December 25, 2008
It was with disgust but no real surprise that we read reports this week that the Web is alight with anti-Semitic chatter in the wake of the Bernard Madoff scandal. The Anti-Defamation League reports that familiar anti-Semitic tropes are to be found not just in the sleazier corners of the Web, but in the comments sections of mainstream news sites, blogs, and financial message boards. The slurs range from stereotypes about Jews and finance to “conspiracy theories about Jews stealing money to benefit Israel.”
When Madoff eventually answers to prosecutors, the list of charges will be long and damning. But no one need wait for a final verdict to understand the waves of damage he has already caused. They begin with the betrayed investors and devastated philanthropies. In the next wave are the needy and the worthy who depended on those philanthropies. And, as the ADL’s tally suggests, the waves widen to include all of us, victims of anti-Semitic invective.
Still, Madoff’s is a Jewish story, and we should resist the temptation to pretend — so as not to provide the anti-Semites more ammunition — that it isn’t. Madoff’s was an affinity crime, in which a crook uses his ethnicity or social ties to identify and exploit his targets. It’s important to point out that Madoff was an equal opportunity predator, harming Jews and non-Jews alike. But there’s no doubt he built his reputation, like his pyramid scheme, on a base of Jewish marks.
As Rabbi David Wolpe recently told an interviewer, “Since Judaism is not a religion, but more like a religious family, bound by strong communal ties, Jews are more likely than Christians to feel pride or shame in the actions of other Jews. You don’t get strong bonds without a degree of identification.” Sometimes that identification leads to naches, as we take pride in our fellow Jews’ accomplishments. And sometimes it leads to embarrassment and shame.
The Madoff scandal threatens to shred those strong communal ties. Now is the time to renew those bonds of trust, to reach out to his victims, and to show once again how a family comes together in a time of calamity — anti-Semites be damned.
Comment: comments@njjewishnews.com
