While other media outlets report the recent Bernie Madoff securities fraud and investment scandal for the news of interest that it is, the New York Times seems to be trying to divert attention from the theft perpetrated by a greedy investment broker into an issue of Judaism and anti-Semitism.

In a recent New York Times article by Jennifer Peltz published on December 26, 2008 entitled " Jews Fear Madoff Case Stokes Hate", the words "Jew" , "Jewish", and "anti-Semitism" are repeated over and over, driving home their obvious goal of making Madoff's supposed "religious beliefs" a primary issue in this event, perpetuating an age-old Jewish stereo type when in fact, Madoff's greed and fraud are totally contrary to the tenants of true Judaism and Madoff himself is considered a "breakaway Jew" who does not, and did not practice true Judaism.

We can't help but compare the New York Times' reporting on this event to the even larger 60 Billion dollar fraud by Enron, a company owned by Christians. Quite rightly, not once were Christians, or the Christian religion taken to task for the actions of Enron. The universal sins of greed and theft are against the commandments of God, whether written in the Christian Bible or the Jewish Torah and the supposed "religion" of men who have no concern for these commandments should not be an issue for discussion nor reflect on the true believers.

The New York Times article would somehow have one believe that because Madoff is a Jew and many of his investment victims were Jewish, that somehow his crime is more heinous than that of the greedy Enron executives who not only bilked their investors for $60 Billion ($10 Billion more than Madoff's $50 Billion) but also left thousands of Enron employees and their families with no job and no future.

An estimated 50 - 70 million people died in World War II, the war instigated by a Christian, Adolf Hitler. Christians have never been expected to take responsibility for the actions of that dictator, nor should they be expected to do so. Similarly, Jews should not feel responsible or be blamed for the actions of a greedy, unscrupulous investor who claimed to be Jewish.

The New York Times, by again and again mentioning the words Jews and Jewish adopt the rhetoric of anti-Semitism which lumps all Jews together with any individual who has committed crimes, and all other media outlets should be challenged to report this story for what it is, a story of greed and corruption, not a reflection on the Jewish people or their beliefs any more than Enron is a reflection of Christian beliefs. It's time to move on and ignore the people of hate which are unfortunately publishers, writers and so-called political analysts regardless of how sophisticated they hide their hate to the faith of their fathers by putting up the question that needs no answer. It's time for humanity to adopt the vision of a righteous thinker who has no hate but just tries to understand men and their creator.

Read the article:

http://money.aol.com/news/articles/_a/bbdp/jews-fear-madoff-case-stokes-hate/287355

Anti-Semites sometimes claim that Jews are racists and supremacists because they refer to themselves as the "chosen people." But this defining of Jews by race is an error and in no way reflects the true Jewish belief. Membership in the Jewish people is not dependent on race. For the Jews, peoplehood has always been defined only by acceptance of the Torah. In the words of the famous philosopher Rabbi Saadiah Gaon (882-942), "This people is only a people through its Torah." Any Jew who rejects the Torah is not part of the Jewish people. Any individual of any race can become a Jew and be part of the Jewish people. Thus it is clear that the term "chosen people" is a misnomer and a more proper rendering would be "chosen religion".

But this still leaves much to be explained. What is the "chosen religion"? What was G-d's purpose in choosing a particular group of people who had particular beliefs?

Judaism teaches that man's purpose in this world is to recognize G-d as his Creator and to thank G-d for creating him. Before He created man, G-d already had angels who sang His praises, but He chose to create humans, who despite being hampered by their own physical needs and surrounded by a world of distractions, and despite not perceiving His existence directly, would believe in Him and praise Him.

After creation, G-d waited for the right people to come along, people through whom He could teach the world about its purpose. At first there were enlightened individuals - Abraham, Isaac and Jacob  who understood on their own that the world must have one all-powerful and benevolent Creator. G-d appeared to them and spoke to them.

But this was not enough. G-d wanted to give His law to a large group of people, who would then live by this law and thereby teach the world about G-d's greatness. He chose to give His law to the Israelites, the descendants of Abraham, who had been the first to proclaim G-d's existence to the world. Abraham's descendants continued to believe in what their ancestor had taught, and they stuck with it despite the adversity of Egyptian slavery. G-d called them the "people I have created for Myself, so that they might speak My praise" (Isaiah 43:21). This was their function on earth.

However, no one should make the mistake of thinking that G-d was choosing one race and their descendants for all time, for better or for worse. The Jews in ancient times were a very numerous nation. What happened to all descendants of those Jews? The answer is that many Jews have gone lost  left the Torah behind and assimilated into other societies and cultures. They may have Jewish blood, but when we speak of the Jewish people we do not mean them.

