God-fearing would-be robber foiled

A 46-year-old man was arrested this week, despite believing he had God on his side, after a failed attempt to use an unusual note to rob a post office in Pardes Hanna.

According to an indictment filed Thursday against Yaakov Shriki of Or Akiva, he entered the post office on Monday morning wearing sunglasses and a baseball cap and handed a clerk a Hebrew note which read, “BS”D, if you want everything to go quietly, put money in an envelope.”

“BS”D” is the English transliteration of the acronym for “Besiyata Dishmaya,” an Aramaic phrase that means “with Heaven’s help.” The acronym is commonly written by religious Jews at the top of documents and correspondence.

Evidently, Shriki felt that God would help him rob the post office, but in fact it didn’t go so well for him: The clerk who received the note said that she didn’t have enough money at her station, so she asked to go to the back room to get more, where she pressed an alarm and didn’t return.

Shriki evidently realized what was happening and fled the scene, only to be arrested by police a short time later, note still in hand. Indeed, the note was used in part to positively identify him.

According to the police Shriki is a known petty criminal who is currently homeless and has a long list of offenses including illegal possession of a weapon, drug use, destruction of property and vehicular theft.