Rabbi Meir Baal Hanes to find a shidduch

It is with trepidation I write this -- the last time I wrote about Rabbi Meir Baal Hanes I got hundreds of hits for people seeking to buy underpants. But anyway, here goes.

Shirat Devorah posts about a new development in the always exciting field of segulos:

Received via email from a friend of a friend of a friend....

(A true story)

A young lady was waiting for her basherte. But time was quickly ticking by and she was desperate to find him... She went over to her 'fridge where there was a magnetic segulah (see picture on right) for Rabbi Meir Baal HaNess (the Master of the Miracle). Taking some coins from her purse, the young lady dropped it into a tzedaka box whilst reciting this heartfelt request:

"Dear Hashem, I am donating these coins in the merit of the Sage Rabbi Meir baal HaNess. I have lost my basherte, PLEASE, PLEASE HASHEM LET ME FIND HIM SOON!!!"

And yes. So it was. Within a short while she was engaged to be married.

I can't guarantee the soul mate, but I can tell you that my mother once lost a very valuable diamond ring, I dropped some money in the Rabbi Baal Ha"ness pushka, said a prayer, and the ring was found within minutes.

I think I'll add some justification to this. In the beginning of maseches Kiddushin, we learn:

דתניא: ר"ש אומר מפני מה אמרה תורה "כי יקח איש אישה" (דברים כב,כד) ולא כתב "כי תלקח אשה לאיש"? מפני שדרכו של איש לחזר על אשה ואין דרכה של אשה לחזר על איש, משל לאדם שאבדה לו אבידה - מי חוזר על מי? בעל האבידה מחזר על אבידתו.

From Point by Point Summary, for a quick translation:

1. (Beraisa - R. Shimon) Question: Why did the Torah said that a man takes a woman, and not vice-versa?
2. Answer (R. Shimon): Because it is the way of the man to purse the woman, not vice-versa;

i. Woman was taken (created) from man - it is natural that the one who lost an object, he looks for it.

Thus, one's spouse might be termed a lost article, and the segulah is indeed appropriate!

The "problem" with this is that if we consider the gemara and braysa more carefully, we see that only the woman is considered the avaidah, not the man. Yet in the feminist story being circulated by email, the woman is the one who cannot find her lost article. This segulah is contrary to halacha!

OK, I am speaking a bit facetiously.

Even so, I would deem this chiddush, an innovation -- and not a good one. Whatever you think of the advisability and efficacy of the original segulah -- to find lost articles, at least this is an established one. But now, not only is the standard and time-tested hishtadlus coupled with tefillah insufficient, but all the well-established segulos are insufficient. People practice magic, and experiment. 'Well, this magic worked for this, so even though none of the seforim hakedoshim talk of using it for a shidduch, and talk instead of other segulos, I'm going to try this.' This is the way folk-religious grows, organically.

That it worked for this particular maidel does not convince me in the least. Tons of people are trying segulos, and probably some of them are experimenting in this way with new segulos. And at the same time, they are actively dating and praying. And there is something called Regression Towards the Mean which ensures that at least in some of these cases, the tested segulah will appear to work. Now that this is being forwarded around by email to the credulous and superstitious, I would guess that a lot more maidels will try this segulah, and that in some instances, it will appear to work. Such that ten years from now, this may well be one of the standard, "tested and tried" segulos.

Two Segulos to Cure a Toothache

Prompted by a recent Hirhurim post, I did a bit of investigations of segulos to cure a toothache.

Here is one that appears to be popular:

סגולה לכאב שיניים לומר לחש זה מול הירח ג` פעמים ":אליהו זכור לטוב היה מהלך בדרך ופגע בו איש אחד ואמר לו רבי יש לי כאב שיניים והשיב לו כשם שריפא הקב"ה את נעמן מצרעתו , כן ירפא הקב"ה אותך מחולי הנקרא כאב שיניים,

To translate: A segulah for a toothache, to say this incantation three times under the moon. "Eliyahu, zachur latov, was walking on the road, and a man met him and said to him, "my master, I have a toothache. And he responded to him: Just as Hashem cured Naaman from his leprosy, so shall {/should} Hashem cure you from the sickness called toothache."

