Manchester – Rabbis have backed two services that claim to offer Jewish spiritual healing.
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In recent weeks two Jewish papers have carried an advert by Israeli Rabbi Avraham Lebel in which he says he can remove the ayin hara (evil eye). He charges £50 for the service.
In another, the Chabad House in Whitefield advertises free “spiritual healing” by two men, Eric Sayers and Carl Montlake, described as “Jewish healers for the Jewish community”.
Mr Montlake, who was convicted of fraud and given a six-year prison sentence in 2007, said he had trained in reflexology, aromatherapy and massage, and said the spiritual healing had been “self-developed” from there.
Manchester Dayan Osher Westheim, who is named as a supporter in Rabbi Lebel’s advertisement, said the practice of removing the evil eye was “a long-standing and widely known tradition”.
Bury Hebrew Congregation’s Rabbi Binyomin Singer said: “What is tragic is many Jewish people seek spirituality elsewhere. There is a wealth of it in our own religion so we don’t need to go to Tibet to find things like this.”
Chabad of Whitefield’s Rabbi Shmuli Jaffe said he supported the men because they also had qualifications in other forms of alternative remedies.
Small town mentality.
#1 , you’re wrong. There are many experiences of ayin hora/evil eye that people can recount. They firmly believe in them, as I do, having found no other possible reason for certain things happening in my family.
Having said that, this whole thing smacks of a scam. As a former Mancunian, I’m surprised that respected people that I know fall for this craziness. It reminds me of the old story, The Emperor’s New Clothes. So many con men, so many idiots, not enough time.
What are you guys talking about?! Ayin hora is very real; the Talmud is replete with references to an ayin hora.
I dono what anyone is saying here, there is the gemura that states; kol d’ekupid kupid & kol delo kupid lo kupid.
Ayin HaRa is spoken about in Shas and Poskim and in Rabbinic literature crossing the generations.
The question is how is it dealt with.
We Boruch HaShem have many Rabbonim to whom we can turn for direction in this matter.
I went to someone who came to America and claims he could look at kvitels and somehow he will slove all my problems but he wanted $100 per name. I asked him if he guarentees that my problems will be fixed if he looks at it he said no and I walked out.
These guys all have a PhD. in “Gonifology”. However, there are nebach so many people who have unmanageable problems and put their last hope in these shyklocks. In our community as soon as someone is condemmed, he gets a much greater following. Because its obvious the reason that he is being condemmed is because he can really heal and these “fake” rebbes don’t want these healers to do their job.
As soon as you say some quack alternative medicine is no good, the response is AHA, it probably works so the pharmaceutical companies don’t want people should use it and get healed so they could make all the money. You can’t win.
A fool and his money are easily parted.
You have a few yidden truying to earn a living and everyone is jumping on them. Us yidden are never at a loss in creating new ideas how to make money. Reminds me of once by kapporas when I was paying the owner for buying a few chickens he says to me that ‘us chassidim know how to make money from every mitzvah that’s out there. The only mitzvah I’ve yet to find a way to make money’ he says ‘is Tashlich, but I’m working on it’
To #9 “Goyishe evil spirits”…u talk as if u knw!
There are plenty of reputable and noted stories of “goyish evil spirits” written in all sorts of seforim…Koach hatumah as it is called exists very much and so does stupidity which is wat u are showing now!
all this(eyen hora) is in the metaphysical.(spiritual) realm which requires belief.as anyone knows belief is the opposit of or cannot be proven by logical proofs.if one believes in such occurances a removel can be helpfull.that being said there is no requirement to fear such opinions in halacha.the rambam doesnt require it in the 10 beliefs.i dont believe the rif or the rosh require it either.may i put forth the belief in hashem umoshe avdo is a pretty good way of going thru life without being intrusive on others.
I’ll do it for twenty!
Do I hear ten? Ten? Ten going once…
Ken ain hara’ah, this thread is growing by leaps and bounds!
I don’t understand all of u who r so angry at the fact that money is charged. This rabbi lebel for example- why should he travel around helping people and NOT take money? After all it seems that this is how he also earns a decent living. Should a doctor who heals the body also not charge any money?! I don’t see the difference. I know Rav Westheim personally as he has been a family friend since youth and I trust his judgment. There are quite a few trustworthy ehrliche yidden out there who have a mesorah how to remove the ayin hora from a person.
If you believe in ayin hora, then it is not a scam that an ayin hora can be removed.
I have no doubt that giving tzedaka, paying workers on time, and doing t’shuva removes not only ayin hora but also other evil decrees.
Let’s be dan l’kaf schuss and assume this man charges money to simply show people these obvious methods of removing ayin hora
you can get this same service much cheaper,just go to any rundown manhattan neighborhood,where you will see a storefront advertising a gipsy fortune teller,and she will give you the same service for half the price.
reading some of the ignorant comments on this story,makes me ashamed of my co-religionists,what a CHILLUL HASHEM this is
the comparison is very valid,both of them can help you equally,and both of them are rip off artist’s.
i realy can’t understad,why oh why,are frum jews so gullible and fall for every con artist’s who comes along? aren’t we jews supposed to be the ‘AM NAVON VCHACHAM’
why is this a scam, the gemorah says if a person is lo kapid, the ayin harah won’t affect him. If you give the 50 dollars, you will think the ayin harah is gone, therefore the person will be lo kapid and memaylah the ayn horah won’t affect him. It is a very sophisticated placebo affect (or effect, I’m not sure) :>)
U know what guys? Better u all keep ur head in the sand and make this into a laughing matter. May Hashem help u should never have to deal with this because ur lives r so great. But one thing I ask: if u find to have to right to laugh off something in the gemora, tomorrow will u laugh at something else that’s in the gemorah…? And the day after that??….
Could we leave it at this: If you believe in Ayin Hora and it causes you anxiety, and if by eliminating it you will feel better…go and do it…if you want to pay, pay…whatever works for the person. It’s like saying that wine from havdalah will cure worts…if you believe in it…it may…I’m trying to get rid of mine…put on the wine, (seriously) thinking..it is something we mada brocha on, maybe maybe there is something to it. Nothing happening. Not for me. Others have told me it works. Who knows…we need zechusim for everything. I’m still looking for a solution.
There is such a thing as placebo affect. It is very very real. Just recently read a whole article and studies about placebo effects.So…if it works.. it works. Live and let live.