Over at CONTENTIONS, there is a troll of uncertain semitic affection who periodically demands a post about Bernard Madoff, whom he considers a special issue for that site.
It would be inappropriate to respond to his request there, for multiple reasons – starting with the fact that his request is not made in good faith. But here is the text of an email, slightly edited, that is making its way around the Internet:
When Paul Newman died, they said how great he was but they failed to mention he considered himself Jewish (born half-Jewish). When the woman (Helen Suzman) who helped Nelson Mandela died on January 9, they said how great she was but they failed to mention she was Jewish. When Ken Lay, Jeff Skilling, Martha Stewart, Randy Cunningham, John Edwards, etc. messed up, no one told me what religion or denomination they were — because they were not Jewish.
When Ivan Boesky or Andrew Fastow or Bernie Madoff committed fraud, almost every article mentioned they were Jewish. This reminds me of a famous Einstein quote: In 1921, Albert Einstein presented a paper on his then-infant Theory of Relativity at the Sorbonne, the prestigious French university.
“If I am proved correct,” he said, “the Germans will call me a German, the Swiss will call me a Swiss citizen, and the French will call me a great scientist. If relativity is proved wrong, the French will call me a Swiss, the Swiss will call me a German, and the Germans will call me a Jew.”
For a thoughtful summary of Madoff as a Jewish issue, listen to this brief discussion by Rabbi David Wolpe at Shalom TV (“The same Jews who are proud when a Jew accomplishes, should be ashamed when a Jew does something wrong. . . . [I]t means we take responsibility for each other. And if I feel, as I do, a tremendous sense of pride when a Jew who is involved in the Jewish community does something wonderful, I feel a corresponding sense of shame” in Madoff’s case.)
Madoff is an issue for the mishpocheh, broadly defined, and for friends of the mishpocheh – but not for trolls. Like other family issues, there is a difference when it raised by the family and when it is raised by those who wish the mishpocheh ill.
Amity Shlaes provides a useful historical perspective in “Before Madoff Troubled Jews, Whitney Stung WASPs.”