A halachic condemnation of Facilitated Communication

Shirat Devorah has taken a comment of a commenter, Ephraim, and turned it into a post. It is about the lack of halachic justification for Facilitated Communication. An excerpt:

Now, the תשורת שי that I mentioned above already prohibits the practice of divining the future by means of a table of letters- even if children are involved. Certainly, that posek was aware that prophecy is found amongst children- and yet he forbade the practice anyway. Why? I suppose it's because of the methodology.

Indeed, having seen videos of Jewish facilitated communication, it is indeed like an Ouija board, with the facilitator grabbing the autistic's hand and making it point to various letters on a page, often with the autistic person closing his/her eyes and looking the other way. In both cases, the scientific explanation of the phenomenon is the ideomotor effect.

I don't know that pointing to a halachic condemnation of the practice, and trying to argue against the practice in this way, will succeed. Indeed, it sets the stage for counter-argument based on Rabbi X or Rabbi Y approving it. (For example, HaRav Hagaon Rav Nosson M. Wachtfogel, zt"l "approved" it. Of course, these folk only consider him HaRav HaGaon Rav because he supports a belief they want to believe; his haskama explains that he didn't read the darn book but he trusts the person who said it was good stuff -- just as Rav Chaim Kanievsky trusted others about Elior Chen's innocence and so signed onto a letter of support. And, of course, he he stresses one should not use it to practical end, but should rather follow rabbis, who are the leaders of klal Yisrael. The foolish people then take this as support for autistics as neviim that one should follow in practical matters, instead of following their rabbis.)

Maybe more on this later. For now, here is a rough translation of the teshuva. There were a few places I could not make sense of the words. Comments welcome in this, and other, regards.

The teshuva in question, from Rabbi Shlomo Yehuda Tabak (d. 5668),  follows. It regards the use of an Ouija board, and a planchette - a small three-legged 'table' positioned over the board, to point to the letters. See the image to the right so that you understand what the teshuva is describing.

"129: Question: A Jewish man came from Eretz Yisrael and fashioned for himself a small table upon three legs, and under the table is a tray or page upon which are written all the letters of the aleph-beis on one side, and upon the second side are the secular letters. And five children stand around him and rest their hands upon him. And Jews and gentiles go to him to ask of him the future, whether in matters of shidduchim or travels, and upon many similar matters. And he asks the question and the table lifts one of its legs and displays the letters to combine to arrive at the answer. And he works great wonders with the questioners, which are concealed from the eyes of the intellect. And I heard that he first goes to the mikveh and says a certain chapter of Tehillim, and that he says that this is a chochmah (a craft / science) and there is no magic or incantations involved. And that he learned this craft from a great Torah scholar and God-fearing individual, and that also, there, in Eretz Yisrael, great and holy tzadikim make use of this. And it appears that [Iyov 15:15] הֵן בִּקְדֹשָׁו לֹא יַאֲמִין, "Behold, He [Hashem] putteth no trust in His holy ones [these tzadikim]" since regardless, it is forbidden to ask [in this manner] because of [Devarim 18:13] תָּמִים תִּהְיֶה עִם ה אֱלֹקֶיךָ,  "Thou shalt be whole-hearted with the LORD thy God", as is stated in [Shulchan Aruch] Yoreh Deah at the beginning of siman 179.

However, there is to say that a single witness is believed in matters of prohibition [eid echad neeman be'issurin] to everyone, when the prohibition is not established [lo itchazik issura], and he is not invalidated because he causes others to stumble in the prohibition of  תָּמִים תִּהְיֶה, for this is not as stringent as one who performs acts of divination, and as is stated in Terumat Hadeshen in pesakim uchtavim [rulings and writings] siman 96. And further, people do not generally understand this to be prohibited, whereas divination everyone knows that it is prohibited.

However, this is difficult to believe, for I think that this is in the realm of kosem kesamim [engaging in divination], for there are many different sorts of divination  For the Rambam writes about it in one way, and the Semag [Sefer Mitzvot Gedolot] in another way, and Rabbeinu Yerucham wrote that they make points [?] in writing or in sand, and similar matters to this. And the intent is to say that that which is not [?] of the natural order and intellect is divination. Thus, these questioners [to the man with the Ouija board] are adding upon  תָּמִים תִּהְיֶה, the prohibition of 'put not a stumbling block before the blind' [causing someone else to sin] for divination is punished with lashes if they ask from a Jew.