This is somewhat mystifying. I understand the tangential connection of Eliyahu to curing toothaches, because there is a gemara in which Eliyahu haNavi, in the guise of Rabbi Chiya Rabba, cures a toothache of Rabbi Yehuda haNasi by touching his tooth.

But what is the connection to leprosy? And why should Eliyahu haNavi refer to the curing of Naaman, which was done by Elisha, not Eliyahu? And why specifically under the moon? And why specifically three times, which makes it very much like a superstitious incantation?

And why is the cure for a toothache to relate a story about someone else who had a toothache and was cured by Eliyahu?!

Then I saw the following, from a book called Witchcraft, Healing and Popular Diseases, volume 6.

That is, in the 19th century, in Wales, there was also a charm to cure a toothache, which involves telling a story about how Peter had a toothache, and Jesus cured him. In (5), we see that there is a parallel between curing other diseases and curing a toothache. I would note that in the New Testament, mention is made of Jesus healing lepers (as well as reference to Elisha doing the same).

My strong suspicion is that this began as a Christian folk-cure / superstition, and some enterprising individual modified the text of the cure to be more Jewish. Thus, Jesus walking down the road became Eliyahu Hanavi walking down the road. Peter became just some unnamed person with a toothache. And Jesus healing a leper became Elisha healing Naaman.

The threefold repetition in the segulah is because it is indeed a superstitious and forbidden magical incantation. Under the moon in the segulah is because so many of these forbidden magical incantations to cure toothaches are said under the moon.

To cite The Dental Cosmos:

INCANTATION TO THE MOON Very many toothache charms are devoted to tbe moon. Some of them show a close, almost literal resemblance to each other, so that we may confine ourselves to the recital of one or two paradigms of each type.

And to cite the Psychoanalytic Review, which references threefold repetition as well as the moon:

The Japanese believe the sun and the moon to be the father and the mother of the Kami (gods). In a great number of toothache charms the invocation of the moon is combined with the number three in some form...

From the New Ireland Review:

I have already given three or four other charms against this complaint, but this particular charm is to be said on one's first seeing the New Moon. ANOTHER CHARM AGAINST TOOTHACHE. Seven Paters, an Ave, a creed and a prayer...

and so on and so forth.

It is sad that such passes as holy Jewish tradition, when it is just superstition and idolatry made to sound Jewish.

This brings me to the second segulah, via Hirhurim, which is either simply saying kiddush levana or saying something specific in Kiddush Levana. Thus, the Lubavitcher Rebbe, in Igros Kodesh, mentions that kiddush levana is a segulah for the teeth. In English:

Surely you scrupulously observe Kiddush Levanah — which is a segulah for the teeth. ...

Or as Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky taught, saying specific words in Kiddush Levana:

The increasingly mystical Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky teaches[1] that for a toothache, it is a “segula m'kadmonim", a segula from early generations, to add several words to the Kiddush Levana at a specific point in the prayer for relief from toothaches. After one has recited the passage of “kach lo yuchlu kol oyvai lingoa bi lera'a", so too, may my enemies not be able to harm me, one should immediately add “velo yehiye li ke’ev shinayim", and I should no longer have a toothache.

It seems that the Lubavitcher Rebbe concurred with the efficacy of this segula, as well.[2] This segula is also cited in the siddur "Beit Yaakov" of Rabbi Yaakov Emden. Rabbi Kanievsky adds that his father would recite these additional words not only for himself when needed, but also on behalf of others who were suffering from toothaches. The reason why teeth are associated with the moon and Kiddush Levana is because these words are all closely related to the word, lavan.

