How many times do I have to tell you all? Don’t sell yourself online.

Ari Mandel is an atheist veteran raising money for Chai Lifeline, an organization that helps Jewish children with life threatening illness. In an attempt to raise at least $4,500, one of his Twitter followers, Isaac Mavorah, made an interesting offer:

A $10 donation if Mandel kept the Sabbath.

Mandel said it wasn’t enough… so Mavorah upped the offer. To $1,000.

“To me, the sum is insignificant,” said Marovah. “One thousand dollars to get a Jewish atheist to keep Shabbat, Mikvah, and praying with a Minyan AND help sick children?” “Truth is I would have paid double.”

I’d say that’s a pretty good trade. Mandel says he’ll now obey the Sabbath for one day and have a witness on hand to verify his actions.

Mandel was at least more successful selling his time than he was selling his spot in Olam Habaah (Heaven) earlier this year. Bidding on eBay went to around $100,000 before the auction was yanked for offering bidders something “intangible.”

Rarely do you see anyone get a major donation like that for promising to do nothing, but staying off the Internet for a day may be enough to make it worthwhile.

(Thanks to Brian for the link!)