And further, regarding how five children stand around him and rest their hands upon him, and that he also says beforehand some chapter of Tehillim, it seems that he is performing some act utilizing demons and is afraid lest they harm him, and as is states in Bet Yosef and Rama in Yoreh Deah siman 179, that most who engage [with them] do not go away from them in peace [unharmed]. And it is made clear in Bet Yosef, and in Shulchan Aruch, and in the Shach there, seif katan 120, that if he performs some act, it is prohibited. And in the language of Rabbeinu Yerucham, brought down in Bet Yosef, which is that if he takes something and using it performs some act, this is called an act of divination."

The autistics' dirty pictures

In a comment on a previous post, an Anonymous commenter writes:

How can you write that anyone despises clal Yisroel... It is just your perception but you cannot prove that it is a fact.

I responded there -- check it out -- but I think I'll respond in a slightly different way in this post.

There is a famous old joke, unfortunately a little bit risque:

A man goes to a psychiatrist. To start things off, the psychiatrist suggests they start with a Rorschach test. He holds up the first picture and asks the man what he sees.

‎"A man and a woman making love in a park," the man replies.

The psychiatrist holds up the second picture and asks the man what he sees. "A man and a woman making love in a boat." 

He holds up the third picture. "A man and a woman making love at the beach." This goes on for the rest of the set of pictures; the man says he sees a man and a woman making love in every one of the pictures.

At the end of the test, the psychiatrist looks over his notes and says, "Wow! You certainly have a dirty mind!" 

And the man replies, "I have a dirty mind?! You're the one with the dirty pictures!"

What does this have to do with the messages of the autistics? It is simple. There are two ways to account for them. They are either messages from On High, or else they are messages from the facilitators, as a reflection of their private thoughts.

There are good reasons for thinking that they are the unwitting messages of the facilitators. I have gone into some detail in the past on this. But to explain briefly, in many other cases this has been established -- for instance, where the autistics were unable to answer a question correctly when only they had been told the answer with the facilitator out of the room, but were able to answer when the facilitator knew. This undermines FC in general. Furthermore, similar phenomena have been observed here -- these Jewish mystical autistics have admitted that they can 'answer' before even hearing the question (but where the facilitator knows), attributing this to their soul knowing and speaking. This even before you get to hashkafic and halachic disproofs of these nevi'ei sheker.

This is simply the ideomotor effect, which also is manifest on Ouija boards, automatic writing, and dowsing. None of these are real. It is rather the subconscious expression of the one conducting it. Thus, the facilitators themselves are saying this, and expressing their deep feelings and beliefs, and attribute it to the autistics and, by extension, to God. They are looking at the inkblots, saying all sorts of nasty things. But this is just an expression of their own (meaning the facilitators') ill will, rather than an objective description of reality.

The passing of Rabbi Sachs, proponent of facilitated communication

Of note, at Dani18.com:

1. לזכרו של צדיק
דניאל, כ"ג אדר ב', תשע"א.
אני רוצה להגיד כמה מילים על יהודי חשוב ביותר, תלמיד חכם, יהודי שעבד שעות רבות החל מלפני קרוב לחמש עשרה שנה כדי להוציא לאור את התיקשורים שלנו, של האוטיסטים. שמו אליעזר משה זקס בן רבקה זצ"ל, והוא נפטר בי"ח אדר ב' השנה. הרב זקס היה יהודי שחיפש אמת, יהודי שומר תורה ומצוות, למד תורה ולימד תורה, יהודי גדול אשר ניסה בכל כוחו להביא את האמת לעם ישראל. הוא רצה מאד לקבל פניו של משיח, אבל בעזרת ה' הוא יעשה את זה בתחית המתים, הוא יחסר לנו מאד וגם לעם ישראל.

