Rav Moshe Sternbuch: Har Nof Massacre

  Rav Sternbuch 

Rav Sternbuch's shul at the time of the attack

Haf Nof Massacre: Rav Malinowitz

Har Nof massacre: Widows ask that everyone be more loving and caring

Book Review: "Why Evolution Matters: A Jewish Approach" (2014)

available at Amazon

Why Evolution Matters: A Jewish Approach (2014)

JOEL YEHUDAH RUTMAN  is a graduate of Brandeis and Harvard Medical School with Board certification in Pediatrics and in Neurology with Special Competence in Child Neurology . He has been involved in clinical care and teaching of pediatric neurology for many years . Since graduation from Orthodox Jewish institutions in Cleveland , Ohio , he has had a second career as a professional hazzan ( cantor).

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I recently came across this book. It is written by a prominent pediatric neurologist (Harvard Medical School). It is also quite expensive – over $75 on Amazon over $100 on eBay.

He is obviously well acquainted with biology – however I was disappointed about how he dealt with the fundamental questions of  Evolution and Religion. Anybody who disagreed with him - e.g., the Lubavitche Rebbe  he simply dismissed - meaning those who rejected Evolution or those want to keep the two compartmentalized or those who want to reject religion. Thus there is no meaningful discussion about the Scientific issues. He also didn't display a sophisticated level of understanding of the theological issues. He takes for granted that Science is correct and that Evolution is true and that what he explains with Evolution can not be explained otherwise.

His purpose is simply to show that one can reasonably believe in the Torah and Evolution. However he fails to demonstrate why his position of accepting Religion and Evolution should be accepted by someone who rejects either Science or Religion – and in fact he doesn't really try. He is basically taking Rabbi Kelman's approach of Permission to Believe and showing that it is not irrational to accept both Evolution and Religion -  without having to prove the validity of either.

I copied part of his Introduction and his conclusion

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This book is organized around three questions:
 

First Question: How can Judaism insist on a Creator God when evolution informs us that everything out there just happened - with no plan, no purpose? The answer requires an overview, however sketchy, of cosmic and biologic evolution (chapters 2 to 3). This is followed by the main point of the book, which is a proposed way of understanding evolution that is compatible with an intended world (chapters 4 to 6).

Second Question: Where do Genesis and evolution agree or disagree? The answer requires us to look at the Genesis text for its religious, rather than scientific, messages (chapters 7 and 8). Chapter 9 explains the contribution of evolutionary science to Jewish concepts of suffering and death.
 

Third Question: How does human evolution relate to moral behaviour? The answers will require a brief summary of human evolution and brain development and their contribution to Judaism's ideas of free will (chapters 10, 11 and 12).

NOTES

1. Among notable works in this area are: N. Slifkin, The Challenge of Creation: Judaism's Encounter with Science, Cosmology and Evolution (http://www. zoororah.corn, Zoo Torah, 2006); G. Cantor and M. Swerlirz (eds), jewish Tradition GIld the Challenge of Darwinism (Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 2006); ~!'S. Cherry, 'Creation, Evolution and jewi h Thought' (Unpublished PhD dissertation, Brandeis University, 200]); A. Carmel and C. Dornb (eds), Challenge: Torah Views 011 Science and Its Problems (Jerusalem and New York: Feldheim, 1978}. The Catholic Church, relying on its Patristic tradition of biblical interpretation, hJS been increasingly supportive of Darwinian evolution. For instance, the 2009 conference on Catholic teaching and evolution at the Pontifical Gregorian Institute in Rome assumed without protest the validity of biological evolution. Conservative Protestantism has been more wary, as detailed in R.l. Numbers, The Creationists. From Scientific Creationism to Intelligent Design (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2006).

2. Slifkin, The Challenge of Creation, p.20.

3, Quoted in D, Hartman, Israelis and Jewish Tradition (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2000), p.95.