I would note that if you say this after kach lo yuchlu, it would seem that you are doing a threefold repetition. Unless it is only after the third time. Also, it is said under the moon, just as these other clearly superstitious practices are. Even though Rav Yaakov Emden did this, the Steipler did this, Rav Kanievsky promotes it, I would still call it superstition and possible Darkei Emori. And would say that this is an unfortunate direction in which to take kiddush levana.

The segulah of Amtelai bas Karnevo

(Cross-posted from parshablog)

Life in Israel takes note of an interesting segulah, which I hadn't heard of before -- that of saying Amtelai bas Karnevo, who midrashically is Avraham Avinu' mother, some number of times in order to get hatzlacha for X. Seems awfully superstitious to me. But anyway, he writes:

Today I found out that it is not just frum jews who are driven by the segulah craze, doing every segulah they hear of and ascribing more importance to many segulahs than to basic mitzvahs and behaviors. Traditional Jews always were known to do segulahs too, but today i found out the secular Jews do segulahs as well.

It seems there is a "segulah" to say the name Amtelai Bas Karnevo in order to be granted success. After some discussion with a secular jew who has done this and knows other people who do it as well, it seems it is a generic segulah and can be used for hatzlacha in almost any endeavor - she used it for a university test...

See there for the particular form of the segulah. He asks what its basis is. So I did a bit of research (or rather, Google search), and I accumulated the following.

Firstly, it seems that its basis is in the Chida. Thus, in a question and answer to hidabroot:

מי היתה אמתלאי בת כרנבו?

ומהי הסגולה לומר את שמה?

...

שלום וברכה

בתלמוד (מסכת בבא בתרא דף צא):ק

"אָמַר רַב חָנָן בַּר רַבָּא אָמַר רַב, אִימֵּיהּ דְּאַבְרָהָם - אַמְתְּלַאי בַת כַּרְנְבוֹ. אִימֵּיהּ דְּהָמָן - אַמְתְְּלַאי בַת עוֹרַבְתָּא. אִימֵּיהּ דְּדָוִד - נָצְבָת בַּת עֲדָאֵל שְׁמָהּ. אִימֵּיהּ דְּשִׁמְשׁוֹן - צְלָלְפוֹנִית. לְמַאי נַפְקָא מִינָא? לִתְשׁוּבַת הַמִּינִים".

וביארו ראשונים שזוהי הוכחה נגד האפיקורסים שאינם מודים בתורה שבעל פה אלא בתורה שבכתב בלבד. ולהם אנו עונים, אילולי הקבלה שבידינו איש מפי איש מנין היינו יודעים דברים אלו שאינם מפורשים בתורה שבכתב, ומאחר שאתם מודים בזה שהוא ממה שקבלנו איש מפי איש, ולא בדינו את הדברים מליבינו, תודו גם בתורה שהוא בעל פה וכל דבר שהוא בידינו, אינו אלא קבלה איש מפי איש.

ואכן יש בהזכרת שמה של אם אברהם אבינו סגולה, כפי שהביא הגאון החיד"א זצ"ל בספרו עבודת הקודש [כף אחת - ט]:ד

"סגולה להולך לפני מלך או שר ומושל. יאמר שבעה עשר פעמים אַמַתְלָאִי בַּת כַּרְנְבוֹ, קודם שיעמוד לפניו".

בהצלחה - מנשה ישראל

In terms of people recommending doing this, see here and here and here.

Perhaps the fact that it is a bit of knowledge, according to the give and take of the gemara (Bava Basra 91a) as a response to heretics, for this is only Oral knowledge, the merit of acknowledging this helps. But why specifically going before a melech or sar? Frankly, the whole thing smells of superstition to me. Next, we have to track down this Chida (in his sefer Avodat Hakodesh, Kaf Achat, 9) and see precisely what he says.