1. In memory of a tzaddik
Daniel, 23 Adar II, 5771
I want to say a few words about an extremely eminent Jew, a Torah scholar, a Jew who worked many hours going back more than about five to ten years to publish the facilitated communication of ours, the autistics. His name was Eliezer Moshe Sachs ben Rivkah, zatzal, and he passed away on 18 Adar II of this year. Rav Sachs was a Jew who sought the truth, an observant Jew, who studied Torah and taught Torah, a great Jew who tried with all his might to bring the truth to the people of Israel. He wanted very much to greet the Messiah, but God-willing he accomplish this during the resurrection of the dead. He will be missed by us greatly and by the people of Israel.

I agree with much of this. Though I disagreed with him about the efficacy and therefore truth facilitated communication, I think Rabbi Sachs believed it was real and was indeed trying to do great things for klal Yisrael. And I would guess that good intentions go a long way, from the perspective of the Bochen Klayos vaLev.

Of course, it was almost inevitable that he would be disappointed in his hopes to greet the mashiach, even as he was likely most confident that he would indeed great mashiach and be thanked warmly for his efforts in spreading the message. After all, his autistics kept on promising that the apocalypse was coming "soon", without giving any set time, so as to string everyone along.

And unfortunately, the message of the autistics is NOT one of shalom. It is one of sinas chinam for fellow Jews and triumphant believe that their own sect is the best, and the select, while everyone else is a no-goodnik who needs to do teshuva. Thus, for example, they follow up this announcement with the following, in the same missive, in explaining their anti-halachic call to mourn on Purim:

מגיע פורים, החג החשוב ביותר לחיזוק האמונה והביטחון בה', ומה אנחנו מוצאים בארץ ישראל הקדושה וכמעט בכל העולם? לא פורים כמו שצריך להיות, לא מסירות נפש על קידוש ה', לא קירבה לקב"ה. רואים בעיקר קבוצות גדולות של יהודים, רצים לחנויות, קונים כל מיני ממתקים, נהיים שיכורים ומקיאים ברחובות ובבתים. יש גסות רוח והתהוללות ברחוב, יש תחפושות כמו הגויים האמריקאים, האנגלים או האירופאים, ששייכות לעבודה זרה, כמו בקרניבל, לא יהודי בכלל. יש מוזיקה שנשמעת כמו בג'ונגל באפריקה, הרוק'נרול, כמו הגויות שיש בעולם המודרני. ואיפה היהודי כמו מרדכי הצדיק ואסתר המלכה והיהודים שישבו וצמו שלשה ימים רצופים כדי להתקרב לה' ולהוריד מעלינו את הגזירה הקשה? יש עלינו גזירה קשה ביותר ואנחנו משתוללים, משתכרים, מוציאים כסף על שטויות כמו חג התחפושות באמריקה. אוי לנו, האם בהתנהגות הגויית הזו אנחנו חושבים שהקב"ה יציל אותנו? דוקא בפורים הזה, שכל העולם במצב קשה ביותר, ועוד מעט השנאה תעבור לעם ישראל, ושבעים עמים יהיו נגדנו, ואנחנו, איפה אנחנו? אנחנו שוכבים על הרצפה, בתוך הקיא שלנו, ורובנו לא נמצאים כלל במצב הרוחני הראוי לקבל פניו של משיח צדקנו. 

ולכן עם ישראל, בטח הייתי מציע לכם לשבת על הרצפה עם שק ואפר, ולבכות ולבקש מחילה מהקב"ה...

Purim has arrived, the most important holiday to strengthen faith and trust in God, and what do we find in Israel and in almost all the rest of the world? Purim not as it should be, not self-sacrifice for the sanctification of God, not drawing closer to God. We mainly see large groups of Jews, running to shops, buying all kinds of candy, getting drunk and vomiting in the streets and houses. There is haughtiness and revelry in the street, there are costumes like the American, English or European gentiles, with connections to idolatry, like Carnival, not Jews at all. There is music that sounds like the jungle in Africa, rock and roll, like the gentiles who are in the modern world. And where is the Jew like the righteous Mordechai and Queen Esther and the Jews who fasted for three days in a row to come closer to God and to remove from over us the harsh decree? There is upon us an extremely difficult decree and we go wild, get drunk, spend money on garbage like on Halloween in America. Woe to us. Do we think that with gentile behavior God will save us? Precisely this Purim, the whole world the most difficult situation, and soon the hatred will turn to Israel, and the seventy nations are against us, and meanwhile we, where are we? We lie on the floor, in our own vomit, and most of us are not at all proper spiritual condition to receive Messiah's face. 

