Well, we're back to that age old question: Good for the Jews or bad for the Jews? Clearly the Madoff Scandal is NOT good for the Jews. So we have to refine our question to make it apply to this particular case: Bad for the Jews or Awful for the Jews? And will it cause a significant rise in anti-semitism?
The chilul Hashem (desecration of God's name - or bad p.r. the story will create) is definitely there and the great loss of funds to both wealthy and poor Jews, Jewish organizations and charitable philanthropies, etc. is/will be devastating (two foundations have already shuttered, Yeshiva University lost $110 MILLION, etc.), but the one "saving grace," if one can say that, is that Madoff (the Jew) stole mostly Jewish money. While I am terribly sympathetic to everyone who lost money in this debacle, Jew or non-Jew, wealthy or poor, individual or organization, etc., I imagine that the non-Jews who are anti-semites are going to be rather more gleeful than angry. (Anti-semitism, of course, will rise anyway.) Jewish greed begat Jewish financial catastrophe.
Lastly, I don't understand Madoff at all. Most of the guys who get caught in this kind of a crooked deal are (1) slick operators with smaller scams in their backgrounds, building up to the "big scam" and/or (2) they start out legit and then find themselves getting caught up in covering losses with some sort of scam scheme. Madoff had a STELLAR BACKGROUND and reputation, was a president of NASDAQ, etc. AND TELLS HIS KIDS IT WAS A PONZI SCHEME from DAY ONE?!?! It makes no sense to me...
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From today's Drudge Report...
Anti-Jewish commentary is flooding the Internet in the wake of Bernard Madoff's arrest on charges of masterminding one of the biggest Wall Street frauds in history, campaigners said Friday.
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) said there had been "an outpouring of anti-Semitic comments on mainstream and extremist Web sites."
Madoff, 70, is Jewish and a prominent member of the powerful US Jewish community. He is alleged to have defrauded investors, including a number of Jewish-related charities, of some 50 billion dollars.
"Site users have posted comments ranging from deeply offensive stereotypical statements about Jews and money -- with some suggesting that only Jews could perpetrate a fraud on such a scale -- to conspiracy theories about Jews stealing money to benefit Israel," the ADL said in a statement.
"Jews are always a convenient scapegoat in times of crisis, but the Madoff scandal and the fact that so many of the defrauded investors are Jewish has created a perfect storm for the anti-Semites," said Abraham Foxman, ADL national director.
"Nowadays, the first place Jew-haters will go is to the Internet, where they can give voice to their hateful ideas without fear of repercussions."
I think that might answer your question!
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