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Madoff Bust Stokes Anti-Semitism in Palm Beach

By Harry Kimball, Newser Staff

Posted Feb 20, 2009 3:37 PM CST

(Newser) – Bernard Madoff’s alleged mega-fraud and the large number of Jewish investors he apparently snookered is stoking anti-Semitic feeling in tony Palm Beach, ABC News reports. “It is a terrible thing to say, but some of the WASPs are delighted, they take great pleasure in this,” said an author who has written critically about the socially stratified Florida enclave.

“It's an age-old anti-Semitic claim, that we are in control of all the money in the world," a local rabbi said. "When you have someone with such incredible resources misuse it, it only reinforces that.” Palm Beach, a locus for Madoff’s recruiting efforts, has been extremely hard hit. “Beyond just the hundreds of thousand of people who were impacted financially, this was a blow, a body blow to Judaism,” said the rabbi.

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Pawnbroker Levi Touger looks over some jewelry that Marvin and Beverly Hoffman have brought into his Royal Palm Beach shop. (AP Photo)

The headquarters of the Robert I. Lappin Charitable Foundation. The Jewish charity was shuttered after losing millions to the Madoff fraud. (AP Photo)

Bernard L. Madoff. (AP Photo)

The Palm Beach Country Club, an overwhelmingly Jewish institution where philanthropy is a prerequisite for membership. (AP Photo)

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All the changes, all the cultural advances in Palm Beach County overwhelmingly has been Jewish money. Just at a time when the Jews in Palm Beach reached their ascendancy, this disaster happens. - Laurence Leamer, author

By having Bernie Madoff and Judaism so closely linked, it is what we would call a "hillul Hashem," a desecration of God. This was a blow, a body blow to Judaism. - Rabbi Michael Resnick, Temple Emanu-El, Palm Beach

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