And with Israel, certainly I would suggest you sit on the floor with sackcloth and ashes,and cry and ask God for forgiveness...

The very opposite of Rav Levi Yitzchak of Berditchiv, these folks look at Jews doing mitzvos and try their best to find the negative in it.

Look, if I thought it were really a message from on high, from a true prophet, it would be one thing. But I know it isn't. And so this is really a reflection of the deep feelings of the facilitator and the environment in which these people live, in which they despise klal Yisrael at large and go out of their way to cast them in the most negative light.

Yes, Rabbi Sachs, zatzal, was trying to bring Truth to klal Yisrael, and bring the mashiach. What is slightly negative is his willingness to consider this lashon hara and motzi shem ra to be the Truth, and to think that disseminating such slander and hatred under the title of a call to teshuva was the proper way to help bring mashiach.

But, at the end of the day, his error was one of misperception, rather than one of malice. May his family know no more sorrows, and may we all greet mashiach together speedily in our days.

The second "problem" with Galia, relating to other autistics

Here is a statement on Galia's website. Recall that Daniel and Ben, the "famous" autistics, have promoted Galia's messages as the real deal. On the website, we have the following caution:

Do not go running to autistics and brain-damaged people as if they were sources of divine prophesy [sic]. We believe that our rabbis are God’s messengers in the world and it is forbidden to ask personal questions from the autistics. Galia has told me that anyone who asks personal questions can harm himself and interfere with his tikkun, the things his soul was sent to this world to rectify. 

(She also told me that I am allowed to ask her personal questions since that is necessary for my work on behalf of the public, and also because it is necessary for the completion my soul needs and for her soul as well.) 

Galia has told me that every message has to be confirmed by a reputable Rabbi, and it is forbidden to communicate in public or to turn this phenomenon into a public spectacle. She wrote that they get very upset in heaven at anyone who communicates in public or who uses this technique for communicating improperly, and anyone who does so will be severely punished.

This corresponds more or less to the statements in the haskamos of the book, that rabbis should still be the leaders and that one should not be using them as prophecy. Here as well, not to ask personal questions from people (thus making the autistics into a soothsaying mechanism) and not make it into a public spectacle.

Yet Rabbi Sachs, working with Ben and Daniel, has violated each of these. And if according to his beliefs, and Daniel and Ben's purported authentic messages, Galia is the real deal, then they will be severely punished for their conduct, and are causing other people to sin as well! (Of course, the truth of the matter is that different people will naturally have different messages, depending on the thoughts of the different facilitators, who are the ones who are actually doing the communicating. So it is not surprising to find a contradiction.)

Ben and Daniel on more than one occassion (including one fairly recently) have taken personal questions from the public, and have published them on their website. And even though they cover themselves by claiming they are not prophets and the source of Divine prophecy, of course they are presenting themselves as if they are, by saying that it is the souls communicating, that they are privy to secret knowledge from On High about the apocalypse, that they know that Obama is an agent send from heaven to do harm (=Gog), and by putting up front and center a quote from Amos that כִּי לא יַעֲשֶׂה ה' דָּבָר; כִּי אִם־גָּלָה סוֹדוֹ אֶל־עֲבָדָיו הַנְּבִיאִים. On the Hebrew side, but not the English page, they have the "clarification" of this pasuk by citing the autistic Daniel that "באנו בשליחות להסביר לעם ישראל את דבריהם וסודותיהם של הנביאים". Baloney, and they know that is not how people are taking it. The claim here is that Hashem told the prophets, and the autistics are merely interpreters of those words of the prophets (and thus they in effect have the authority of the true prophets of old). But many rabbinic figures throughout history have interpreted these psukim in different ways, and to take a particular interpretation, and to apply it to modern times, while doable, is not foolproof. Who says their interpretation and application is correct? They say elsewhere that these are messages from on high. Come on! They are claiming prophecy, while pretending that they are not claiming prophecy.

Rabbi Sachs going on Arutz Sheva to promote the message of the apocalypse from the autistics, and making an in your face TorahNews to promote the apocalyptic messages is not making it into a public spectacle? Of course it is!

