Mish-take

It is with a very heavy heart that I come to you today.


I'm not really sure how it all came about, but it has been discovered by one of the administrators(Cary) of the blogs of Mish Weiss and Leah Friedman, that there is no evidence that either one exist.

Yes, dear people it has all been a colossal con job.

I don't understand why someone would do this and go to all of the trouble that they did in telling these stories.

They were presented as the truth, not some college kid's creative writing project.


I am surprised at all of the detailed medical information, about the Acute Myeloid Leukemia and treatments. I mean, I have known people with AML and my own mother has cancer. There were so many specifics about treatments and medications. I almost wonder if the writer of the blog wasn't a medical student with too much time on their hands.



But here is the oddest part of it all, neither blog asked for any type of monetary compensation.



What's the purpose of such an elaborate con if not for monetary gain? Attention? Perverse sense of "pulling one over" on unsuspecting G-dly people?


I don't know maybe if they had asked for money, every one's "spidey sense" would have immediately gone up and the jig would have been up.


I was really shocked to say the least, I have expended so many tears over the supposed lives of these two young ladies. I have prayed so much.

"Mish's" story was so heartbreaking, yet hopeful; losing parents at age 12, being taken in by her aunt who was battling breast cancer, getting involved with drugs and alcohol shortly thereafter, getting pregnant, giving birth at sixteen, giving the child up for adoption. And the most wrenching of all making contact with the now 12 year-old daughter and her adoptive family, and wonder of wonders the child is able to be a bone marrow donor for her birth mother. Writing it all down like that now, I see that it is too fantastic to be real.


I am only taking comfort in the saying "We are never closer to G-d as when we are praying for someone else." Hopefully G-d knows and recognizes these prayers as someone with a good intention.
Please accept my profound and heartfelt apology for getting you, my dear blogging friends involved with this. I was brought up in church and went to a Parochial school and as such I have always tried to conduct myself honorably, ethically, and most importantly honestly.


I feel like this whole situation has damaged my credibility with you, my blog buddies. Especially at times when I have asked for and received your prayers for my mom.


Last year my blog buddy Moonbeam McQueen was caught up in a similar situation. Again the person didn't ask for money, only attention.


I am heartbroken that I let myself get so involved with this scam. Again please accept my most heartfelt apology for involving you in this mess!


What follows is a comment from the "Leah" blog, that Cary(the administrator) had left on Steve Graham's Tools of Renewal site. I have both their permissions to repost here.


I am so, so sorry.







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I thought I would re-post this Anonymous comment that was left on the “Leah Friedman” blog. http://leahmetermaid.blogspot.com/-“It’s not hard to understand. Leah and Mish are the creation of a sad and lonely person desperately looking for attention and validation. Whoever made this up, hasn’t committed any crime but they have abused the trust of hundreds if not thousands of people. They have also apparently pulled at some heartstrings and gotten personally involved with a number of men, including Cary as one very severe example. This “scam” wasn’t particularly well executed. It didn’t take long for us to determine that both Mish and Leah, while creatively executed, are completely fictional characters. There is no one like Mish in any Oncology ward in any hospital not just in Jerusalem but in all of Israel. This has been confirmed by a number of Doctors who would be in a position to have access to such information. None of that information is private: mere residence in an Oncology ward is not privileged information. Furthermore, Leah claims to have dated a man called Avi, an Oleh (new immigrant) from Detroit who died in the 2nd Lebanon War. In an odd coincidence, not one of the casualties in that war, either civilian or military, was called either Avi or Avner nor were any of the casualties new olim from Detroit. Look it up for yourself:
http://www.pmo.gov.il/PMOEng/Communication/IsraelUnderAttack/Lebanon+North/attacklebanonnorth.htm
Still, this was a masterful piece of entertainment and a fantastic study in human psychology. Mish’s blog is now no longer public and by invitation only and people persist in believing the really bad lies perpetrated by the person in question. This despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. I could continue but is there really a point? Do you need to know that a highly placed IDF officer with access to manpower records told us that there is no record of a 28 year old female member of the IDF that remotely resembles Mish? That we checked and double checked every possibility with this officer and couldn’t find anyone at all matching that description?
No by now it should be clear to even the most thick headed individual out there that Mish and Leah DO NOT EXIST. Guess everyone’s prayers have been answered. Mish won’t die because she is the made up product of a feverish and imbalanced imagination. But bravo! Good job! You had nearly everyone fooled!”