4. Tanakh. The Holy Scriptures (Philadelphia, PA: Jewish Publication Society, 1985).

5. Hebrew-English Edition of the Babylonian Talmud (London: Soncino, J 990).

6. Daniel Gordis, 'The Shape and Meaning of Biblical History ', Azure, 45 (Summer 5771/201 J), pp.80-1.

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The Answers 

First Question: How can God be considered to have created the world when, according to evolution, everything just happened? The answer is that evolution did not just happen. The predictability and progress of evolution mark it as intended (Chapters 1 to 6).

Second Question: How can we believe in the truth of Genesis when it conflicts with the facts of evolution? The answer is that Genesis is a religious text, a source of purpose, meaning and values, rather than a scientific text. Evolution's facts deepen our appreciation of Judaism's truths - as in issues related to suffering and death (Chapters 7 to 9).

Third Question: How does human evolution relate to human moral behaviour? The answer is that even though we evolved, as have all other species, we are nevertheless intended and unique; even though evolution explains much of our moral behaviour, divine law remains necessary; and even though our brain function is heavily determined we retain free will (Chapters 10 to 12).

Funeral of brave Druse policeman who stopped Har Nof Massacre - attended by thousands from diverse communities

Arutz 7    The funeral for a Druze police officer killed in yesterday's terrorist attack in Jerusalem has begun in his home town of Yanuh-Jat.

Sergeant Major Zidan Seif (30) was shot in a firefight with terrorists as he heroically intervened to stop the massacre at the Kehillat Yaakov synagogue in Har Nof; he died of his wounds late Tuesday night.

 His funeral began at 2 p.m.

Thousands were in attendance, including leaders of the Druze, Jewish, Christian and Muslim communities, as well as President Reuven Rivlin, Minister of Public Security Yitzhak Aharonvich (Yisrael Beytenu), and Police Commissioner Yohanan Danino.

"Zidan entered into the heart of hell, boldly and without fear," Police Commissioner Yohanan Danino stated. "He risked his life for the security of Israeli citizens." 

"The actions of Zidan and his colleagues saved the day," he continued. "It was a rapid and professional response, which avoided any more people from being hurt and prevented the terrorists from widening the scope of the attack as they intended."

"Israel owes a deep debt to Zidan," Danino said," a deep debt for this person and this excellent officer, a debt to remember his greatness, his career, his character, his belief in justice, bravery and courage. This is the legacy of Zidan, and as such is eternal."

"The strength of Zidan, a hero, strengthens and unites us into one family," Danino added. "We are strengthened in light of his memory and his legacy of fearlessness as a cop."

President Reuven Rivlin eulogized Zidan as well, noting that he acted out of a deep sense of human values. 

"Yesterday morning, terror struck in Jerusalem again," Rivlin stated, adding that it "does not distinguish between people, between blood and blood. [...]

Many hundreds of hareidi Jewish mourners are also present, after a campaign urging community members to attend the went viral online and on Whatsapp. Buses were charted from Jerusalem to accommodate the high number of requests.

"He protected our brothers in prayer with his own body - we have come to show him our gratitude and sanctify God's Name," said one of the organizers of the hareidi initiative. He added that buses were arranged, free of charge, from central Jerusalem, sponsored by hareidi donors seeking to honor Seif's memory.

Hareidi websites have also been publishing a psak halakha (religious ruling) by former Sephardic Chief Rabbi and Shas spiritual leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, who ruled that "A Druze soldier on duty who defended Israel against its enemy... and was killed at the hands of the Ishmaelites (Arabs), for the sake of guarding the security of Israel, it is correct to recite for him hashkava [a Jewish prayer for the dead - ed.] in the synagogue for his soul."[...]

What is the meaning of "the other" in Judaism, Psychology and Sociology?

My current investigation of the concept of judging others has led to a much more basic issue - what exactly is meant by "the other".

It is clear that this is a very fundamental idea underlying a lot of halacha, hashkofa and psychology. "Judge others favorably", Don't judge others until you are in their place. Be kind to the stranger. Love others as yourself, Don't torment others,  woman is the other, Satan is the other, Amalek is the other, Why was Acher named Acher?, cherem and kares make a person into the other, t  etc etc

WHAT IS THE CONCEPT OF THE OTHER? Is it simply whatever lies outside of yourself?' In other words is it "not you".