And do they seek rabbinic guidance for all of these messages? Well, Rabbi Sacks is a rabbi, but he is too close to the situation, being the facilitator himself. Nor is he the gadol hador, that everybody must pay heed to him. And furthermore, rather than providing guidance regarding the autistics, he is guided by them! Thus, for example:

At the urge [sic] of autistic Binyamin Golden, Rabbi Sachs Shlita recently opened a new site together with Binyamin to help us understand current world events and wake us up to realize how close we are to the end.

But of course people will have apologetics, because that is what people engage in when they have already decided what is correct and "frum".

No, I am not a Reconstructionist Rabbi!

In the wake of my posting my questions for Rabbi Sachs, the "facilitator" for autistics, which called into question the legitimacy of the practice, an interesting thing happened. I posted the questions on Tamar Yonah's blog, using my rabbinic title. Even though I usually do not use it, since I was addressing an audience which might simply look at Rabbi Eliezer Sachs' title and dismiss my words. Thus, "Rabbi Joshua Waxman."

The problem is that there is another Rabbi Josh Waxman, who is a Reconstructionist rabbi, and I was then confused with him. He comes up first on Google. I come up second, with a comment saying that I am not the same as the other Rabbi Joshua Waxman, but that might be missed.

Anyway, to clarify, there are multiple Josh Waxmans. Some of them are even close relatives of mine. I do not believe I am related to the Reconstructionist rabbi. I met him once or twice, and he seems to be a nice enough fellow, though I am sure I disagree with him in many aspects of halachah, hashkafah, and theology.

Here is a link to a page about Rabbi Joshua Waxman, the reconstructionist rabbi (who also blogs at BeliefNet).

And here is a video of Rabbi Joshua Waxman, the Orthodox rabbi who received semicha from YU (=me). I don't like how I look on video, but this video, posted by me in 2006 about parsing the words Tzadik Tamim in parshat Noach should demonstrate that we are not the same person.

Hopefully this makes it clear for anyone who may have confused us; in the meantime, I should try to figure out some way of making it up front, in the future.

Without getting into to much detail, a related point is how do you know whether someone has semicha? I recall a statement when I was growing up that nowadays you can get semicha from Ma Bell. That is, when the telephone company called up and asked how you wanted to be listed, one might just say Rabbi X instead of X. The same is true on the Internet, and indeed this is so with some figures who have presence on the Internet, some prominent, and some not so prominent (and sources tell me even one whose last name is "Waxman," though not me or the Rabbi Waxman above). How can we tell? I would take the attitude of giving the benefit of the doubt in casual conversation, but investigating if the person makes extreme statements outside the norm that might be trading on the rabbinic title.

The first "problem" with Galia, among other autistics

Facilitated communication was introduced as a science. If they did not have the science, they would not have started working with autistics, including Jewish mystical autistics. When people point out that many consider FC to be a pseudoscience, they point to researchers such as Dr. Douglas Biklen. Dr. Biklen works with higher-functioning autistics, but still many scientists consider it nonsense. And as Rav Shlomo Zalman Aurbach held, first demonstrate (scientifically) that they can communicate via FC, and only then can we start assessing whether the "mystical" communications are real and from heaven.

It has been demonstrated that at least in some instances, it is the facilitator who is communicated, completely unwittingly. For example, when they showed the same image to facilitator and autistic, the FC came back with the correct result. But when they showed different images, the FC came back with the image the facilitator saw. Thus,

In the picture identification task...correct answers were typed only when the facilitator knew the answer

A scientific explanation of this phenomenon is the ideomotor effect, which also is what functions on an Ouija board. One who is looking to believe, and abandon all sensible thought, can answer up all questions by insisting that it all correct, but there is telepathy involved, or something along those lines.

Here is a story about Galia, an autistic who was promoted as true by Daniel, one of the famous autistics. Her mother records that:

One day Galia fell asleep in the middle of a session but her hand continued to write. I asked her, “Galia, how can it be that you’re sleeping and your hand continues to write?” She wrote back, “Mum, you’re communicating with my soul, and souls never sleep.” 

I communicate with Galia through her soul, not through her intellect. Her intellect is that of a five-month-old infant.

