A Letter To Madoff

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  • Posted By: wildechild66 @ 01/08/2009 2:46:35 AM

    NEWSWEEK comment board operators: please remove the filth posted on your website by LudwigVanBeet. As for you, mister, you ought to be ashamed of yourself. Since you clearly lack the capacity for such decency, I suppose the rest of us will have to be ashamed on your behalf.

  • Posted By: wildechild66 @ 01/08/2009 2:44:59 AM

    Could the NEWSWEEK comment board operators please remove the hateful and incendiary comments of LudwigVanBeet? This sort of speech is disgusting and ought not be tolerated by any decent person, regardless of their religion or ethnicity.

  • Posted By: brooklynboy @ 01/06/2009 10:47:43 AM

    So hateful. Dear Rabbi please reflect. My family is Christian and lost money with Mr Madoff. I have never ever ever heard of the "Jew Game" you speak of. You have now just created a new road of hate.
    Your venting made me sad. I believe you should have read your article one more time before letting it be printed. Mr Madoff is as human as you and I. It was just money. Money. Not life or blood.

    Where is your compassion?
    Please reflect
    Bless

  • Posted By: brooklynboy @ 01/06/2009 10:37:11 AM

    What a hateful article. My family is Christian and lost money with Madoff. Why oh why did you bring the said "Jew Game". I have never ever ever heard of such a thing. Well now you just created a new road of hate. I do not care if you are purple, just be kind. Mr Madoff has hurt a lot of people but you were hateful downright mean. It is money. That is it. Money.
    Rabbi you need to reflect. I believe you need to read your words again and reflect.

    Sad so sad.
    Bless

  • Posted By: PacificGatePost @ 01/05/2009 8:41:42 PM

    HEDGE FUND UNDERBELLIES WILL SURFACE AT MADOFF & Co. TRIALS

    From New York to Geneva, corruption is rampant and complex on Wall Street, including the process of accumulation of this much cash..
    -
    http://pacificgatepost.blogspot.com/2008/12/is-madoff-really-anomaly.html
    -
    MADOFF AND HIS METHODS are not so unique.

  • Posted By: TheGardener @ 01/05/2009 10:17:48 AM

    Take a course in Comprehensive Reading.

    • Posted By: xMoonbeamx @ 01/05/2009 6:59:52 PM

      ROFL

      Yeah, that's what I thought.

  • Posted By: TheGardener @ 01/04/2009 1:47:30 PM

    XMoonBeamx Your Quote:" Would you dare to go to any Muslim country and start shooting your mouth off like this?" Some people have the courage to question Islam. Islam is the second and last offspring of Judaism and also the most horrific, cruel and inhumane in nature. The Hypocrite who controls the voting power in the UN, who silences Free Speech to impose his own tyranny. Isn't that what Islam is about? Oppression and Abuse in the name of a God? Who/what is that shadow they kneel 5x/day for? What is that black stone/ The Kabaa they walk around throwing pebbles at their imaginary devils? A meteorite surrounded by Imaginary devils, in who's name land grabbing is a way of life for the past 1400 years and still continues. You think the 21st century is any different from the 600's CE? Today we have 1.2 billion Clones.

    It doesn't take rocket science to question.

    Let me ask your question in a different manner;" Why do you allow Islam to dictate your lifestyle without questioning?" After all, isn't Islam the Twin of Judaism? Isn't Islam Practicing what Judaism and Christianity Preach!? Isn't Sharia a copy of the Torah? Didn't Opec impose Islam on the world as part of its oil sale: Submission of the West? Was $150/barrel oil rational and justifiable? Isn't the UN the tool by which they impose Islam on the World?

    No, your comment doesn't make me feel better.Because History shows that we are in a vicious circle for the past 2000 years. Between 100CE and 800 CE three religions emerge: Judaism, Christianity and Islam and hit Mankind worldwide. We have come full circle, after wandering for 2000 years, back to the Land of 2000 years ago...and nothing has changed except that the whole world, the entire planet has become part of the scenery.
    "The Chosen People" (a term, brought into existence by Rashi as a defense against Christianity) are still the slaves of a story told, are still sacrificed for the story told. And you think that makes me happy? And you think we should not question?

