His father, a strict disciplinarian, threw him out of the house at the age of 12 because he refused to apply himself to his studies. Moussaieff claims he had dyslexia and was unable to read and write. He began sleeping in synagogues, buses, and even the street, and worked for a carpenter in Sanhedria. After hours, he hung around the Second Temple-era Tombs of the Sanhedrin in the nearby park. Inside the caves, which were then open to the public, he discovered ancient coins that he sold to traders. He also carved up lead coffins and sold the lead in the Armenian Quarter. Apprehended and beaten by an Arab policeman, he was brought before an Arab judge and sentenced to nine months in a reform school in Tulkarm. He asked to learn in a madrassa, where he found it easy to learn the Koran by heart, and became familiar with Arab culture.