JustASC

My friend Rabbi Brad Hirschfield objects to the initial press coverage of the NJ corruption probe:

When a headline reads, “N.J. officials, N.Y. rabbis caught in federal money laundering, corruption sweep”, one expects a story which describes that event. In this case however, no mention is made of any rabbis actually getting arrested. Despite plenty of details about various politicos being taken into custody, there is nothing about rabbis.

This may be a big deal, but the headline and the story don’t match – where is the info on the rabbis? This kind of coverage actually borders on Jew-baiting, and it potentially says something at least as ugly about the author/editors as it does about those who committed any crime.

I think he jumped the gun — the Feds had not released the names of the suspects when the first stories hit the ‘Net.

Brad also objects to the Star-Ledger’s description of the Syrian-Jewish “enclaves” in Brooklyn and Deal as “tight-knit, wealthy communities’:

Enclaves”? “Tight-knit, wealthy communities”? Could it be that the Star Ledger harbors deep resentment against Jews who they see as over-privileged, stand-offish people who operate as a law unto themselves?

Is this the paper’s moment to celebrate how “those people” will now get their comeuppance? If not, why describe the community in classically anti-Semitic ways…? 

And yet the Syrian-Jewish communities are famously tight-knit, proudly preserving their traditions and valuing their insularity from even the larger Jewish (Ashkenazi) community, let alone the non-Jewish world. As for “wealthy,” take a look at the houses in Deal. Those ain’t bungalows.

I would hope, however, that developing coverage of the case doesn’t merely emphasize the particularity of the Syrian-Jewish community, but is careful to show the ways that an understanding of the community sheds light on the case. I think a discussion of ethnicity and religion in a story is fair game if it can be shown to be relevant — for example, the ways in which Bernie Madoff preyed on fellow Jews in his country club circuit, or the way Thomas Etheredge is alleged to have targeted members of his church in an investment scheme in Wichita.

It’s hard not to cringe when you see so many Jewish names in a story about crime. And even the most innocuous report is going to be jumped on by jubilant anti-Semites. All the rest of us can do is remind the world that every ethnic group has its crooks and schemers — and that we don’t shy away from saying so.