I would add one more reason to be wary. Amitlai, or rather Amiltai, is connected with the goat which nursed Zeus, and is the sign of the horn of plenty. This might then be connected with the segulah, in which case it might have roots in avodah zarah. Nothing sure, but here is the Jewish Encyclopedia article on the connection of the name Amiltai:

In Greek mythology, the goat, whose horn overflowing with nature's riches has become the symbol of plenty (the cornucopia), and that nursed the infant god Zeus with her milk. This name occurs twice in ancient Jewish legend: (1) Job's daughter, Kerenhappuch (Job, xlii. 14), is translated in the Septuagint "Amalthea's Horn," wherein the Hebrew words are reproduced. This daughter of Job, Amalthea's Horn, plays a prominent rôle as a type of saintly beauty in the "Testament of Job"—a Jewish apocrypha (see Kohler, "Testament of Job" in "Semitic Studies in Memory of Al. Kohut," p. 288); her "unicorn-like beauty" and her "smaragd-like radiance" are dwelt on also in B. B. 16b. (2) The name of Abraham's mother, called Edna (the Graceful One) in the Book of Jubilees (xi. 13), is said by Rab (B. B. 91a) to have been Amiltai, the daughter of Karnebo, which seems to be a corrupt reproduction of Amalthea-Keren-happuch, the daughter of Job—Job's and Abraham's histories being constantly interwoven in ancient legend. Possibly the Zeus legend prompted the name, as it is narrated that the infant Abraham was miraculously nourished by milk and honey in the cave where he was hidden.

Perhaps more as more surfaces.

Update: Here is more. I found it the Chida's sefer Avodat Hakodesh, Kaf Achat, 9. This is what he writes (starting at the bottom of the page):

Segulah-izing prayer for others

In the fairly recent past, two websites have emerged with the sake of turning davening for others into a segulah. This is being endorsed by various rabbonim, and in one case, appears to draw its inspiration from an incident related by Rabbi Paysach Krohn, and there from a Talmudic statement. Thus:

His arguments were to no avail. Mrs. Efrat, who was a baalas teshuvah (one who had come to Torah Judaism of her own volition), said that she didn't know any tzaddikim, Rebbes or any other prominent Roshei Yeshivah whom she could easily relate to or speak openly with. That is why she desired to receive a berachah from Rabbi Gutman.

He thought quietly for a few moments and then said to Mrs. Efrat, "I want you to know that I feel your anguish and I share your pain. I myself have a daughter living in Milwaukee, who has been married for more than ten years and has never borne a child. The Gemara (Bava Kama 92A) instructs us 'If one has a problem and prays for another who has the identical problem, he who has prayed will be answered first.'

Let us make an agreement between us. You pray for my daughter and I will pray for you."

Now it was Mrs. Efrat who was struck by another's anguish. The personal pain that Rabbi Gutman had unexpectedly shared with her, and the unique suggestion he proposed, bonded the young woman with the renowned individual who sat before her. She felt an inner serenity and knew that regardless of what the future held, her trip had been worthwhile.

One website is www.kolhamevakeish.org, where they match up groups of 11 people, so that each person has a minyan of people praying on their behalf. The earlier one is davenx.torah.org. The idea is that if you pray for someone else, you will get answered first. But doesn't this pose a logical and theological problem? How can anyone get answered first, if each person is praying for the other person? :)

Why has this not been done in previous generations? This is a trait of our generation, that turns every inspiring statement into a segulah. Thus e.g. challah-baking groups, and giving tzedaka as a segulah. It probably also has to do with the organizational power which is possible with the Internet.

Anyway, the gemara in Bava Kamma 92a reads:

Raba said to Rabbah b. Mari: Whence can be derived the lesson taught by our Rabbis that one who solicits mercy for his fellow while he himself is in need of the same thing, [will be answered first]? — He replied: As it is written:And the Lord changed the fortune of Job when he prayed for his friends. He said to him: You say it is from that text, but I say it is from this text: 'And Abraham prayed unto God and God healed Abimelech and his wife and his maidservants,' and immediately after it says: And the Lord remembered Sarah as he had said, etc., [i.e.] asAbraham had [prayed and] said regarding Abimelech.