I have come across one book [which is out of print] that deals with this האחר -בין אדם לעצמו ולזולתו עורים חיים דויטש מנחם בן ששון

ה"אחר “הגדרתו ומעמדו הם נושאים הזוכים לתשומת לב רבה"בעולם כולו; יש העוסקים ב"אחר" כדי להגדיר לעצמם את זהותם, הפרטית והקיבוצית ; יש המבקשים למצוא בו את מהות המוסר שבגישה האלטרואיסטית, ויש המוצאים בו את המפתח לפרשיות היסטוריות סבוכות, העובדה שהעם היהודי נתפס לאורך ההיסטוריה כאחר טבועה היטב בזיכרון הקיבוצי ובתודעה הלאומית היהודית - הן בסיפר הקיבוצי והן בהנחיות העשייה הנתלות בו ; למן הצורך לאהוב את האחר-הגר, השב ומופיע במקרא 36 פעמים, ועד להצהרותיה של מגילת העצמאות באשר למקומו של האחר כמיעוט במדינה המודרנית המתוקנת, הבסיס ליחסים חברתיים כוללים נמצא ביחס שבין אדם לחברו, שעל עבירות שביניהם אין הקב"ה סולח עד שירצו זה את זה, הצורך באהבת הרע, המשמש בסיס לכל התורה, הוא התשתית לקיומה של החברה, ליד הציוויים לאהבת האחר ולשמירת זכויותיו, יש גם ביטויים קשים של הררת האחר, דמוניזציה שלו, שנאה כלפיו ונכונות לכוון אליו את הקשה שבפגיעות, באסופת מאמרים זו נעסוק במושג ה"אחר בעיקר בהקשר היהודי"כדי להציע תשתית עיונית לשיח המתנהל בעולם המודרני בכלל ובישראל בפרט, נביא דיונים עקרוניים וננתח דוגמאות ספרותיות והיסטוריות בכלים חינוכיים, משפטיים, הגותיים, סוציולוגיים ופסיכולוגיים. בחרנו לעסוק בנושא זה גם משום שהיה קרוב מאוד ללבו של בן, חבר ודמות מופת לסובלנות, שמת בדמי ימיו, דודי דויטש ז"ל. דודי הרבה להדגיש - הן בדיבורים והן במעשים - את הצורך לדון את כל האדם לכף זכות ולהוביל את החכרה לאחדית למרות הפערים הגדולים שבה. כדי להביע את הרב-גוניות והרב-תרבותיות של החברה שבה נוצר קובץ זה, חברו לברר את שאלת האחר נציגים ממגוון תחומים - גברים ונשים, שומרי מצווות .. וחופשיים, אנשי הלכה ומשפט, מטפלים ואנשי אקדמיה, מחנכים וראשי מוסדות, ילידי הארץ ועולים. אין אנו מתיימרים להקיף בספו זה את הנושא מכל צדדיו ולא נעלם מאתנו שיש עוד "אחרים" שחשוב להתמקר בהם. כאמור, בחרנו להתמקד בנושאים שהבאנו מתוך תקווה לתרומה צנועה לשיח בתחום

Har Nof massacre: 4 killed in shul during prayers 1 policeman killed during rescue & 8 wounded

update CNN Hours after the attack, a policeman shot during the rampage while pulling a woman to safety died from his wounds,  The latest victim has been identified as Zidan Seyf, 27, a police officer from the Arab [Druse] village town of Yanuh-Jat, located in northern Israel, northeast of the city of Akko.

YNet   has descriptions of the 4 rabbis
 
ynet         see also   NY Times
 

Four people were killed Tuesday morning in a terror attack on a synagogue and yeshiva in the Har Nof neighborhood in Jerusalem. Eight others were wounded; four are in moderate to serious condition. Two police officers were among the wounded.

Two terrorists wielding axes, knives and guns arrived at around 7:30 am at the site on Harav Shimon Agassi Street, which includes a synagogue and yeshiva (rabbinical seminary), and carried out attacks in more than one location.

