A Letter To Madoff

Rabbi, you spoke from the heart and I respect your letter. There will be ignorant individuals, perhaps too politically correct to understand why you said what you said and why you said it the way you did. I commend you.

Rabbi,i understand your hurt and indeed shame,but what exactly does being a jew have to do with greed?all humans are greedy for something,money,love,power,these are all human desires not confined to any one people.What Madoff did was unforgiveable and should serve as a warning to all in the future who seek profits without asking too many questions while trusting governments to know what is going on and to protect them.

Shame on the Rabbi. What difference does his religion make? Criminality, greed, avarice aflicts all religions. This is a stereotyping reinforcement by a Rabbi, no less. Madoff shold be dealt with privately by one of his victims. A court that releases this man under house arrest to a 7 million dollar penthouse does not indicate that justice is being, or will be, served.

Bernie Madoff needs to be dealt with, privately. TheRabbi's tie in to Jews only serves to reinforce a stereotype that is a defamation of all Jews. The Rabbi can take shame on himself for not just condemning this man without bringing his religion into the discussion. Ponzi was not Jewish. And religion has no relationship to criminality, avarice and greed. What is religion of the Judge who puts this thief on house arrest in a 7 million dollar penthouse? Justice? The slime admitted guilt, put him in jail while he awaitrs sentencing. And if he dies there, it is a mitzvah.

I find it interesting that many of the comments refer to Jews who have been associated with crimes in the financial world. There has been no mention of the many achievemnets in science, medicine, literature, education,and business. These achievements by people who represnt approximately 2 tenths of the worlds population. Quite an accomplishment for people who have faced rejection since the beginning of time. Jews will continue to make positive contributions to make our world a better place to live in spite of Bernie Madoff.

Madoff was the architect of this ponzi scheme. However, the people who invested in the scheme came on their own free will begging to give theri money to this money guru.. These were not the uninformed these were very bright people who were interested in the bottom line return only. Madoff was willing to take your money regardless of your religion.
However, being a Jew made the story more powerful for the news media to sell....shame on them.

It is easy to place blame, but what is needed is help for the victims. There has already been one suicide. Many more are in quiet desperation, selling all their worldly possessions. Yes, they were wrong to invest with Madoff, but what do they do now. My grandparents are in their late eighties and were wiped out 100%. I can't imagine what its like to watch everything you have worked for disappear overnight. Our family is coming together to try and support them as best we can but they are very fragile an broken right now. I am looking for an open letter to the individuals and families. We are the ones seeking spiritual guidance, strength and perhaps a little compassion from our fellow man.

Rabbi,
How much did you get paid for writing that open letter? Are you going to offer your paycheck to some of Madoff's victims are you going to profit on his misdeeds?

What a letter. You hit it right on! Should lock him up and never see another living soul the rest of his life.

As a person of protestant leanings, ones heart must tell the madoffs (lower case), that interest of others is primary. The rebbi, speaks clear truth. I spent 3 1/2 yrs in the Israel, attached to their Navy. Never have I met such strong, intelligence, men & women. Bernie, you are not a son of Abrahan...... May your future days be uneasy. Peace

Right On Target, Rabbi Gellman! After all the combined crimes of trust perpetrated by the multitudes of self-serving Swindlers on Wall Street, Bernie - individually - tops them all!

This guy should be doing serious penance - and should be behind bars, instead of being held in luxurious Home Detention. $10 Million Bail on a $50 Billion Swindle? Chump Change for this Guy! - This is a case where Bernie should be Held Without Bail - and given a gun with a single bullet in it - to be used on the Swindler by the Swindler - in the only honorable act this Guy will ever perform!

I never thought I'd see a more heinous financial crime than that imposed by Ken Lay and his malicious minions at Enron. And then Along Comes Bernie! Do the world a favor, Bernie - and drop dead - if not from outright shame, then of either your own hand - or any other appropriate Natural Cause.

Our illustrious President has vowed Death to Terrorists - and Madoff is little more than a domestic Financial Terrorist, as remorseless and deluded as any member of Al Qaeda. May he burn in Hell eternally.

I write this as a Jew,

Most Every Jew who invested with this guy is guilty of his part in resurrecting "the Jew game."

This man was promising returns that just did not jive with what was going on in the rest of the financial markets, but did investors question? The wealthy Jews who invested with him BELIEVED their wealth made them special, part of a protected group. Naïve? Without a doubt. Arrogant? Absolutely.

I was amazed by how much people invested with one entity. I am no financial wizard, but I know enough not to put all my eggs in one basket, even if that basket is controlled by someone I trust.

The bottom line is that stereotypes exist for a reason: they are borne in reality. Jew lived up to this stereotype by their GREED...closing their eyes to the simple principle that we are all taught as children. If something seems too good to be true, it usually is.

There is another part of this story that a lot are quietly gleeful about. So many of the victims of Maddof, including the charities, funded extreme left wing candidates and charities. Not all charities do good work as we would personally define it.

Like it or not Jews usually support left wing causes and politicians as they have the absolute right to do. There are many conservatives, myself included, who believe Jews are their own worst enemies and are contributing greatly to the social collapse of this Country.

Madoff just supplied a face to the stereotype, but his investors supplied the soul.

If we can't look honestly at ourselves, warts and all and if Jews keep portraying themselves as victims once again, the stage will be set for the repeat of history on an unimaginable level.

Like all great swindlers, Madoff knew that betrayal is built upon trust. He cultivated that trust for years with his steady returns on investment, his soft sell and his prominant involvement in charitable causes. He became a pillar in the Jewish community precisely because they were his most vulnerable victims. There will be anti-semitic reactions to this incredible fraud. Some will use it to justify their own predjudice. But in the end Madoff is not a Jewish swindler but a swindler who happened to be Jewish. He knew his targets well and used that intimacy as fuel for his schemes. All great swindlers know that you can steal from a stranger, but you can rob your friends and family blind.

Ponzi gave his name to the English language as a result of his greed. Now Madoff''s name should suffer the same fate. This column should be used by the authors of dictionaries when writing the definition of "madoff" and "madoffian".

Rabbi Gellman--
You are an abomination. You have made the title of Rabbi an abomination. You have wiped out the accomplishments of Sandy Koufax and Mark Spitz. You have placed an asterisk on the 1999 Shawn Green season. You have sold the Russians secrets to writing an inspirational Christmas carol.
I could go on with my reductio ad absurdiam---but suffice it to say, that if your 'open letter' had not been written by a D List Clergebrity, noone would have published it. Have a Happy Chanuka and enjoy playing the Jew Game.

I fail to see how anyone could misconstrue this as a "Jewish" crime. It was in fact a crime principally AGAINST Jews and Jewish charities. Madoff might as well have been a Nazi for all the harm he did to Jewish life and charities. When Jim Bakker and other TV evangelists rip off people for millions, people don't tar all Christians with that brush- they rightly place the blame where it belongs: on the individual. The astonishing size of this ripoff is what sets it aside from other thefts. But wait: when the facts about the recent bank "bailout" come out, the 700 billions we just got scammed out of will dwarf the Madoff scheme. That 700 billion was a last ditch effort of the exiting administration to scoop more billions. Paulson is a hero to them all. But- the truth will come out. Just wait.

madoff didn't steal the money!he just lost it on bad investments but if he says he lost it the investors can get their money back from us the taxpayers.check out GlobalResearch.ca,madoff double bluff.

madoff is madoff. he is just one of those millions criminals in this world. it gotta nothing to do with his jewish background. for those people who are anti-semantic, with madofff or without madoff, they would hate jews anyway, for no reasons...