The thing is, in neither of these two examples was the Biblical character doing this as a trick, to force Hashem to fulfill one's will. Rather, they were able to put aside their own "selfish" concerns and focus on other people's needs, even where the other person had the same need as himself. This is an excellent trait to have and develop. And then, in reward for such a good attitude, when Hashem answers, He even first turns to help the individual who did not think of himself first. This is an inspirational message, rather than a trick.

But if someone would not be davening for other people having the same condition, except that he or she heard of this gemara and of this segulah trick, then are they really davening for the other person? Or are they really davening for themselves, in a clever roundabout fashion? Are you developing within yourself, or manifesting, this trait of caring for others and not just your own narrow concerns?

Saying Tehillim In Its Entirety While Standing

Reb Akiva at Mystical Paths analyzes a brand new segulah, perhaps some of it from Rabbi Yom Tov of Bnei Brak, of saying all of Tehillim while standing up, and finds troubling aspects of it, in terms of a "subtle deviation from Torah Judaism concepts." He finds troubling aspects of the "cleaning and preparing"; "being prepared for the coming light"; and the "surrender". See inside.

I would add that it strikes me as adding more suffering in order to improve the efficacy of the segulah, which is strange. And more than that, see Tosafot on Berachot 51b, dibbur hamatchil והלכתא בכולהו יושב ומברך, where he states that since Birchat haMazon is Biblical, they imposed a chumra that one should sit while bentching, rather than standing. I would add that sitting allows one to have increased focus and concentration, which is how I would understand this extra requirement by bentching. And indeed, that is how Aruch haShulchan, Orach Chaim, siman 183, seif 8 explains it, where he also suggests that one be machmir for al haMichya to sit.

Why, then, would it be better to stand while saying all of Tehillim, such that one is not able to focus as well? Because it is a hard thing to do, so God will reward Olympic Tehillim zugging, rather than Tehillim said with introspection, thought, and emotion? Do we not say that Rachmana liba ba'i, Hashem desires our hearts? It seems to me that the idea of saying all of Tehillim, rather than specific perakim relevant to the request or problem, such that one can channel one's bakasha through those words, also seems motivated by the idea that Hashem awards Olympic Tehillim zugging rather than intent and feeling.

At any rate, here is the segulah:

by Sara of (an unnamed Kabbalah discussion site)

The Segulah of reading the entire book of Tehilim standing up

The Story

It was ten years ago when I first learned the Segulah of reading the entire book of Tehilim standing up.

I was in Israel and was consulting Rabbi Yom Tov in Bnei Brak from time to time. Most of our communication was conducted over the phone, but he was seeing people at a small room outside his home so I went to see him sometimes for guidance and sometimes just to discuss life.

I always returned with gifts and on one very special occasion the gift was that he shared with me this Segulah that brought a lot of change into my life.

I was talking about a situation that I wasn't sure how to solve in a way that would serve everyone. I kept feeling that I was missing something and then he told me:

"You know there is something that I've learned from my Rabbi many years ago. If you read the entire book of Tehilim standing up you are able to ask for anything and your request would be granted".

I looked at him and asked the first thing I that came into my mind. It takes a long time can you stand for so long? Won't your feet hurt?

He looked back at me and said ask for help and it would be given.

The process

After cleaning and preparing for the event. Just stand in the place you feel is most suitable.

Say the prayers that are said before reading Tehilim chapters and then just start reading out loud.

It takes almost three hours including the closing prayers that are said after reading Tehilim chapters.

When you finish make your personal requests, thank for anything that comes and rest.

Be prepared for a sleepless night as the coming light is so strong that the entire body feels so much alive you might not need sleep. It varies from person to person but I know several people whose body reacted the same way.

The requests

I was planning to ask for help in some concrete situation but at the end all I could ask was for guidance and that the situation would resolve at the best way that reflected Hashem will.

I completely forgot about all the things I thought were a desirable result and it is a very good thing that I did as what happened was much beyond what I could have asked for.

The key is to surrender.