The terrorists were killed, following a gunfight with security forces who arrived at the scene. According to an initial investigation the terrorists came from East Jerusalem. The wounded were taken to Shaare Zedek Medical Center and Hadassah Ein Kerem. [...]

"This is an area with a number of rooms," said Megen David Adom spokesman Zaki Heller. 

"The Wounded were scattered throughout different rooms and the paramedics who arrived at the scene dispersed to deliver first aid. The wounded were quickly evacuated by ambulance to hospital."

He said,"It is definitely true to say that the image there - of casualties wearing prayer shawls - are very difficult." 

Akiva, a Magen David Adom paramedic, said that when he arrived he saw a worshiper with stab wounds. "Inside there was someone singing. I ran into the synagogue, there was a gunshot victim lying on the floor. I tried to treat him, but the gunfire started in my direction and we fled. I pulled the wounded man along. The police arrived and surrounded the entrance and then the terrorist ran out and they shot him. there was wild gunfire. People ran out of the synagogue. It was hell." [...]

An official Hamas statement said that the attack was a response to the death of bus driver Yusuf Hassan al-Ramouni, who was found hanged at a Jerusalem bus terminal Sunday night.

While al-Ramouni's family claimed foul play, autopsy results confirmed police's suspicion of suicide on Monday afternoon.

Why the RCA conversion system is best by Rabbi Mark Dratch

Times of Israel    In a recent JTA Op-Ed, Rabbis Marc Angel and Avi Weiss made a number of claims about the Rabbinical Council of America’s conversion system. While some of their arguments have merit, they paint only a partial picture of what we’re doing in the North American modern Orthodox community. And some of their arguments are just wrong

“The Israeli government recently moved to decentralize the conversion system by allowing local courts to convert individuals on their own.”

Yes and no. Conversion authority was extended only to courts run by municipal rabbis. Most rabbis in Israel still are not authorized to perform conversions. In fact, the new system is an Israeli version of the RCA’s current structure.

“The RCA accredits only those conversions conducted under RCA’s batei din, or rabbinical courts, using the GPS process.”

Individual rabbis are not barred from conducting conversions, and those who do still perform their own conversions find that they are accepted in their communities and by those who respect their conversions (no different than the model advocated by Rabbis Angel and Weiss). If the halachic standards of those conversions are accepted by the RCA’s Beth Din of America, then even those privately conducted conversions will be widely accepted. The advantage of the RCA’s system, known as GPS (for Geirus Policies and Standards), is that conversions performed by its rabbinic tribunals are guaranteed to receive the support of the Beth Din of America.

Centralization is dangerous.

Yes, centralization has the potential for corruption and abuse. That is why there were checks and balances built into the GPS system, why we do our best to ensure our batei din are comprised of people of integrity, and why – in light of the lacunae identified in the Rabbi Barry Freundel case – we are reviewing the entire system with a commitment to improve it.

But a decentralized system is also subject to corruption and abuse – even more so. Who supervises the individual rabbi and protects the conversion candidate from the same possible abuses that Rabbis Angel and Weiss are concerned about? Who protects that rabbi from undue political and financial pressures that may compromise his judgment? Who protects converts and their descendants from rabbis who “sell” conversions or whose conversions are not widely accepted? [...]

Halacha versus Middos:Understanding Eliezer's process of identifying Yitzhok's future wife

I have been spending a lot of time trying to understanding the distinction between halacha and middos.  Dr. Benny Brown's article  has been very helpful.

With this context I noticed what seems to be a discrepancy between the Torah description of G-d's designating or chosing Rivka as Yitzchok's future wife - and Rashi's explanation that she was fit to be because of her midos.  [Of course this is also tied up with the issue of whether Eliezer was praying for G-d's assistance or whether he was using prohibited divination.]

