Some Jews Fear Madoff Case Stokes Anti-Semitism

NEW YORK, NY [CBS] — With a growing number of individual investors and organizations surfacing as victims in the Bernard Madoff ponzi scheme, one disturbing aspect is that the scandal may be fanning the flames of stereotypes about Jews.

In the heavily Jewish area of Crown Heights, if you say Bernie Madoff, you get strong reaction.

“How does someone steal from charity? I don’t know,” said Rabbi Shea Hecht of the national Committee for Jewish Education.

By his own admission, the disgraced investor made-off with $50 billion in a pyramid scheme that victimized even charitable foundations.

Yeshiva University lost $110 million. Hadassah, the women’s Zionist Organization of America, lost $90 million. The Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity lost $15 million and was wiped out.

A Jew fleecing his own.

“You can’t judge an entire community by what an individual does,” said Rabbi Basil Herring of the Rabbinical Council of America.

Herring said he worries, however, that Madoff’s greed could fuel a burst of anti-Semitism.

“It will reinforce stereotypes that have existed since time immemorial,” Herring said.

Since Madoff’s arrest two weeks ago, there’s been a spike in anti-Semitic comments online. Some say Madoff’s dishonesty and greed is the answer to every Jew-hater’s wish list.

“They’re looking for hooks to slam the Jews again,” said Kenneth Bandler of the American Jewish Committee. “That’s on a fringe level, not a day to day.”

It isn’t just Jews who are victimized, but they’re bearing the brunt of the tragedy during a poor economic climate that makes the impact even worse.

Madoff is charged with securities fraud. He is under house arrest in his Manhattan apartment, with round-the-clock security.