    Yep, you are scared to question and you would kill the person who returns to the cave to tell you about the Shining Sun Outside Plato's Cave.

    • Posted By: xMoonbeamx @ 01/04/2009 7:49:19 PM

      Right ... got it. What does this have to do with the Rabbi's lamentation?

  • Posted By: C. MacLean @ 12/24/2008 10:07:56 AM

    Rabbi - shame on you. Before you worry about Madoff's shame, do something about your own - you sound like someone straight out of the shtetl, so afraid of his own shadow, waiting for the Cossacks to come and strike down the Jews. Grow up - you aren't in Eastern Europe anymore.

    Yes, Madoff is a bad guy, who did bad things. And yes, because the media has talked about his role in the Jewish philanthropic community, people who are already anti-semitic have pounced on it to fuel their anti-semitism. So what?

    You have fallen into the same shame-ridden trap that so many Jews fall into - worrying about what the non-Jews will think. Stop it. Madoff is a bad apple but he doesn't represent the Jews, and he isn't the reason ignorant people don't like Jews. It is not his responsibility to front for the Jewish people, and he doesn't carry the entire Jewish community on his shoulders. And incidently, Joe Lieberman negated his own accomplishments all by himself.

    I expect a rabbi to do a better job of talking about what Judiasm stands FOR - charity towards others, reverence for the law and education, etc. I do not expect a rabbi to engage in such an embarrassing display of hand wringing and self-hatred, not do I expect a rabbi to carry on in such a maudlin manner about how non-Jews think about Jews.

    We - that is, the American people - are in the middle of an economic crisis, which Madoff didn't cause; he is just a symptom. Greed is another symptom, and so is shame. Please work harder at being part of the solution, not the problem.

    Heal your own shame.

    • Posted By: xMoonbeamx @ 01/01/2009 11:06:26 AM

      Are you really this ignorant? "Shame-ridden trap?" What are you talking about? The Rabbi isn't ashamed of himself; he say Madoff should be ashamed of himself. He's not worried about what non-Jews think because he's maudlin; he's worried about it because stupid bigoted Jew-haters use such excuses to confuse other morons that Jews are worth killing. To non-Jews, Jews are always called "the Jews," whether we like it or not, and so Madoff does represent the Jews (though he shouldn't) and he's exactly the reason bigots will claim to hate the Jews (though they'll be lying), it's every Jewish person's responsibility to try not to get us all killed by morons, and because of what we face from those morons, every one of us carries the whole Jewish community. They don't say "a" Jew, or "some" Jews, they don't see us as separate people - we're just "the Jews," and stuck with whatever a Madoff does, regardless of what you so self-righteously "expect" from a Rabbi. Why don't YOU grow up and you can start by being part of the solution as well - go educate the morons about Judaism, not the Rabbi.

      • Posted By: AymanM @ 01/04/2009 5:22:08 PM

        If there weren't any jew haters on the face of this planet, the Rabbi Gellman's of this world would have tried very hard to create them. This apologetic appoach that is always put into work whenever someone who turns to be jewish, like Madoff, does something really bad. It is something we especially experience whenever Israel engages in military action. I recall seiing tons of old and new movies on the holocaust when arab civilians are "unintentionally and unfortunately" killed during an IDF incursion. This tactic isn't new and I for one do not see a need for it, especially in the Madoff case as I have not seen any single hinting from anyone that antisemitic sentiments are rising because of Madoffs' scam. So Rabbi Gellman, I say to you; cut it out.

  • Posted By: TheGardener @ 01/04/2009 12:18:15 PM

    Doringboom...
    Try "domainofman" it is part of the Library of Congress.

    Ask why the same story is perpetually repeated in different time frames: Cain and Abel, Ishmael and Isaac, Esau and Ya'kov. Two brothers: The youngest stealing the birthright of the oldest and god approves. Who or what is this god? So far mankind has invented 40 000 gds and has never been able to prove any.

