We can't get through a media appearance these days without being asked: Is Bernard Madoff really evil?
While we certainly do not sit in judicial or moral judgment upon Madoff, we do believe that the longevity of his criminality marks him as being so.
How else can one characterize a person who shamelessly stole from so many investors, knowing that his thievery would devastate their lives?
Last Friday, during a taping session for WABC-TV's Sunday program "Upclose with Diana Williams," we met Ronnie Sue Ambrosino one of the victims we interviewed by telephone for our Madoff book, and her husband Dominic, who are dealing with the devastation of their own lives by offering support to other victims, while salvaging what they can of their former affluence and sense of emotional well-being.
We have known another of our interviewees, Robert Lappin, for many years. An honorable man, he in 1982, financially facilitated the sending of fifty-five American Christian clergymen to Israel and Lebanon for an eye-witness examination of Israel's efforts to rid Lebanon of the plague of PLO domination. And more recently, he has sent many young people to Israel in search of a meaningful educational experience.
Another acquaintance of many years' standing whose personal and foundation funds were stolen by Bernard Madoff is Holocaust survivor, writer and human rights campaigner Elie Wiesel.
Now we learn that Madoff stooped so low as to steal the retirement funds of Rabbi Alexander Schindler, of blessed memory, husband to his beloved Rhea, father of five, and adored grandfather.
We knew Rabbi Schindler--I served for nine years as a member of the Zionist General Council while Rabbi Schindler served on the board of governors of the Jewish Agency for Israel--and Deborah and I applauded his courageous stands on issues such as civil and women's rights; advocacy for the handicapped; and recognition of Jewish identity through patrilineal descent.
We also recall Rabbi Schindler's courage when in 1977, while chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, he traveled to Israel immediately following elections there to assure the new, democratically elected prime minister, Menachem Begin, of the organized American Jewish community's support in the face of a fierce media onslaught.
During my service on the Zionist General Council I had the opportunity three times each year to serve on committees with the rabbi and to witness his intelligence, wisdom and all encompassing love for Israel and the Jewish people.
Bernard Madoff was knowledgable about and involved in the American Jewish community--he served on the board of Yeshiva University--and was surely aware of Rabbi Schindler's lifelong service to the Jewish people.
Yet he stole from this noble Jew, an escapee from the Nazi Holocaust. Arriving with his parents in New York from Munich in 1937, the young Schindler served as an alpine trooper in World War II, earning both a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart. Becoming a congregational rabbi, he was later elected president of the Union of Amercan Hebrew Congregations [UAHC]where he served with great distinction for more than twenty years.
Now, as a result of economic terrorist Bernard Madoff's treachery, Rhea, in order to make ends meet, is forced to sell their home in Connecticut, as well as two rare pieces of Judaica presented to Rabbi Schindler on his retirement from the UAHC.
Can anyone doubt that the man who stole from Alexander Schindler, and so many others, is evil?