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The language of the Torah is that the woman who gives water to Eliezer and his camels it הֹכַחְתָּ; which means to prove, to appoint, to admonish, to instruct, chose, selected, indicated. All of which indicates something similar to psak - there is one correct answer. Thus there is no inherent relationship between the process Eliezer chose and the results. This is why Chullin 95b says that Eliezer was using Divination to find a wife for Yitzchok. An omen which is not after the form pronounced by Eliezer, Abraham's servant, or by Jonathan the son of Saul, is not considered a divination

Bereishis (24:14) says  And let it come to pass, that the girl to whom I shall say, Let down your water jar, I beg you, that I may drink; and she shall say, Drink, and I will give your camels drink also; let the same be she whom you have appointed (or designated) for your servant Isaac; and thereby shall I know that You have shown kindness to my master.

ספר בראשית פרק כד

(יד) וְהָיָה הַנַּעֲרָ אֲשֶׁר אֹמַר אֵלֶיהָ הַטִּי נָא כַדֵּךְ וְאֶשְׁתֶּה וְאָמְרָה שְׁתֵה וְגַם גְּמַלֶּיךָ אַשְׁקֶה אֹתָהּ הֹכַחְתָּ לְעַבְדְּךָ לְיִצְחָק וּבָהּ אֵדַע כִּי עָשִׂיתָ חֶסֶד עִם אֲדֹנִי:
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In contrast Rashi says [Rav Chavell's translation ] . HER THOU HAST APPOINTED FOR THY SERVANT, EVEN FOR ISAAC. Rashi comments: "She is fit for him since she is charitable and worthy of admission into the house of Abraham."

According to Rashi the process is inherently related to the results. She has to show the proper midos of chesed and kindness. Rashi uses a different term "fitting" or "appropriate". then the Torah and he asserts that the Torah is saying that if she passes this test of midos it will show that G-d will approve of her.

רש"י על בראשית פרק כד פסוק יד
(יד) אותה הוכחת - ראויה היא לו שתהא גומלת חסדים וכדאי ליכנס בביתו של אברהם ולשון הוכחת ביררת אפרוביש"ט בלע"ז (דו האסט בעשיעדען):

In sum, Torah expresses that the test or sign that Eliezer is using will determine the woman that G-d has already designated for Yitzhok. There is only one correct answer. On the other hand Rashi is clearly saying that the critical concern is that she have the midos (values) that make her fitting for Yitzchok and therefore he will test her middos. Even if she passes the midos test it is a necessary but not sufficient condition to be Yitzhok's wife. There are many women who can pass the test. She also has to be from Avraham's family and he hopes that G-d will help out by having a family member take and pass the test. Thus Rashi is best understood as praying for assistance from G-d in a process which is rational and task related. It is is not divination at all.

Only 1/8 of reported sexual offenses lead to indictments

YNET    Only one in eight sex crime cases made it to court in 2013, according to a report from the Association of Rape Crisis Centers in Israel which will be presented to the Committee on the Status of Women and Gender Equality on Monday. 

According to the report, which is based on data from the state prosecution, 5,238 sex crime cases were handled by the prosecution last year. Out of that, only in 594 cases indictments were filed. In most cases, 71.4 percent, the cases were closed due to the lack of evidence.  [...]

The statistics showed that only 15 percent of cases that reached crisis centers were reported to the police. Seventy-eight percent involved offenses against women, and 13 percent involved male victims. [...]

A village where people with severe dementia live happy lives

The Guardian   Dementia is widely acknowledged to be one of the most pressing problems facing health and social care systems. A report published this year by the World Health Organisation predicted that a continually ageing population in the developed world would mean the number of people with the condition was likely to double, to more than 65 million, by 2030, and treble 20 years later. [...]

Over the past few months, experts from around the world – Germany, the US, Australia, soon Britain – have been flocking to the unassuming small Dutch town of Weesp, half an hour south-east of Amsterdam, to see how one pioneering institution is dealing with that challenge. Hogewey, where Jo Verhoeff lives, has developed an innovative, humane and apparently affordable way of caring for people with dementia.

"What happened," says Isabel van Zuthem, Hogewey's information officer, sitting at a cafe table on the home's wide and welcoming piazza, an ornamental fountain playing behind her, "is that back in 1992, when this was still a traditional nursing home for people with dementia – you know: six storeys, anonymous wards, locked doors, crowded dayrooms, non-stop TV, central kitchen, nurses in white coats, heavy medication – two of the staff who worked here unexpectedly lost their mothers.