    In ancient times, stories used to be personified;the characters of the story do not exist. Why is the nr 12 perpetually returning? 12 tribes, 12 apostles, 12 houses of the zodiac = mankind's perceptions of the night sky? Book of Job.

    What's in the name: Hashem, Elohim, Adonai?
    HaShem = Literally Ha = High and Shem is an Ancient Egyptian word for Summer i.o.w. Height of Summer = Harvest time. celebrated as Rosh Hashanna and Yom Kippur.
    Elohim = El was the son of Baal. Who are the Elohim? The Followers of the Son of Baal?
    Adonai = Greek Origin: Adonis was a complex God.
    All 3 names have Lord/Gd in common.

    Who is this Lord/Gd? Hashem, Adonai, Elohim?
    He/She travels through the sky in what appears to have been a noisy, smoking aircraft. GENESIS/Bereshit 19:16-19 GENESIS/Bereshit 20:18 EXODUS 13:21-22 . The Lord/Gd is an astronaut.

    Try the translations of Sumerian Tablets.
    In the 1800's some 30 000 Sumerian Clay tablets were discovered and translated. Zecheria Sitchin's book"Lost book of Enki" gives a translations of the tablets. Do read it some time and question how this fundamental story is found in just about every ancient mythology/religious story.

    The Greek Gods have different names from the Egytotian gods and the Sumerian Gods and the Hindu Gods yet all tell the very same story.
    Take a look at the timeline of Scriptures: Religion claims its scriptures originates in 5000 and 2000 BCE.
    However History tells us that All Scriptures for present day Judaism, Christianity and Islam were written between 100CE and 800 CE. Torah was written between Rabbi Akiva and Judah Ha Nasi. A code of oral traditions was finally drawn up in the 3rd Century CE by Judah ha- Nasi (219).
    When were the Talmuds written... CE 4th century 330 ??? 470 Babylonian Talmud: The Babylonians indulged in dialectical discussions. CE 5th century Jerusalem Talmud: Mishnah distinguished by simple method of teaching, expounding. CE 7th century Bereshit/Genesis, Lamentations 9th Century Midrashim, Ruth, Ecclesiastes, Esther,

    Why don't we draw up the code of oral traditions of the Australian aborigines and call it Divine? I am sure they are less horrific in Nature.



    • Posted By: xMoonbeamx @ 01/04/2009 12:50:01 PM

      Again, what does all of this have to do with the Rabbi's letter and/or Bernie Madoff? Or are you really hoping to educate the world population about how religion is a crock by asking question after question here? If you hate the religious so much, why did you bother to read a Rabbi's lamentation in the first place? Do you write this stuff to the Pope? Are you planning on educating the Hindus and the Bhuddists and the Evangelicals as well? Would you dare to go to any Muslim country and start shooting your mouth off like this? You obviously know you have nothing to fear from the Rabbi or you wouldn't be here picking on him just for being a Rabbi. It doesn't really matter at all whether or not God is real; Bernie Madoff is still a bad guy and Jew-haters will still blame all Jews for what he's done. The fact that you think you know more or better than everyone else on the earth about religion won't change that. Oh and by the way, harvest time is NOT celebrated as Rosh Hashanna and/or Yom Kippur, so yet again, right in the beginning of your entirely masturbatory I-know-more-than-all-of-you post, you destroy your own credibility for the rest of your post. But congrats anyway and WOW, don't you know lots and lots!? Your mom must be sooooooooo proud. We are all very impressed. Feel better, now?

  • Posted By: TheGardener @ 01/04/2009 11:24:55 AM

    @doringboom...Poor you!

    Obviously, you are utterly scared to question and research what you believe and what we were told to believe. To admit we are being taken for a ride is not easy and it would seem you have a problem with all of the above. History is not on the side of the Religious Institutions, yet they have shaped and formed the world we live in. Religion is a Fraud; Selling an afterlife insurance they cannot pay out using FEAR of the Unknown. Any Cleric lamenting about Madoff is a clown in his own circus.