A rational person would realize that given explicit other instances in which it was confirmed that the facilitator rather than autistic was communicating, that Galia fell asleep during a session yet the facilitator continued to write is evidence that in this case as well, the facilitator is communicating, rather than arriving at the terutz that it is even holier communication, the soul communicating. I would note that similar claims have been made about the more popular autistics, such as explanations that they can read minds and that is why they can answer even before the question has been posed.

The rational answer is that it is the facilitator accidentally communicating, despite the "25 proofs" otherwise. It is far easier to come up with a terutz to each of these 25 proofs.

Here is an example involving the popular autistics:

"Usually, when we begin the FC session, Binyamin (the oldest in the group) starts first and then, Daniel. First I ask if there is a message they'd like to transfer and then I read them the questions or comments from the guests (from the website) and they reply. This time it was a little different. I noticed that in previous FC sessions, sometimes they give me answers before I even complete the questions. I remember one time particularly that Binyamin said that in the North Pole, animals that were never there before were discovered, due to global warming. When I asked him how he knew this, I mean, did he go there recently? He replied, "If you read it in the newspapers, I know." In other words, I think that they are capable of reading people's minds. Because this site was not build for this purpose, I did not relate it, but this time, it was very noticeable. When the facilitator sat next to Daniel, ready to begin the session, Daniel started answering before the questions were asked."

Rather than concluding that there is something wrong with the FC, they end up being more inspired! Oy!

Some questions for Rabbi Sachs, autistic facilitator

As Shirat Devorah noted the other day, Tamar Yonah is going to be interviewing Rabbi Sachs, and we might want to pose questions. In New York time, the twelve-minute interview is scheduled to be at a few minutes after 8 AM this coming Sunday. Maybe I will call in and ask, but maybe not. Anyway, here are three questions I composed for Rabbi Sachs.

1) Foremost, facilitated communication was once popular, but now is widely regarded as a pseudoscience. At the least, it is controversial. There are proponents of it in limited form, notably Dr. Douglas Biklen. Indeed, Daniel, one of the autistics (or rather Rabbi Sachs) responded to a query of the authenticity of autistic messages by saying

"I refer you to Dr. Biklin from Syracuse University Who made many “nisyonot” (experiments), did much “mechkarim” (research) on the subject."

However, there is a big difference between regular FC, which is controversial, and the utter craziness which these mystical facilitators and autistics are engaging in!  I (Josh Waxman) corresponded with Dr. Biklen to ask him about the FC of Ben and Daniel, and he distinguishes his FC from the FC that these guys are doing. He wrote to me:

Joshua, thanks for your email.  I see no relationship between religious messianic claims and facilitated communication training.  Our approach is to work to ensure that individuals are able to be in control of their own communication, and to proceed to physically independent typing and to speech in conjunction with typing.  I do not condone practices that ignore the importance of independent communication.  

Doug

If so, how do they really justify what they are doing?

2) The autistics have had some famous false predictions (such as an apocalyptic war in Israel a while back, and "the biggest rosh hashanah ever", and that all *commercial banks* (rather than investment banks) would fail such that money would be worthless and all people would be lining up to get their money out but would not be able to do so.) These claims *failed*, despite some kvetching that supporters try to pretend that some were accurate predictions. Why should we listen to them? They are nevi'ei sheker!!

3) In one of the early Jewish autistic books, a number of the haskamos were explicitly that this will inspire people and draw them closer to Judaism, but that *of course* one should not listen to them for the sake of predicting the future or to determine halacha, because that would be in violation of tamim tihyeh im hashem elokecha. Yet now, these autistics are instructing as to practice (don't eat pizza or soda; wigs are assur and ignore rabbis who tell you otherwise because they are illegitimate, etc.), and as to the future. This would then seem to be a violation of tamim tihyeh. I am sure Rabbi Sachs will have a faulty rationalization in response, but I think it is important that listeners hear these questions to possibly recognize that this is by no means clear cut and wonderful.