Just as many have left the Jewish people, many have joined. Some of the greatest names in Jewish history have been converts: Zipporah, wife of Moses; Rahav, wife of Joshua; Ruth, great-grandmother of King David; and Onkelos, compiler of the most authoritative Aramaic translation of the Torah. Great Talmudic sages such as Rabbi Akiva and Rabbi Meir were descended from converts. The Talmud even says that the entire purpose of the Jews' exile and dispersal over the face of the earth was so that converts should join them.

So we see that the Jews can really be defined as those individuals who chose G-d, not a race or ethnic group chosen by G-d. To those individuals who chose Him, G-d gave laws and teachings to show them how to spread His word and His praise in the world.

Let the anti-Semites clarify their position. If they are against a particular race, let it be known to them that Jewry is a religion, not a race. Those of Jewish extraction who do not practice Judaism are not to be considered Jews at all. They may use their Jewish identity or even parts of the Jewish religion to further their own agenda, but they are not Jews, neither are Jews responsible for their actions.

On the other hand, if their complaints are directed at the Jewish religion, they have a legitimate right to make their arguments heard and receive substantive answers from Jews. But that is no longer "anti-Semitism" - hatred of particular people. It is a religious doctrinal debate.

We hope this elucidation of the concept of "chosen people" will help our readers understand better who Jews are and what they stand for.

Jewish Response, an organization founded to help defuse anti-Semitism, is alarmed about the high frequency of references to Jews in the current election campaign. Candidates seem to feel that they are helping the Jewish people by promising to further what they believe to be the Jews' interests at every opportunity. However, the exact opposite is the truth.

"When only the Jews, out of all the nationalities and ethnic groups among American voters, are mentioned numerous times, it lends credence to the old anti-Semitic canard that Jews have their own agenda at heart and are disloyal to their country," said Leo Greenbaum of Jewish Response. "The candidates would do us the biggest service by simply not mentioning Jews at all. Then people would get the message that Jews are just like all Americans and want whatever is best for America.

"In times past," he continued, "anti-Semitic politicians used the scapegoating of the Jews as a tool to boost their popularity. Today's candidates are pro-Jewish, and they use their special attention to the Jews as a tool to boost their popularity. But, ironically, their over-emphasis on Jews is bad for the Jews. Jews are very loyal American citizens and don't deserve to be singled out like this." Jewish Response contends that although the dark ages of hatred and persecution are gone, the idea of using the Jews has unfortunately remained a standard feature of politics. It's time for the world to move on and realize that singling out Jews for any reason, good or bad, brings back to life the old accusations from which Jews have always suffered.

Rabbi Moshe of Coucy (d. 1260 C.E.): Sefer Mitzvos Gadol, Negative Commandment 74:

Israel must separate themselves from the vanities of the world and hold onto the seal of the Holy One, blessed is He, which is truth. They should not lie to anyone, Jew or non-Jew, and they should not deceive anyone in any manner, as the prophet says, "The remainder of Israel will do no wrong and will not speak falsely, and there will not be found in their mouths deceptive speech" (Zephaniah 3:13).

Soon the Holy One, blessed is He, will come to redeem the Jewish people. If the Jewish people acts honestly, the gentiles will say, "G-d acted fairly when he picked such people of truth to be His chosen nation. The Torah in their mouths is true." But if they act dishonestly, the gentiles will say, "Why did G-d choose for His portion thieves and swindlers?"

Also, the prophet (Hoshea 2:25) says, "And I will plant them for Myself in the earth," and the Talmud (Pesachim 87b) comments, "A person only plants one kor in order to reap many korim. Here too, G-d scattered the Jewish people among the nations so that converts would join them." If the Jews deal dishonestly, who will join them?

Chullin 94a. Shmuel said: One may not deceive another person, even a non-Jew. This was not said explicitly by Shmuel, but was derived from the following story: Shmuel once crossed the river using a ferryboat. He told his servant to pay the ferryman. The servant gave the ferryman a non-kosher chicken, allowing the ferryman to assume that it was kosher.

The Talmudic commentator Rashi explains: Shmuel's law explains why the Mishnah says that one may not give a non-Jew a piece of meat from which the sciatic nerve (forbidden to Jews) was not removed. The non-Jew might not notice this and may assume that the Jew is giving him valuable kosher meat. He will then feel gratitude toward the Jew, a gratitude based on a false premise.

This law is codified by Maimonides (Laws of Sale 18:3) and by the Shulchan Aruch (Choshen Mishpat 228:6).