"Each said to the other: Well, at least it happened quickly, and they didn't end up here; this place is so horrible. Then they realised what they'd just said, and started to think: what kind of home would we like for a relative with dementia? Where might we want to live, maybe, one day? How would we like our life to be; what would we hope to experience?" [...]

The answer turns out to be this smart, low, brick-built complex, completed in early 2010. A compact, self-contained model village on a four-acre site on the outskirts of town, half of it is open space: wide boulevards, cosy side-streets, squares, sheltered courtyards, well-tended gardens with ponds, reeds and a profusion of wild flowers. The rest is neat, two-storey, brick-built houses, as well as a cafe, restaurant, theatre, minimarket and hairdressing salon. [...]

Difficulty in defining/protecting against rape and sexual abuse in college

NY Times     by Jed Rubenfeld is a professor of criminal law at Yale Law School

OUR strategy for dealing with rape on college campuses has failed abysmally. Female students are raped in appalling numbers, and their rapists almost invariably go free. Forced by the federal government, colleges have now gotten into the business of conducting rape trials, but they are not competent to handle this job. They are simultaneously failing to punish rapists adequately and branding students sexual assailants when no sexual assault occurred.

We have to transform our approach to campus rape to get at the root problems, which the new college processes ignore and arguably even exacerbate.

How many rapes occur on our campuses is disputed. The best, most carefully controlled study was conducted for the Department of Justice in 2007; it found that about one in 10 undergraduate women had been raped at college.

But because of low arrest and conviction rates, lack of confidentiality, and fear they won’t be believed, only a minuscule percentage of college women who are raped — perhaps only 5 percent or less — report the assault to the police. Research suggests that more than 90 percent of campus rapes are committed by a relatively small percentage of college men — possibly as few as 4 percent — who rape repeatedly, averaging six victims each. Yet these serial rapists overwhelmingly remain at large, escaping serious punishment.[...]

At Columbia University and Barnard College, more than 20 students have filed complaints against the school for mishandling and rejecting their sexual assault claims. But at Vassar College, Duke University, The University of Michigan and elsewhere, male students who claim innocence have sued because they were found guilty. Mistaken findings of guilt are a real possibility because the federal government is forcing schools to use a lowered evidentiary standard — the “more likely than not” standard, which is much less exacting than criminal law’s “proof beyond a reasonable doubt” requirement — at their rape trials. At Harvard, 28 law professors recently condemned the university’s new sexual assault procedures for lacking “the most basic elements of fairness and due process” and for being “overwhelmingly stacked against the accused.” [...]

Consider the illogical message many schools are sending their students about drinking and having sex: that intercourse with someone “under the influence” of alcohol is always rape. Typical is this warning on a joint Hampshire, Mount Holyoke and Smith website: “Agreement given while under the influence of alcohol or other drugs is not considered consent”; “if you have not consented to sexual intercourse, it is rape.”[...]

According to an idealized concept of sexual autonomy, which has substantial traction on college campuses today, sex is truly and freely chosen only when an individual unambiguously desires it under conditions free of coercive pressures, intoxication and power imbalances. In the most extreme version of this view, many acts of seemingly consensual sex are actually rape. Catherine A. MacKinnon took this position in 1983 when she argued that rape and ordinary sexual intercourse were “difficult to distinguish” under conditions of “male dominance.” [...]

Under this definition, a person who voluntarily gets undressed, gets into bed and has sex with someone, without clearly communicating either yes or no, can later say — correctly — that he or she was raped. This is not a law school hypothetical. The unambiguous consent standard requires this conclusion. [...]

High Court orders annulment of cherem issued by Elad rabbinic court

Jerusalem Post    The High Court of Justice issued a court order demanding that a private rabbinical court in the ultra-Orthodox city of Elad explain why they issued a writ of social exclusion, which is illegal, against a woman who filed a law suit in a civil court instead of a rabbinic one.[...]

The writ was issued by the Central Rabbinical Court of Justice of Elad for Property against the woman, referred to as H.K. to protect her identity, because she filed a complaint with a civil court against a neighbor who was illegally building a porch above her apartment.