"The Sinners of My People (Who Ignore Autistics) Will Die By The Sword"

So Nava's apocalypse, courtesy of the Tzaddik Nistar, has not yet arrived, and she turns to promoting other false prophets. (Indeed, in a post ironically titled "Falsehood is Disintegrating"!) The nevi`ei sheker in question are the autistics. They are fake for four evident reasons:

1. The mechanism they claim to use to communicate, facilitated communication, is nowadays (though was not initially) considered by many to be a pseudoscience even in the common case of non-mystical autistics. Critics claim that it is the facilitator, rather that the autistic, who is communicating, using the same sort of "ideamotor effect" that scientifically explains movement on Ouija boards.
   
   
2. Even those doctors who promote facilitated communication as scientific in the general case distance themselves from facilitated communication as practiced by these "mystical" autistics, among other reasons because of problematic differences in procedure which would make it even less likely it comes from the autistics. Indeed, the mystical autistics have taken to explaining away all sorts of these problems by means of telepathy, or the neshama of the autistic rather than his conscious mind communicating.
   
   
3. While on the surface, the messages from the autistics appear inspirational, as calls to teshuva, in truth their messages are more problematic. They insult Gedolim; engage in tremendous sinas chinam; attempt to dictate halacha, where the matter is often a machlokes -- something which a navi would be a navi sheker if he tried to do -- while claiming that they are not doing it. The message alone is not believable, but this is perhaps not clear to the hamon am.
   
   
4. They have already made a number of false predictions, including one apocalyptic war in Israel about a year ago and the failing of all commercial banks (rather than investment banks, which is a homonym)  such that no one would be able to withdraw any of their money. The connected George Bush and the minor war in Georgia to Gog and Magog, based in part on similarity of name. Some of these false predictions have been "interpreted" rather charitably as being fulfilled by people who want to see them fulfilled, so some think that the autistics have a track record of accurate predictions. This is not the case. If a navi were being put to the test, the correct conclusion would be navi sheker. (Except of course that negative predictions cannot be put to the test, so they are staying "safe".)

As such, there is no reason to pay heed to these false "facilitators" over any other lunatic screaming on the street that the end is nigh. Besides being a likely violation of tamim tihyeh im Hashem elokecha, we are told explicitly in Devarim 18:22 that we should not be afraid of him:

כב  אֲשֶׁר יְדַבֵּר הַנָּבִיא בְּשֵׁםה, וְלֹא-יִהְיֶה הַדָּבָר וְלֹא יָבֹא--הוּא הַדָּבָר, אֲשֶׁר לֹא-דִבְּרוֹ יְהוָה:  בְּזָדוֹן דִּבְּרוֹ הַנָּבִיא, לֹא תָגוּר מִמֶּנּוּ.  {ס}

22 When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken; the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously, thou shalt not be afraid of him.

There is a positive aspect of this false prophecy. Time Magazine had an article last week about the difficulty of managing autistic people as they age. Perhaps so long as they are in these yeshivot and being exploited they will be well taken care of. Even so, it is unfortunate how they are poisoning Judaism and leading Jews astray in an apocalyptic cult.

It seems to me that they are lashing out at the disbelievers in the latest missive. For they title the latest one "The Sinners of My People Will Die By The Sword," a reference to Amos 9:10. (And here in Mikraos Gedolos.) But there is an end to that pasuk, that makes it clear precisely which sinners the facilitators mean:

י  בַּחֶרֶב יָמוּתוּ, כֹּל חַטָּאֵי עַמִּי:  הָאֹמְרִים, לֹא-תַגִּישׁ וְתַקְדִּים בַּעֲדֵינוּ--הָרָעָה.

10 All the sinners of My people shall die by the sword, that say: 'The evil shall not overtake nor confront us.'

That is, the sinners are those people who do not believe in the claims of the impending doom. I guess that means me. The thing is, I know already from their methods and their messages that they are false prophets, so I will not believe them, no matter how much they try to scare me. The pasuk in Devarim tells me not to worry about the message of these prophets. And they are no Amos.

Another of their messages is that one cannot simultanously be any bit materialistic and merit redemption and/or olam haba. Perhaps because the facilitators are poor, they begrudge wealth on the part of others and call it the Egel Hazahav. Meanwhile, the Torah promises wealth in this world as well for doing mitzvos, and some Tannaim and Amoraim were wealthy, and did not look at it as a bad thing, but rather as a blessing from Hakadosh Baruch Hu. The autistics more or less say to cast off wealth, because this will prevent redemption or any share in Olam Haba. To cite:

"They too are enjoying all the gashmius like the Charedi Jews in America. In each country it takes on a different shape but in the end it is still the Egel Hazahav and it is destroying every thing spiritual in life. 

