I am not one to worry so much about anti-Semitism, not because it doesn’t exist, but because others do it far too much. But a recent study which indicates that 24.6% of Americans blame “the Jews” a moderate amount or more, for our nation’s financial problems, is pretty disturbing.
Based on the research of Neil Malhotra and Yotam Margalit of Stanford and Columbia Universities, respectively, these numbers point to a persistent and pernicious lie about Jews in America. Interestingly there even seems to be a political angle on this kid of Jew-hatred. Turns out that Democrats are almost twice as like as Republicans to blame “the Jews” anywhere from “a moderate” to a great” amount.
For some, like Bill Kristol, this suggests the foolishness of Jews ongoing commitment to the Democratic Party by a margin of roughly 3.5 to 1. For others, it speaks to the level of resentment created by the Madoff scandal.
For me, it suggests that we really don’t understand what drives many people’s attitudes to Jews, including Jews themselves, who often time derive deep collective pride from the success of individual Jews, but loathe the fact that others direct hostility at the group because of the actions of individuals.
Not to mention that there really is a difference between talking about Jews as a group with observable patterns of behavior, and “the Jews” as a cabal which acts in a coordinated way to manipulate the larger world to the group’s own ends. The first is simply sociology, while the second is classical anti-Semitism.
Bottom line, this is complicated. So, before offering any further analyses of these facts, I encourage you to look at the brief summary of results which you can find here, and weigh in with your own thoughts….
Author, radio and TV talk show host, and President of CLAL-The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership, Brad Hirschfield is the author of 
posted June 16, 2009 at 1:57 pm
I have very little faith in a study conducted with only 2,768 adults. Such a study cannot be representative of our country as a whole, let alone a region of this country. It may be representative of a particular county in a state, perhaps. But we all know that if a survey is given to 2,768 people in Maine, then given to 2,768 people in Georgia, and once more in Idaho, each state will yield decidedly different results, especially a survey about prejudices. I have no doubt about the horrible levels of anti-Semitism in America. I do have doubt about the validity of that survey and it’s finger pointing at Democrats.
posted June 16, 2009 at 3:25 pm
Emes, rabbi, Emes!
Are you kidding?
Sad to say, you could form a minyan from the principal players (Wall Street, see-no-evil regulators) in the current financial debacle, going back to Enron: Fastow, Milty Friedman, Greenspan, Summers, Levitt, Weill, Rubin, Greenberg (2: Alan at Bear-Stearns and Maurice at AIG) and now Madoff.
Not to mention the yeshiva that goes by the name of the Federal Reserve Board.
If there were truth in advertising, a sound-byte label could easily be “Jewgate” or “MOTgate.”
Or, best yet, given Bob Rubin’s culpability both at Citigroup and as a govt (non-) regulator, “Rubingate” !
posted June 16, 2009 at 3:51 pm
“How much to blame were the Jews for the financial crisis?”
This question would be called a “poorly formed query” in a marketing or statistical analysis course.
For instance, do the respondents think that Jews formed a cabal to manipulate sectors of the American economy to their advantage (the most extreme view) or do the respondents think that Jews like Catholics, Protestants share the blame commensurate with their rank and influence in the financial sector? Given this dichotomy of potential responses, the question is invalid.
Are there Jewish people working in the financial sector of the American economy? Yes, very many: Ronald Perelman, Bruce Wasserstein, Bill Fleckenstein, Jim Cramer, Robert Walberg and former AIG CEO Maurice “Hank” Greenberg, just to name a few. Did all Jewish people working in the financial sector contribute to the current financial crisis? No. People of Jewish origin have risen to the top through intelligence, drive, ambition and hard work. To absolve them of any blame in the financial scandal would be patronizing. To assign them lion’s share of blame would be anti-Semitic and wrong on many levels.
posted June 16, 2009 at 8:55 pm
“Sad to say, you could form a minyan from the principal players (Wall Street, see-no-evil regulators) in the current financial debacle”
That is really funny! Thank you for the great laugh after a hard day.
posted June 17, 2009 at 11:42 am
Frank and Dodd are Jewish? I didn’t know THAT!
posted June 18, 2009 at 2:25 pm
“Your name”- I am glad it strikes you as funny.
That is not true of Madoff’s victims or the people at Enron and BearStearns who lost not only their jobs but also their pensions!
Barney Frank is Jewish; Chris Dodd is not.
posted June 18, 2009 at 4:16 pm
I think a lot more of us are responsible for this crisis than just Jews. For every Wall Street Jew, there’s a Bill Maher or John Stewart. Right now, I’m listening to Leonard Cohen.
There’s good and bad everywhere.
God bless every ethnicity and race. Jew, Irish, Latino, etc.
Jews love and respect there families and forefathers. I respect that.
There’s no conspiracy here; just stupidity and avarice.
posted June 19, 2009 at 8:54 pm
To blame this on any one religious group is ridiculous.
The financial crisis has no religion. It has been born from overindulgence, selfishness, and greed. These are secular in nature.
Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Agnostic . . .etc. . .all are represented in the cast of characters that have driven the economy to the depths it has fallen to.
Same can be said about our environment.
posted June 22, 2009 at 9:47 am
Heaven forbid that when White Cristians still own and run most of the country that they get blamed for anything.
This from a white Christian…………..
posted June 29, 2009 at 2:30 am
Recently, I have been shocked and appalled by the unqualified support by some Christian televangelists for the most anti-Christian religion on the face of the earth, Judaism. They also support the corrupt, Jewish supremacist, anti-Christian Israeli state. I know that some of you reading this may respond by saying that Islam is really the most anti-Christian religion and that Judaism is a friendly faith. Many mistakenly think that Judaism is a sister religion to Christianity. The term “Judeo-Christian” has entered our modern lexicon to the point where no politician, George Bush on down, would dare even invoke the term “Christian heritage” without adding the prefix, “Judeo” to it. The term “Judeo-Christian” didn’t even come into existence until after the Second World War when Jews became supreme in their influence over major media.
The truth is that there is no such thing as Judeo-Christianity. That would be like saying Satanic-Christianity. The religion now called Judaism did not even come formally into existence until six hundred years after Jesus Christ. It began with the codification of the Babylonian Talmud. In Judaism, the Talmud is the supreme scripture, not the Old Testament. Only Satanism can rival Judaism’s vicious hatred for Jesus Christ. The Talmud even claims that Jesus Christ is being punished in hell by “being boiled in hot semen!”1
When I first read this hateful Talmudic quote, I just couldn’t believe it. Maybe you don’t believe what I am saying right now, but read on and I will prove to you that this quotation is accurate and that Judaism is intrinsically and viciously anti-Christian. Judaism it the embodiment of the same Satanic tradition that Christ condemned when He referred to “the synagogue of Satan.” (Rev. 2-9) What I say here I can prove in the documented words of the most sacred texts of Judaism and in the clearly documented words of the highest authorities of Judaism itself, and even more importantly, in the scriptures of the New Testament.
Interestingly enough, Islam is much closer to Christianity than Judaism. For instance, Judaism condemns the Virgin Mary as a prostitute and viciously condemns Jesus an evil sorcerer and a bastard. The Talmud even claims Jesus was a sexual pervert who had intercourse relations with his donkey. In stark contrast, although Islam certainly does not share all the Christian views of Jesus Christ, it views Christ as a true prophet of God, virgin-born, and that God resurrected Jesus from the dead. Ironically, the chief religious book of Islam, the Qur’an, actually defends Jesus Christ from the obscene slanders made against Him in the Jewish Talmud.