A word of advice

Don't let your set goals and desires to scare you into not surrendering in this way.

I too was concerned that the things I wanted to ask for were too ordinary to use such a strong Segulah. At the end of the reading you'll know exactly what to ask and it won't be something trivial.

Don't turn it into something you do more than you need to as there is a great wisdom in asking for just the right amount of light and blessings that you really need.

Use of a floating wooden plate to find a corpse, in Taamei Haminhagim

I meant to post this here a day or two ago, when I put it on parshablog, but here it is:

As a followup to my previous post about "A Miracle Worthy of Elisha," it seems that there is a similar segulah mentioned in Taamei Haminhagim, by Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak Sperling (1851-1921) and accessible at HebrewBooks.org on this page here (page 582 in the pdf pager, or 569 if you have the physical book). The image to the right is the relevant selection.

In this accounting of the segulah, it seems that they do not use a flat bread with a lit candle on it. Rather, "if they throw a wooden plate upon the face of the waters and leave it, it floats of its own accord to the place where it stops of its own accord. Then, in that place, that is where he drowned." He cited Yosef Ometz, page 205, though I cannot at the moment track the specific sefer and the specific page.

But written there is: "I have heard that via this segulah they found a certain man whose name was Meir, the father-in-law of Tevlin {?} David, who is near Pidkap {?}. And if the matter is true, it is a segulah and a wondrous matter to permit the wife of the one drowned, such that she does not need to dwell as an agunah."

Thus, they came up with the same idea I did -- why not use this in general to be mattir agunot, whether in a body of water that has an end, or does not have an end? I am not sure if he meant this specifically where they find the body in this location, or if one is so confident in the efficacy of the segulah that one could use this. If the latter, it would be an interesting intersection between miracles and halacha, something discussed here earlier.

There is a difference here in what they did, from the practice mentioned in Taamei HaMinhagim. All sorts of additions to the practice as mentioned in taamei haminhagim. Here, they baked a bread with the meis in mind, and put a candle on it. And after they found the "spot," they dropped a stone with writing attached to it, to get the body to come up. And they had a bunch of rabbis saying tehillim and tefillot. This frums it up a bit, but at the same time makes it into greater sorcery. And I still do not think that it works, or worked.

A Miracle Worthy of Elisha

Over at The Yeshiva World, a miracle worthy of Elishah. Unfortunately, a Jewish man drowned on Monday, August 25th. One week later, on Monday, Sept 1, the following happened.

Sources told YWN that approximately 5:00AM on Monday morning, a group of 10 Rabbonim gathered on a boat on the lake, and performed a Segula in the hope of finding the body of Naftali Z”L. Apparently, a flat bread was baked in his Zechus, and the bread was set afloat on the lake with a lit candle on it.

Certain Tehillim and other Tefillos were then said until the bread stopped moving. At that precise location a stone was dropped into the water, and shortly later the body rose to the surface!

May his family be comforted, and the fact that the body was found and may now be buried give them closure.

This calls to mind the story in which Elisha, a miracle worker empowered because he was a Navi Hashem, brought up an axe-head from the water. In II Melachim 6:

