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Rabbi: Kick Madoff out of the Jewish people!

 
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Eberndorfer



Anmeldungsdatum: 10.09.2006
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BeitragVerfasst am: Sa Dez 27, 2008 6:34 am    Titel: Rabbi: Kick Madoff out of the Jewish people! Antworten mit Zitat

Rabbi: Kick Madoff out of the Jewish people!
By Ami Eden
December 26, 2008

Rabbi Joshua Hammerman, religious leader of Temple Beth El in Stamford, Conn., wants Bernard Madoff excommunicated. Here's the rabbi's letter to Malcolm Hoenlein (not sure why this is a job for the Conference of Presidents, but we can discuss that another time) making the case for such a drastic step:

Malcolm I. Hoenlein
Executive Vice Chairman
Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations

Dec. 23, 2008

Dear Mr. Hoenlein,

I call upon the leadership of the American Jewish community, specifically the Council of Presidents of American Jewish Organizations -- which includes both lay and rabbinic groups -- to initiate action leading to the excommunication of Bernard Madoff.

Such a move would be unprecedented in the annals of American Jewry, and by its scope and power, perhaps in all of Jewish history. But never before has one man done such damage to individual Jews, Jewish organizations and Judaism itself. His actions were a betrayal of trust of an unprecedented degree. An overwhelming and overpowering statement of condemnation is essential. A clear message needs to be sent to others who might also be involved in similar schemes, to the Jewish public seeking moral leadership and to the public at large.

There have been many who have done more harm to Jews. To my knowledge, Madoff has not killed anyone (update: Rene-Thierry Magon de la Villehuchet committed suicide on Tuesday, after the hedge fund he operated lost $1.4 billion because of Madoff). But the foundations and charities he has harmed irreparably will prevent people from getting needed health care or educational assistance, will likely keep Jewish youth from rediscovering their identities and aged Holocaust survivors from recording their stories. Mark Charendoff of the Jewish Funders Network described it to “The Forward” in near apocalyptic terms, as "an atomic bomb in the world of Jewish philanthropy.” An apocalyptic crime calls for an unprecedented response.

But the greatest damage done by Madoff has been to Judaism itself.

David Harris of the American Jewish Committee wrote in a letter to the New York Times of his concern that the Times’ coverage of Madoff had placed a “striking emphasis on his being Jewish.” But the Times is hardly alone in drawing that connection: Google “Madoff” and “Jewish” and 295,000 Web links already appear. The ADL called this a spike in online anti-Semitism. So we have a situation where Jews are being blamed for a crime that has disproportionately harmed Jews. I can understand why Jewish organizations are jittery about anti-Semites having a field day on this matter, but the most effective way to address it is through a clear repudiation not only of Madoff himself, but of the anti-Judaic nature of his acts.

Abraham Joshua Heschel said that in a free society, some are guilty; all are responsible. On so many levels, beginning with that commandment about not stealing, Jewish tradition abhors what Madoff has done. Unless we Jews raise our voices louder than anyone else in condemnation of these acts , we are not only giving credence to all the false images being perpetrated by the anti-Semites, but we are perpetuating what the ancient sages dubbed a “hillul ha-shem,” a desecration of God’s name.

Rabbis have employed excommunication often over the centuries, particularly in chasing down husbands who refuse to grant religious divorces to their wives; but usually the impact has been localized. In medieval times, it was used as a political weapon against alleged heretics, like Spinoza and some Karaites. In our time this tool has lost its clout, simply because the Jewish community lacks unity, and because rabbinic sanction has little impact outside the ultra-Orthodox world.

But Madoff’s crimes cut across the Jewish spectrum - like a hatchet, not a scalpel. Hadassah reportedly lost $90 million; the Robert E. Lappin Foundation of Boston, which sent twenty of my community’s teens to Israel for free two years ago, was forced to shut down. Imagine if all the organizations represented by the Council of Presidents were to come together and say, flat out, that Madoff has done irreparable harm to Jews and Judaism and that he is not welcome in any synagogue, JCC or Federation event anywhere. No rabbi will marry him or bury him. No organization will make excuses for him. He is to be cut off. Period.

The mechanism for excommunication would need to be devised from scratch, along with the precise consequences. There would need to be a degree of rabbinic and lay cooperation that we’ve rarely if ever seen among Jews in this country. We are in uncharted territory. But to this point, the response of the organized Jewish community to this scandal has been tepid at best, likely because many fear the anti-Semitic backlash that, ironically, will only be exacerbated by continued tentativeness. Most of those directly impacted by the scandal were blameless save for their blind faith, but too many traveled in the same social circles that honored this man for all the wrong reasons; too many proclaimed his genius.

Those images are what will remain unless American Jewry recognizes that there is something rotten that must be exorcised from our culture and from our midst. Some have said that what we need is the equivalent of a moral bailout. What we certainly need is resolute action.

Ultimately, it’s not because of the anti-Semites that this needs to be tackled head-on. Our own children are watching us. If the communal response to Madoff is concerted, unified and reasonable, this could be American Jewry’s finest hour. If not, it will be the continuation of our worst nightmare.

Sincerely,

Rabbi Joshua Hammerman

http://blogs.jta.org/philanthropy/article/2008/12/26/1001830/rabbi-kick-madoff-out-of-the-jewish-people
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Döblinger



Anmeldungsdatum: 17.04.2006
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BeitragVerfasst am: Sa Dez 27, 2008 8:39 am    Titel: Salomonisch! Antworten mit Zitat

Ich werde an den Vatikan die Forderung stellen, den Adolf postum zu exkommunizieren!