Am Yisrael, we are right before The End. You want eternal life? Then you must throw away every connection to the olam hazeh. The only way to do that is to accept with humility the Yoke of Heaven. 

This is the final tikkun [rectification] for this generation. Whoever does not complete this tikkun, chas veshalom, whoever does not lower his head and accept everything we are given form Hakadosh Baruch Hu, every blow, every difficult thing He gives us, without question, and does not cry out to Heaven: “Hashem is the Lord, Hashem is the lord, Shema Yisrael Hashem Elokeinu Hashem echad” will disappear from this world - as well as from the Olam Haba, lo aleinu. 

Whoever does say this with all of his heart and truly accepts the Yoke of Heaven, he will gain eternal life [olam haba] and greet Moshiach Tzidkanu, bezras Hashem. Whoever does not – there is no hope for him."

There was another Jewish false prophet, about 2000 years ago, who had a similar message. He said (Matthew 19:24):

Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to squeeze through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to get into the kingdom of God."

To cite an article which was found in Hamodia:

And as a matter of fact, the Torah does take a far more favorable attitude towards the accumulation of wealth than does Christianity. There were Tannaim and Amoraim of great wealth as well as great poverty, and neither state was viewed as conferring moral superiority. With wealth goes responsibility, but those responsibilities do not undercut property rights; they are found in Yore Deah not Choshen Mishpat. The ymearly [sic] Church fathers, by way of contrast, viewed the accumulation of more wealth than one needs for his basic subsistence to be sinful, akin to theft.

Rosh Chodesh Sivan: The day of the apocalypse?

Well, as noted in the past, it is coming up soon -- about three days. Navi was told by a delusional person in America, the "Tzaddik Nistar," that 

"American Jews in the Diaspora should begin preparing returning to Eretz Israel - the latest possible date to return to Israel is Rosh Chodesh Sivan, 5769 (May 24, 2009). Those that will not return by that date, will 'miss the boat'"

and she believed him, going to far as to make aliyah. Now she is literally counting down the seconds to the coming apocalypse:

But it is strange. Just now, she linked approvingly to a site associated with the autistics. And she has provided them space (and translations?) in the past. And here is what Daniel (or rather, the "facilitator" pretending to speak for Daniel) responded to a query about Rosh Chodesh Sivan

10

Q. Dear Daniel, Thank you so much for the opportunity to ask and thank you for your holy work. My question: A date was given of Rosh Chodesh Sivan 2009 for the "deadline" when all Jews should leave America or it will be "too late" for them afterwards. My husband is not ready to leave and both our elderly mothers are not ready to leave. I will not leave on my own just to "save" myself. Is this date accurate and how can American Jews that can not leave survive to be gathered in and greet Mashiach? Thank you so much for answering. May Hashem bless and favor you, your family and your holy messages. Thank you so much for responding. With deep gratitude and respect for your incalculable contribution and help. S.

A. I don't know what the deadline is, I never said a deadline. I know it's soon.
But, there will a very strong warning to the American Jews and other Jews.
There will be a warning and they should think about the warning when it happens, but if your family refuses to go, then you daven to Hashem, and cry to Him, and beg Him, tell Him your difficulty, and I'm sure He will save you with Nissim gedolim (great miracles).

Q. Will there be a warning before the true deadline?
A. Of course. It can't be after the deadline. Nobody really knows the deadline. I know it's soon.

Take that, Tzaddik Nistar! I wonder if she noticed the contradiction, and how she resolves it. Oh well, at least, after Rosh Chodesh Sivan passes without incident, she will be able to continue on with other nonsense to support the sense of impending doom.

Shirat Devorah, to her credit, has a measured response to the prediction. Based on Lubavitch beliefs, there is no obligation for Jews to move to Eretz Yisrael before the coming of mashiach. But just in case, here are a list of direct flights... 

I don't know that a measured is the best response, though...