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March 13, 2009 | 8:10 pm
Cramer v. Stewart…Jew v. Jew
Posted by Rob Eshman
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Cramer v. Stewart; Jew v. Jew
Last night’s encounter between Jon Stewart and Jim Cramer should be replayed, studied, discussed and memorized at every single yeshiva and Jewish day school.
Make the debate a mandatory part of the curriculum. Why? Because there are few more concise, dramatic and entertaining ways to engage in one of the central ongoing questions Judaism asks: How do you balance the need for money with the curse of money?
In many ways these two men are mirror images of each other: both are from modest, middle class Jewish upbringings. Both are from the northeast (Stewart from New York and New Jersey, Cramer from Pennsylvannia). Both went to good east coast schools (Stewart attended William and Mary and Cramer graduated from some place called Harvard). They are scrappy outsiders: combative, quick-witted, engaging (okay, I can’t say Cramer is my idea of fun, but he has his fans). These two middle -aged, affluent white Jewish males are similar on so many counts, from their outsized ambitions to their modest heights.
And yet, and yet… in their souls, in their values, they represent the twin poles of Jewish existence, almost to the point of caricature.
Think of Cramer as representing the need for wealth and the security it brings. In Jewish history, this was embodied in the stories not just of our patriarchs like Abraham, who may have started poor but ended up as pretty well-off, but of the kings, who pursued wealth and palaces and women. Judaism is not a religion of poverty and self-abnegation. It accords no special place to the meek and the poor. In fact, the ancient rabbis made laws to protect the rights of the rich, who may be unjustly treated by courts sympathizing with the impoverished. And yet…
Confronting the tradition of our patriarchs and kings are our prophets. They railed against the unbridaled power and wealth of the kings. They decried the role of money and empty ritual in Jewish life. They exhorted Jews to return to the non-materialistic, eternal values— justice, mercy, faith, charity. And they were pursued and persecuted, always in conflict with the kings.
What the world saw Thursday night was the king versus the prophet, the marketplace versus the temple, greed versus grace, the things of this world versus the eternal values of the world-to-come. It is a tension at the heart of Jewish life, and the tension and temptation within all our hearts.
When Bernie Madoff and his wife gave millions of stolen money to support the Gift of Life bone marrow transplant registry, it’s possible they were trying to reconcile their inner Cramer with their inner Stewarts. Even crooks can have a conscience, and I suspect Jewish goniffs have particularly twisted ones. Which, by the way, may explain why Jim Cramer looked so uncomfortable last night….
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well, Cramer was uncomfortable because he had to deny those things he bragged about doing in his thestreet.com interview. paint himself as a hero, not a zero.
It goes much deeper than Cramer or Jew vs. Jew.
The financial system has to crush its middle class every few centuries—and that middle class gets looted, one way or another—from Rome to England, to Spain to Poland to Germany. When the powers that be want money, they know how to get it, and Jon Stewart nailed it when he described how the financial industries blew away our 401Ks and pensions, not to mention the values of our homes.
But it is interesting to note the Jewish reaction to all of this turmoil, as antisemitism increases around the world and The Protocols has been a best seller everywhere. I am reminded of Ellis Rivkin, prof. of Jewish History at HUC in Ohio. He wrote a book called The Unity Principle, and he nailed it, too—when economic expansion is needed, Jews have no problems, but when economic contractions begin, we have to take cover.
Yet nowhere else have I seen a people that punishes itself more than we do for the crimes committed by our own. We can hardly tolerate a shanda, and Cramer was/is a shanda (not on the Madoff level, but up there), and Jon Stewart, for speaking truth to power, is someone to be proud of.
Madoff, on the other hand, is probably a classic sociopath, and if his and his wife gave money, it was for the satisfaction of ego, and not because they really cared about other people. Any way, giving charity is a tax write off. He knew this was all bound to collapse, and didn’t close up shop until it was really over and he had sucked in even more charitable orgs, so more poor and needy, sick and abused folks suffered.
I am Chinese Canadian and reading the section regarding the ‘twin poles of Jewish existence’ could pretty much describe (at least in a framework sense) the Chinese regard for wealth and traditional values of family and modesty.
Just one comment about Madoff. Fraudsters come in every shape and colour.
If there is a basic conflict within the jewish community about the accumulation and use of money it must be at the heart of the issue of jewish charities. Almost every one of the long list of jewish fraudster has a charity in his name. Is it moral money laundering, bad money and intentions in, good money and intentions out. Cramer in and Stewart out! Like a jewish car wash! To the gentile only God can forgive. Do charities forgive, do they deliver on God’s behalf. Great article by the way, whoever wrote it.
It is significant that Madoff is a Jew and not a muslim.
Only a Jew could commit the greatest ripoff in world history.
And we are spared the anti-Arab, anti-Muslim hulaballoo that would have been prevalent.
It appears from a google search that Madoff does not have a charity in his name. This is the first of a long list of jewish fraudsters without a charity. Is there any connection between the lack of jewish giving and the willingness of Madoff to defraud, almost exclusively, is own race? By the way, Cramer is not the face of jewish money evils. Let Stewart put on Madoff or any of a long list of true criminals.
Ken from Vancouver… yes! I’ve always said the Jewish and Chinese cultures have many of the same values and traits.Education, a complicated relationship to money, ancestor worship (anyone with a Jewish mother would know I’m not joking) and a connection to food that borders on the obsessive/compulsive. We’re exactly alike, except,. of course, there are 2 billion Chinese and 13 million Jews…..
I also am in that conflict with myself.
I am a type of person who is running for wealth though I try to stay a good person and never raise my nose above the poor people, maybe it happens because I grew up in poverty and started working when I was 12 years old.
From the Kabbalah point of view there is no need to pursue money, however how can one exist without money, will god just give us money? I don’t think god wants us to sit and wait for money to come.
I guess we must make money but also stay human, this is just my point of view as I haven’t yet received a clear answer for this question.
We need money… but we must keep our feet on the ground. As we get richer, we should also extend help to the poor and the needy.
Der Juden rule the world with their usurious monetary system. Dee Babylon system must come down. Down with der Juden!!!