{"id":609,"date":"2009-01-02T15:30:24","date_gmt":"2009-01-02T15:30:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/stevenwaldman\/2009\/01\/bernie-madoff-a-gift-for-anti.html"},"modified":"2009-01-02T15:30:24","modified_gmt":"2009-01-02T15:30:24","slug":"bernie-madoff-a-gift-for-anti","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/stevenwaldman\/2009\/01\/bernie-madoff-a-gift-for-anti.html","title":{"rendered":"Bernie Madoff: A Gift for Anti-Semites?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rabbi Marc Gellman writes in Newsweek an “open letter” to Bernard Madoff:<\/a><\/p>\n

You are responsible for reviving the “Jew game.” I heard of the Jew game from a boy who became a man last Saturday. I asked him once if he had ever experienced anti-Semitism in school. That is when he looked at the floor and told me about the Jew game. The game, played by anti-Semitic kids in school, was one in which they would hide around a corner, throw a quarter down the hall, and then when somebody picked up the quarter, they’d run at the person, shouting, “You’re the Jew!”
\nYou did not cause the anti-Semitic insults about Jews and money, but you caused them to be revived. Not since Julius Rosenberg spied for the Soviet Union has one person so damaged the image and the self-respect of American Jews….
\nYou revived ancient bigotry against our people. You gave credence to the horrid accusations about Jews being untrustworthy and greedy…. You have given the Jew-haters material for a decade of hate gardening. You single-handedly revived the Jew game.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Count me skeptical that the Madoff scandal has or will fuel anti-semitism. (Gelman doesn’t actually say whether the bar mitzvah boy’s story of the Jew game was something that only appeared after Madoff.) I don’t think the scandals of Ivan Boesky or Michael Milken triggered a wave of anti-semitism, nor have the role of Jewish foreign policy advisors in the unpopular Iraq war,
\nI do agree with Gelman’s passionate condemnation of Madoff — not because it will increase anti-semitism but because it was a betrayal of Jewish ethics.
\nFor me, the “Jewish question” that has been insufficiently tackled is whether many Jewish investors trusted Madoff because of his prominent role in Jewish philanthropy. Did he use his donations to Yeshiva University to help burnish his reputation for integrity?
\nAnd — an admittedly hypothetical question — if Yeshiva University had an inkling that they were being so used, would they have had an obligation to turn down his money?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rabbi Marc Gellman writes in Newsweek an “open letter” to Bernard Madoff: You are responsible for reviving the “Jew game.” I heard of the Jew game from a boy who became a man last Saturday. I asked him once if he had ever experienced anti-Semitism in school. That is when he looked at the floor…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":49,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-609","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nBernie Madoff: A Gift for Anti-Semites? - Steven Waldman<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/stevenwaldman\/2009\/01\/bernie-madoff-a-gift-for-anti.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Bernie Madoff: A Gift for Anti-Semites? - Steven Waldman\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Rabbi Marc Gellman writes in Newsweek an “open letter” to Bernard Madoff: You are responsible for reviving the “Jew game.” I heard of the Jew game from a boy who became a man last Saturday. 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