In 2013, the attorney-general issued a directive allowing for the criminal prosecution of anyone involved in imposing such decrees.

On Wednesday, the High Court made an injunction against the defendants asking them to explain why the court should not declare that they had acted in contravention of the law in issuing and publicizing the social exclusion order. [...]

The defendants have to submit their response to the High Court by December 31.

“According to the best of our knowledge, Rabbi Malka’s name did not appear on the writ, although this does not negate the responsibility that it [the writ] was issued in the name of the rabbinical court which is run by Rabbi Malka,” the Chief Rabbinate has said regarding the case.

“Rabbi Malka wished to clarify that his position in terms of Jewish law is that writs of social exclusion should not be used at all, and he will investigate how and why his directives were violated.” 

How Fake Fossils Pervert Paleontology

Scientific American     A hotly anticipated press conference was held by National Geographic magazine in Washington DC on 15 October 1999. With much fanfare, they announced the discovery of a new feathered fossil from China that was a chimera with a fascinating mix of characters. A team of paleontologists, enthusiastic amateurs and editorial staff were behind the naming and description of the species, dubbed Archaeoraptor liaoningensis. It was to be unveiled in the November issue of the magazine. [....]

The team behind the announcement had no idea on that fateful October day, but within just a few months Archaeoraptor liaoningensis would be revealed as one of the biggest fossil hoaxes in history, and the chance discovery of another fossil by Chinese Professor Xu Xing was the key to uncovering the deception. Archaeoraptor was soon dubbed the ‘Piltdown bird’ and the ‘Piltdown chicken’ by the press, in reference to the biggest fossil hoax of all time, in which faked remains of putative early hominids were dug up from Piltdown in England in 1912. For National Geographic – a bastion of publishing usually beyond reproach – this embarrassment would be one of the greatest blunders in its 125-year history. 

The problem of faked fossils in China is serious and growing. It is exacerbated by the fact that most of the fossils are pulled from the ground by desperately poor farmers and then sold on to dealers and museums rather than being found by paleontologists on fossil digs, which is how specimens are discovered in most other parts of the world.
Liaoning, an impoverished and heavily industrialized province of northeastern China, has been a center for paleontological activity since the early 1990s, when many early bird fossils were found there. When Sinosauropyteryx – the first known feathered dinosaur – was discovered there in 1996, it spurred a fossil hunting gold rush the likes of which had never been seen before.[...]

Another much more serious problem, however, is posed by forged, faked and manipulated specimens – such as National Geographic’s Archaeoraptor – which are becoming increasingly common. Farmers who dig for fossils do so to supplement their meagre incomes and are well aware that complete and spectacular specimens are worth far more than the fragmentary remains. Some don’t even realize they are faking specimens and combine pieces of different fossils found at the same locale. In the most extreme cases, this manipulation is intentional, involving fossils found at disparate locations. It sounds crude, but even the experts have to look carefully to detect the trickery when master forgers have been at work. [...]

Subsequent detailed CT scans by Rowe ultimately revealed that Archaeoraptor was glued together from 88 different pieces of a number of different fossils. Significantly, two of those were species unknown to science, making the specimens important in their own right. The tail was from Microraptor, then the smallest dinosaur ever discovered (see chapter 7), while the front half was a primitive bird that subsequently named Yanornis in a 2002 Nature paper entitled ‘Archaeoraptor’s better half’.

Luis Chiappe says it’s puzzling how the description of Archaeoraptor ended up in print in National Geographic, as ‘the red flag for that one should have been raised long before it got to that point’. With hindsight it seemed obvious that the animal was a chimera of bird and dinosaur features, he says, but it was put together with great skill. [...]

China’s new fossil industry has appeared in the blink of an eye and its paleontological community is still finding its feet, but if Chinese authorities and museums are going to maintain their credibility, they will have to tackle the problem of faked fossils and the trafficking of fossils overseas. A remarkable series of finds has given us a window into a weird and unexpected world, but the trade in faked, manipulated and illegally obtained fossils has tainted what are otherwise spectacular collections.