, am skeptical...but who knows.  CHeck this out:
Word is made flesh...as a fish! ![][][][][][]

Edward Helmore New York
Sunday March 16, 2003
The Observer

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.
Many of the 7,000-member Skver sect of Hasidim in New Square, 30 miles north of Manhattan, believe God has revealed himself in fish form.

According to two fish-cutters at the New Square Fish Market, the carp was about to be slaughtered and made into gefilte fish for Sabbath dinner when it suddenly began shouting apocalyptic warnings in Hebrew.

Many believe the carp was channelling the troubled soul of a revered community elder who recently died; others say it was God. The only witnesses to the mystical show were Zalmen Rosen, a 57-year-old Hasid with 11 children, and his co-worker, Luis Nivelo. They say that on 28 January at 4pm they were about to club the carp on the head when it began yelling.

Nivelo, a Gentile who does not understand Hebrew, was so shocked at the sight of a fish talking in any language that he fell over. He ran into the front of the store screaming: 'It's the Devil! The Devil is here!' Then the shop owner heard it shouting warnings and commands too.

'It said "Tzaruch shemirah" and "Hasof bah",' he told the New York Times, 'which essentially means that everyone needs to account for themselves because the end is near.'

The animated carp commanded Rosen to pray and study the Torah. Rosen tried to kill the fish but injured himself. It was finally butchered by Nivelo and sold.

However, word spread far and wide and Nivelo complains he has been plagued by phone calls from as far away as London and Israel. The story has since been amplified by repetition and some now believe the fish's outburst was a warning about the dangers of the impending war in Iraq.

Some say they fear the born-again President Bush believes he is preparing the world for the Second Coming of Christ, and war in Iraq is just the opening salvo in the battle of Armageddon.

Local resident Abraham Spitz said: 'Two men do not dream the same dream. It is very rare that God reminds people he exists in this modern world. But when he does, you cannot ignore it.'

Others in New Square discount the apocalyptic reading altogether and suggest the notion of a talking fish is as fictional as Tony Soprano's talking-fish dream in an episode of The Sopranos .

Stand-up comedians have already incorporated the carp into their comedy routines at weddings. One gefilte company has considered changing it's slogan to: 'Our fish speaks for itself.'

Still, the shouting carp corresponds with the belief of some Hasidic sects that righteous people can be reincarnated as fish. They say that Nivelo may have been selected because he is not Jewish, but a weary Nivelo told the New York Times : '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.'

A devout Christian, he still thinks the carp was the Devil. 'I don't believe any of this Jewish stuff. But I heard that fish talk.'

He's grown tired of the whole thing. 'It's just a big headache for me,' he added. 'I pull my phone out of the wall at night. I don't sleep and I've lost weight.'
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A Jewish fish story to top all
This critter spoke -- in Hebrew, yet -- and claimed to be Hasidic
COREY KILGANNON
New York Times

NEW SQUARE, N.Y. - 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 whopping fish story concocted by a couple of meshugenehs (fools). Whatever one calls it, the tale of the talking fish has spread in recent weeks throughout this tight-knit community, populated by about 7,000 members of the Skver sect of Hasidim, and throughout the Hasidic world, inspiring heated debate and derisive jokes.

The story goes that a 20-pound carp about to be 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 it was God revealing himself that day to two fish cutters in the New Square Fish Market, Zalmen Rosen, a 57-year-old Hasid with 11 children, and his co-worker Luis Nivelo, a 30-year-old Ecuadorian immigrant.

The two men say they each have gotten hundreds of phone calls from Jews all over the world.

"Ah, enough already about the fish," Rosen said Thursday 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. Rosen, whose family owns the store, and Nivelo, who has worked at the shop for seven years, say that at 4 p.m. Jan. 28 they were carving up carp. 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 with a rubber hammer.

But the fish began speaking in Hebrew, according to the two men.

Nivelo does not understand Hebrew, but the shock of a fish speaking any language startled him. He ran into the front of the store screaming, "The fish is talking!" and pulled 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 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 everyone needs to account for themselves, because the end is near."

The fish commanded Rosen to pray and to study the Torah and identified itself as the soul of a local Hasidic man who died last year, childless. The man often bought carp at the shop for the Sabbath meals of poorer village residents.

Rosen panicked and tried to kill the fish with a machete-size knife. But the fish bucked so wildly that Rosen wound up cutting his own thumb and was taken to the hospital by ambulance. The fish flopped off the counter and back into the carp box and was butchered by Nivell and sold.

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

Unnatural occurrences play a part in the mystical beliefs of members of the Skver sect. On the other hand, some skeptics note that the Jewish festival of Purim, which starts Monday night, is marked by merriment and pranks, which might be a less elevated explanation for the story.

Nivelo, a practicing Christian, still believes the babbling carp was the devil. His wife told him he was crazy, and his 6-year-old daughter even laughs at him.

"I don't believe any of this Jewish stuff," he said. "I heard that fish talk."
More on this:
http://www.dailynews.com/Stories/0,1413,200~20954~1245340,00.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/15/nyregion/15FISH.html?