א וַיֹּאמְרוּ בְנֵי-הַנְּבִיאִים, אֶל-אֱלִישָׁע: הִנֵּה-נָא הַמָּקוֹם, אֲשֶׁר אֲנַחְנוּ יֹשְׁבִים שָׁם לְפָנֶיךָ--צַר מִמֶּנּוּ.	1 And the sons of the prophets said unto Elisha: 'Behold now, the place where we dwell before thee is too strait for us.
ב נֵלְכָה-נָּא עַד-הַיַּרְדֵּן, וְנִקְחָה מִשָּׁם אִישׁ קוֹרָה אֶחָת, וְנַעֲשֶׂה-לָּנוּ שָׁם מָקוֹם, לָשֶׁבֶת שָׁם; וַיֹּאמֶר, לֵכוּ.	2 Let us go, we pray thee, unto the Jordan, and take thence every man a beam, and let us make us a place there, where we may dwell.' And he answered: 'Go ye.'
ג וַיֹּאמֶר, הָאֶחָד, הוֹאֶל נָא, וְלֵךְ אֶת-עֲבָדֶיךָ; וַיֹּאמֶר, אֲנִי אֵלֵךְ.	3 And one said: 'Be content, I pray thee, and go with thy servants.' And he answered: 'I will go.'
ד וַיֵּלֶךְ, אִתָּם; וַיָּבֹאוּ, הַיַּרְדֵּנָה, וַיִּגְזְרוּ, הָעֵצִים.	4 So he went with them. And when they came to the Jordan, they cut down wood.
ה וַיְהִי הָאֶחָד מַפִּיל הַקּוֹרָה, וְאֶת-הַבַּרְזֶל נָפַל אֶל-הַמָּיִם; וַיִּצְעַק וַיֹּאמֶר אֲהָהּ אֲדֹנִי, וְהוּא שָׁאוּל.	5 But as one was felling a beam, the axe-head fell into the water; and he cried, and said: 'Alas, my master! for it was borrowed.'
ו וַיֹּאמֶר אִישׁ-הָאֱלֹהִים, אָנָה נָפָל; וַיַּרְאֵהוּ, אֶת-הַמָּקוֹם, וַיִּקְצָב-עֵץ וַיַּשְׁלֶךְ-שָׁמָּה, וַיָּצֶף הַבַּרְזֶל.	6 And the man of God said: 'Where fell it?' And he showed him the place. And he cut down a stick, and cast it in thither, and made the iron to swim.
ז וַיֹּאמֶר, הָרֶם לָךְ; וַיִּשְׁלַח יָדוֹ, וַיִּקָּחֵהוּ. {פ}	7 And he said: 'Take it up to thee.' So he put out his hand, and took it. {P}

However, the way this "segulah" was performed today strikes me as practical magic, perhaps within applied kabbalah. But it is not a good thing. It approaches witchcraft and divination. There was the divination to find the place of the body and the sinking of the stone (which does sink, unlike a stick) to bring up the body.

This does not seem like my Judaism.

What about the particulars of the case? It truly seems miraculous, no?

Well, they are leaving out or glossing over a bunch of details, which are revealed in the comment section.

1) The park ranger said that it takes about 1 week to 13 days for a body to come to the surface. This was 1 week later, so it is entirely within derech hateva for the body to have come up yesterday.

2) This was not the first time they tried this segulah. They tried it on previous days, with no results. This was the third time they tried it. And I guess, the third time was the "charm."

3) This was kept secret until success, at which point someone leaked it. Had it not succeeded, we would have heard nothing about it. Which means we will only hear success stories to bolster the belief in the segulah, and no contrary evidence. Indeed, even when it worked the first time, the published story made no mention of the previous attempts.

4) The body did not immediately float up. They left the lake at 8 AM and the body was found at about 11:30 AM, which is 3 and 1/2 hours later.

5) They did not find the exact spot. Depending on which comment you are relying upon, the body was spotted floating about 150, or else 300 yards away from where they dropped the rock with the message attached. That is either 3, or 1 and a half, football fields away. If the flat bread segulah was supposed to divine the spot the body was, why did it not float an additional 150 t0 300 yards?

6) Also, Chazal talk about agunah situations involving a body lost in and mayim sheyesh lahem sof and mayim sheain lahem sof. See e.g. Yevamot 115a. Why didn't they use this segulah to simply find the body?

So we have a segulah which looks like divination and witchcraft, and the particulars, when you actually examine them closely, are none too impressive. Of course, when it is told over years from now, these particulars will likely not be mentioned, and it will be much more difficult to discover them. I don't think that this kind of inspirational story is the type that should be spread.

Update: In the comment section at parshablog, moshe points out that this is a mistaken pseudo-scientific belief, based on the properties of quicksilver, and is mentioned in Huck Finn and covered in the New York Times.

Thanks!