    The Religions Institutions are at the bottom of the dirt. All they care about is control and power. ???The more you investigate what we think we understand, where we came from, how we evolved, and who we are, the more you see how much we have been lied to by every Religious institution. The 'Keepers of the Faith' - Rabbis - Imams - Mullahs-Priests ???etc. and their respective herd show great ineptness of rational analytical thinking. Their mental abilities have been degraded by their religious values.

    Steven Weinberg puts it this way: "Religion is an insult to human dignity, without it you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, it takes religion."

  • Posted By: BikeAdman @ 01/04/2009 5:08:54 AM

    Marc Gellman's thinking that Sen. Lieberman has accomplished something noble and uplifting estranges me from the Rabbi's thinking. Otherwise, I don't find his tract any more searing or searching than what a college sophomore could and would write.

  • Posted By: doringboom @ 01/03/2009 8:42:46 PM

    I think TheGardener's online name says it all.....He is obviously a reincarnation of Chauncey the Gardener in Jerzy Kozynski's book, Being There, where the totally mentally deficient Gardener spouted absolute nonsense and naive airheads thought he was pouring out wisdom. Airheads Beware!!

  • Posted By: TheGardener @ 01/02/2009 5:15:59 PM

    Dear Rabbi,

    If you only knew what the Abrahamic Religious beliefs, starting with Judaism some 2000 years ago and its 2 offspring: Christianity and Islam, have inflicted on this Earth and Mankind. Historically there were no Jews at Mount Sinai, and Moishe did not write nor give any Torah to anyone at Mount Sinai. The Torah is copied after the Code of Hammurabi and the Ancient Egyptian Books of the Death and Righteousness. Christianity turns Horus into Jesus, nr 17 on the list of the Astral Sun Gods. There never was a dead Jew on a stick called Jesus, who died and turned into some god. The Rabbis stood by and did nothing. Hitler came along, the Rabbis stood by and did nothing: Shall we remind ourselves that the world knew as early as 1936 what the Nazis were up to? Poland, with its biggest Jewish population, became victim; while 90% of German Jewry had left the country. Why do the Rabbis stand by and do nothing?... Could it be that the foundations of this god-belief are not as kosher as they let to believe?

    Please explain why the Magen David is an exact replica of the Hindu Shatkona? Why is the Hebrew Language a derivative of the Ancient Sanskrit Language considered a sacred and mystical language "the language of the gods." The script is called Devanagari, meaning "used in the cities of the gods?"

    Why was Genesis1 changed to Genesis 2?
    The Great Reform and Passover of Josiah...a slaughter never seen before...Remember him Rabbi? Once it is understood that animal sacrifices are the necessary prerequisite for the meat industry, then we see the logic of the Great Reform of Josiah. Animal Sacrifices are the Economic Foundation for the cultures of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The God of Genesis was changed from Commanding Vegetarianism for all creatures in Genesis 1:29-30, which is an attribute of a Paradise in which all creatures live peacefully together, into a God asserting in Genesis 9: 2-3 that all creatures are now to live in fear and dread of humans, and that humans can now eat flesh.

    Madoff did not intend to get trapped in a whirlpool that was triggered by Opec all time ridiculous unjustifiable high Energy prices of $150/barrel. Where are the lamentations about this fact of life? AIG was bailed out why not Madoff? Isn???t the Tax payer the endless worker for this delusional lifestyle?Honesty always conquers Rabbi. It may take more than 2000 years to do so but eventually it will surface and at what price it will be???Uncle Albert warned: Action = Reaction.

    Why does Judaism have Hindu Symbols, follow the Sumerian Time line (5769), tell Egyptian stories while practicing African Customs and sacrifice its followers for the Story Told? Can we stay with the feet on the ground Rabbi? Why are the deceitful glorified horror stories of Judaism, Christianity and Islam imposed on mankind while you believe you can lament about Madoff?

    The Translation of the Sumerian Clay tablets: Zecheria Sitchin's ???Lost book o

    • Posted By: xMoonbeamx @ 01/02/2009 11:39:36 PM

      I'm sorry, but what on earth does all of that have to do with the Rabbi's letter? If this Rabbi comes out and shames a man for what is shameful, how is that "doing nothing?" What's he supposed to "do?" Also, by the way, if there wasn't a Jesus, what then were the Rabbis standing by and doing nothing about in that part of your long list of ... whatever that was?