Dann hat sich die Sache und man wird sich künftig VIEL Trauerarbeit und Geld ersparen
Exclamation Idea Exclamation
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Eberndorfer



Anmeldungsdatum: 10.09.2006
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BeitragVerfasst am: Sa Dez 27, 2008 3:50 pm    Titel: Re: Salomonisch! Antworten mit Zitat

Döblinger hat folgendes geschrieben:
Dann hat sich die Sache und man wird sich künftig VIEL Trauerarbeit und Geld ersparen Exclamation Idea Exclamation


Weder noch.
Die Trauerarbeit nach dem Geldf(r)ass ohne Boden muss bleiben.
Und eine Trauerarbeit die nichts kostet, gibt es fuer Juden nicht.

Wie konnte der Jude Madoff das groesste Sakrileg begehen das es im Judentum gibt: einem anderen Juden das Geld wieder abknoepfen das er ihm durch das Abschroepfen von Christen geschenkt hatte?

"Gerechten Menschen auf der Welt
darf man Hab und Gut abklauben;
'echte Juden' ohne gestohlenes Geld
verlieren ihre Ehre und ihren Glauben."

knight


Zuletzt bearbeitet von Eberndorfer am Sa Dez 27, 2008 4:34 pm, insgesamt 9-mal bearbeitet
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Eberndorfer



Anmeldungsdatum: 10.09.2006
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BeitragVerfasst am: Sa Dez 27, 2008 4:08 pm    Titel: Antworten mit Zitat

Reader Comments!

Ima Gentile
12/26/08 03:29 PM

As a gentile, allow me to comment on what I perceive to be the essence of Rabbi Hammerman’s letter. Rabbi Hammerman seems to condemn Madoff because of what he did to Jews and to Jewish charities. It is Madoff’s crimes against Judaism, not his crimes against against society as a whole or against humanity that draws the wrath and ire of Jews. The question we non-Jews have is this: would you be incensed if Madoff’s alleged crimes had been committed primarily against another religious or ethnic group? From all the commentary I’ve read so far, I believe the answer to this is a resounding “no.”

As a confirmed misanthrope I do not like being narrowly labeled as an anti-Semite. It strikes me a grossly unfair, but I doubt if the labelers are concerned about what I consider fair. But let me say this: If the perception is that Jews are more concerned about their own welfare than they are of the other members of society then I can only say that “caveat emptor” must be the attitude of society to Jews. You can call this anti-Semitism if it makes you feel good - and I think it does - but it’s just plain old common sense.

In any event, to any truly righteous Jewish readers of this blog, “Happy Hanukkah!”



Donna Halper
12/26/08 05:08 PM

I think “Ima Gentile” is missing the point. What has many of us so incensed is that Bernard Madoff’s actions hurt so many others… and yes they hurt people who were Jewish, but they also hurt people who were not. The end result of Mr Madoff’s greed and duplicity is that he harmed CHARITIES. Notice-- he didn’t just harm hedge fund managers who now won’t be able to go to the Bahamas-- he harmed well-meaning Jewish people who were his friends, people who ran charities, and sincerely thought they were making a good investment with him that would make their charities better able to help more people.

Now, those charities have been forced to close or curtail their services. Most Jewish charities do not just help Jews-- American Jewish World Services, for example, sets up schools in countries like Rwanda (not exactly a hub of Jewish activity) and gives food to people in countries world-wide, whether they have Jewish populations or not.

Ima seems to think the issue for us is “Madoff hurt his own people.” No, Madoff hurt the poor, the needy, the homeless, the kids at Boys and Girls Clubs, and yes some organizations that do in fact cater mainly to Jews. I for one am furious about what he did, and find the media focus on alleged “wealthy Jews” quite unfortunate. Jewish philanthropists, whether wealthy or not, try their best to serve as many of the needy as possible. Mr Madoff only served his own needs, and the fact that his actions feed into old (and false) stereotypes about Jews saddens many of us. I agree with the rabbi who wrote the letter: this man has no right to call himself a Jew-- Judaism has requirements about ethics, commpassion, mitzvah, about making the world a better place. Mr Madoff’s lack of compassion and his lack of ethics make him a disgrace, and organized Judaism doesn’t need someone like him.


Michael LittleBig
12/26/08 05:41 PM

Could it be that the Almighty used Bernie Madoff as the messenger to deliver a message to the money changers ?

How does that story go regarding the Temple and the money changers?



Kurt David Steinbach
12/26/08 07:50 PM

I agree with Rabbi Hammerman that Bernard Madoff should be ex-communicated and exiled from Jewish communiites and Judaism throughout the world. Although I neither think nor believe he would care; apparently according to what I have read, he is not a member of any synagogue. Still, I believe the gesture of excommunication-exile is the proper course of action to be taken by Jewish communities in The United States, Israel, and around the world. It is for example what the Catholic Church and other communities would do, and would show a coherent Jewish response. In addition and in response to “Ima Gentile,” I think that Bernard Madoff is an embarrassment not just to the Jewish community as a whole and to Judaism as well; I think the Madoff is an embarrassment to humanity as well and is a poor excuse for a human being. I think he deserves to rot in jail in miserable isolation for the rest of his life, and from a legal perspective, I believe that exactly that will happen. I hope it does.


Shlomo 12/27/08 12:10 AM

I’m very excited about this statement.
Messages like this protect the jewish trademark.
While the Rabbi speaks about principle,
his statement sends a message that Jews
do NOT stand for financial greed and deception.
Such a message also deter jews from engaging
in future madoff-like actions. Jews need to
remain aware that they walk around with the
jewish trademark, and the biggest danger to the
trademark is to have anything they do be interpreted
as falling into the stereotype.

http://blogs.jta.org/philanthropy/article/2008/12/26/1001830/rabbi-kick-madoff-out-of-the-jewish-people
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