U.S. Jews struggle to come to grips with Madoff - Jewish Law and Madoff Scandal

U.S. Jews struggle to come to grips with Madoff
Wed Jan 21, 2009 11:12pm GMT
By Martha Graybow

NEW YORK, Jan 21 (Reuters) - For American Jews, the Bernard Madoff scandal has not just caused deep financial pain. It also has been deeply personal.

The accused swindler managed money for numerous Jewish charities and wealthy Jews who are reeling from their monetary losses as well as a sense of betrayal that a fellow Jew could have harmed so many people.

"We're still shellshocked," said Rabbi Joshua Hammerman, religious leader of Temple Beth El in Stamford, Connecticut, which describes itself as an Egalitarian Conservative Jewish congregation. "I am sure every synagogue is dealing with it in some way."

Since Madoff's arrest last month, Hammerman's synagogue and other Jewish groups have struggled with how to assess the scandal and what it means for Jews.

Hammerman, who said his synagogue had not itself lost money in the scandal, but has publicly called for Madoff to be excommunicated. He wrote in a letter to the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations that he thinks Madoff represents "something rotten that must be exorcised from our culture and from our midst."

Madoff was charged last month with fraud after authorities said he had confessed to a long-standing $50 billion Ponzi scheme -- a scam in which older investors are paid with money taken from newer ones. He has not yet formally responded to the charges against him in court, and he remains under house arrest in his Manhattan penthouse apartment.

To some in the Jewish community, the high-profile case has stoked fears of a revival of centuries-old stereotypes about Jewish businesspeople -- particularly at a time when many Americans are reeling from the economic downturn, and Israel is the focus of much unpopular opinion because of the conflict in the Gaza Strip. Continued...