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PRESS RELEASE 
Jerusalem 
June 4, 1997


Hidden Bible Codes Researchers Condemn Michael Drosnin

"Any attempts to predict the future based on hidden Torah codes are
worthless"  (World-Renowned Professor of Mathematics Eliyahu Rips)


(Jerusalem, June 4, 1997)  The Israeli research team which uncovered
the scientific basis for the hidden codes in the Book of Genesis
categorically rejected attempts to predict the future based on these
codes.  They warned against being taken in by the sensational claims
in Michael Drosnin controversial book, Bible Codes.

All attempts to extract messages from Torah Codes or to make
predictions based on them are futile and of no value, said the
world-renowned Hebrew University Professor of Mathematics, Eliyahu
Rips at a press conference in Jerusalem today. The only conclusion
that can be drawn from the scientific research regarding the Torah
Codes is that they exist and that they are not a mere coincidence.

Professor Rips set out with colleague physicist Doron Witztum to
research seemingly unique patterns encoded in the Book of Genesis.
Scanning the text by computer using a scientific method called
Equidistant Letter Sequences (ELS), Witztum and Rips proved that by
skipping an equal number of letters in the Hebrew text of Genesis,
significant clusters of related codes existed that were not due to
chance.   They showed that hidden in the text is very detailed
information about many historical events such as the Holocaust, the
French revolution and the Oslo accords.

Following a rigorous six-year peer review process, the codes research
results were published in the scholarly journal Statistical Science.
More recently, the results were duplicated and expanded by Harold
Gans, former US Defense Department senior cryptologist.

Codes don't reveal any secret messages or prophecies about whom to
marry or who will win the NBA championship, said Witztum was the first
one to investigate the possibility of divining the future through
these codes.  Following logical and empirical tests, I found
incontrovertible evidence proving its impossible to predict the future
with the hidden codes.

Drosnin claim that he predicted the horrible assassination of the late
Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin has captured the public imagination.
Drosnin showed Rips what Drosnin considered the hidden prophecy.
Unfortunately, Drosnin like many others at the time guessed something
terrible might happen, said Rips. But, it is scientifically impossible
to make any predictions with codes.