  • Posted By: bigforkj1 @ 01/02/2009 6:06:28 PM




    To blame all Jews for Madoff is equivalent to blaming all Europeans for Hitler. It's past time society got beyond stereotypes, especially racial/ethnic./reliigeous ones. I'm a mainstream evangelical Protestant. Please don't equate me with Jerry Falwell - or orse, George Bush!



    t

  • Posted By: dang @ 01/02/2009 3:26:58 PM

    There are amongst us people of all kinds: Crooks like Madoff and idiots like Rabbi Gellman.

    As a matter of fact, not much has been made in the press of the fact that Madoff is a Member of the Tribe, at least not in the US. Sure the detractors are always there, but their voices had been spectacularly subdued in this case.

    Then come dumb idiots like this Rabbi, shining the light of a million suns to let everyone know that Madoff is a Jew.

    Sometimes silence is golden.

    The Jewish people have never claimed to be out of the ordinary, and include thieves and robbers, and scumbags of all kinds, like most other societies, and we should not emphasize, as this stupid Gellman did, those amongst us that do not stand up to the morals of most of those belonging to the faith.

    The 10 components defining us according to the Kabbalah include
    ???????? ??????????
    and it seems Gellman is devoid of both.

    Shame on Madoff, and shame on Gellman. Neither should be representative of the Jews.

    Dan.

  • Posted By: dang @ 01/02/2009 3:22:19 PM

    There are amongst us people of all kinds: Crooks like Madoff and idiots like Rabbi Gellman.

    As a matter of fact, not much has been made in the press of the fact that Madoff is a Member of the Tribe, at least not in the US. Sure the detractors are always there, but their voices had been spectacularly subdued in this case.

    Then come dumb idiots like this Rabbi, shining the light of a million suns to let everyone know that Madoff is a Jew.

    Sometimes silence is golden.

    The Jewish people have never claimed to be out of the ordinary, and include thieves and robbers, and scumbags of all kinds, like most other societies, and we should not emphasize, as this stupid Gellman did, those amongst us that do not stand up to the morals of most of those belonging to the faith.

    The 10 components defining our souls, according to the Kabbalah include
    ???????? ??????????
    and it seems Gellman is devoid of both.

    Shame on Madoff, and shame on Gellman. Neither should be representative of the Jews.

    Dan.

  • Posted By: alicecbrown @ 01/02/2009 12:18:49 PM

    And the saddest thing is, that now people like me have to pick up the pieces. ...we of very humble means. This morning, I received a plea from the ACLU which does so many wonderful things to keep the destroyers of our Bill of Rights at bay and to protect the Constitution these war criminals swore to protect, but have almost destroyed. Because of Madoff, the ACLU has lost millions from the foundations who had been contributing to them. So we must try to fill in the losses, those losses multiplied by all the injustice that will take place in places like Alabama, my home state, because of the ACLU's forced absence.
    Yes, shame on you Bernie Madoff. And yet, he took more money from his fellow Jews than from any other ethnic group.....a double assault.

  • Posted By: sunnyboy1 @ 12/31/2008 9:55:20 AM

    The BIBLE calls all Jews EVIL (Exoodus 32:22). What o you expect? Jews are not that smart. They just pool together.


    sunny

    • Posted By: sunnygirl123 @ 01/02/2009 8:27:40 AM

      This refers to the Egyptians, you stupid anti-semite.

  • Posted By: oneuncoolmom @ 01/02/2009 1:33:21 AM

    As horrendous and evil as Mr. Madoff's crimes are, I think that Rabbi Gellman is wasting his time writing an open letter to Madoff. Mr. Madoff has every characteristic of a sociopath which means he has no conscience. If he has no conscience, he cannot relate to what the Rabbi is saying, nor can he feel shame or care if people never trust him again. Perhaps he doesn't even care if he spends the rest of his life in prison, which, hopefully, he will do. But, the worst evil of all is that sociopaths disguised as "normal people" live among us and have so much power to quietly destroy the innocent.

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