First, I’ll give some background about who some of the famous Jewish mobsters were and what they were instrumental in doing.
One of the most famous Jewish mobsters was Arnold Rothstein, known as the ‘Moses of Jewish Gangsters’. It’s said about him by Leo Katcher, a crime writer, that Rothstein "transformed organized crime from a thuggish activity by hoodlums into a big business, run like a corporation, with himself at the top." Rothstein "understood the truths of early 20th century capitalism (hypocrisy, exclusion, greed) and came to dominate them"
A large wave of Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe in the late-19th century and early 20th century produced Jewish mobsters such as Max "Kid Twist" Zwerbach, "Big" Jack Zelig, and Vach "Cyclone Louie" Lewis who competed with and were acknowledged by Italian and Irish gangs. A Jewish underworld already existed in New York at the start of the 20th century, with Jewish mobsters using Yiddish as their language. A pimp was known as a "simcha," a detective as a "shamus" and a loafer as a "trombenik."Jewish-American organized crime arose among slum kids who in pre-puberty stole from pushcarts, who as adolescents extorted money from store owners, who as young adults practiced schlamming (wielding an iron pipe wrapped in newspaper against striking workers or against scabs) – until as adults they joined well organized gangs involved in a wide variety of criminal enterprises boosted by Prohibition.
During Prohibition, Jewish gangsters became major operatives in the American underworld and played prominent roles in the distribution of illegal alcohol and the spread of organized crime throughout the United States.I think that the Jews had a lot of characteristics that played to their advantage in being able to successfully run the mob scene. Jews are often seen as the underdog in society, as the quiet, meek, and harmless citizen. By using this stereotype, Jews were able to orchestrate crime and then pass the blame on to other crime groups such as the Italians.
Additionally, the Jewish community is a tight-knit one. Everyone knows everyone, this is very helpful in the world of gangs. All the matters of the mobsters were able to stay ‘in the family’. Also, no Jew wants to disgrace the name of a fellow Jew. So even if someone disapproved of the actions of the Jewish mob, they would keep quiet. This mentality helped to keep the image of the Jews in American society clean. The Jews were trusted, they were successful business men, and they were the last ones anyone would think to be organizing crime.
Gila- I think your last comment is sadly true. Jews are supposed to be trusted businessmen with a moral compass, however, too often this is proved wrong. Maidoff is clearly an example of a modern day Jewish gangster, as he pulled off the largest ponzi scheme in history. How sad that was accomplished by a Jew.
ReplyDeleteGila - this post is so interesting. Since the Jews were as you say the "underdog in society" did they still use intimidation tactics? Did they force people to pay them for protection from the Jewish mobsters themselves?
ReplyDeleteJenny, Madoff aside, I think it’s important that Jews, in some small way at least, were stepping up and not maintaining their status as underdog, but finally becoming part of the rest of American culture and an accepted and acknowledged rival. Not only do I love that a Jewish mob existed (obviously it did, Jews are everywhere!), but also that Jews were credited with changing organized crime from “thuggish activity” into a “business.” It’s genius that Jews used some of the major stereotypes against them to their advantage in keeping the law off their backs while still maintaining their “business.” Today even, Jews are still a very close group where if you don’t know someone directly, there’s only about two degrees of separation to someone who does. While it has happened that Jews were on the bad side of things, I think it’s good to see Jews on a level playing field with other Americans, criminal as it might have been.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Jenny that it is extremely sad that Jewish people shrunk down to the level of a gangster. I think its sad when anyone degrades themselves into becoming a thug but especially when they are not born into it, they chose to become one just to fit in. I do agree with Tami and Gila though that it had to be done in order that they would not be taken advantage of. However, these seemingly pious people should be better than what they had become. They should not have used their reputation to their advantage for criminal acts.
ReplyDeleteWhile I do agree that it was sad to see Jews turning to a life of crime, I also think that it is quite impressive that they were able to compare with the other mobsters, although they were the cultural underdog. In the 20s, running a mob was a way to be successful...not the most respectable way, but a way nonetheless. It's almost (l'havdil) like how today we have the stereotype of the Jewish doctor; it's amazing that Jews have been so successful in the medical profession in the past few decades.
ReplyDeleteIt is also interesting how everyone is referring to the Jews as underdogs- thereby making it okay that they were mobsters. In Megillat Ruth we are learning how throughout tanach the Jewish people deceive. For example, Yaacov with Esev and the bechora, Avraham and Pharoah with Sarah- all of these stem from Jews being he underdog and needing to deceive in order to survive and become a nation.It is interesting that nothing has really changed, not that these tanach occurrences are comparable to the deception in tanach as robbing people of money is clearly wrong. The concept, however, is the same Jews needing to resort to morally gray areas as times in order to survive.
ReplyDeleteI disagree that in order to be successful, survive, and not be the "underdog" Jews had to join mobs. Many people say today that if drug dealers were to gear their minds toward business than they would be very successful businessmen. Same applies to mobsters. If only they were to channel their mind to legal business matter then imagine how much success they would have. In order for Jews to be successful they did not have to join mobs, there are so many other ways to make a successful living that is not illegal and immoral.
ReplyDeleteI find all of these comments fascinating. It seems wild and romantic to me to picture a large Jewish underground mob family... the Godfather totally comes to mind... I don't necessarily think that Jews dominated the mob scene because they were "underdogs" though. To me it seems like these were people who realized what their strengths were and used them to make money. We all now that Jews have been successful bankers throughout history. I, like Kim, also wonder if the same use of intimidation was used for Jewish mobsters. I also wonder, even though stealing and being involved in illegal enterprises is clearly against Jewish law if they would have considered themselves observant Jews. Or even if they identified with the Jewish community at all?
ReplyDeleteYour points about why mobs work within a Jewish network really hit the nail on the head. The way the Jewish community functions, the way news travels, the underlying loyalty at the end of the day... these are all aspects that are conducive to a large, connected underground operation.
@Elizabeth: During the 20s, though, there wasn't much opportunity for Jews to get into successful positions. Most of them were uneducated, and most schools were anti-semitic and wouldn't let them in anyway. So, illegal acts were, essentially, their equivalent of becoming successful.
ReplyDeleteThis post is very interesting. I also think that while it is sad that a Jew pulled off the biggest ponzi scheme in history, it is also fascinating that Jewish mob groups are compared to American mob groups and even though Jews are a minority, this shows that they have become a part of regular american society.
ReplyDeleteGila, your post was really interesting. What a smart idea to use our "underdog" appeal to our own advantage. And I agree with Tami that finally, Jews were on the same, equal playing field with the rest of Americans. We do tend to take over and do really well when it comes to anything (okay, besides sports). The idea of keeping things in the family I think is key, just like Italians, this too is very important to us.
ReplyDeleteI think the big different between Madoff is that he ripped off OTHER JEWS! Going against the gangster belief, that as I understand it, should uphold that you try not to screw over your own brothers, because your brothers will get revenge on you. Which I'm sure plenty of Jews have.
I think that we can even see that, although we don't have quite as organized crime and gangs today, a good thing I'm sure, I think it's naive to say that Jews today don't get together and commit certain crimes. Let me explain: When a husband refuses to give his wife a get, a divorce by Jewish laws, after trying to talk to him and trying all civil means, it is pretty known that Jews will organize. Sure there are rallies, but I hate to tell you that much more violent ends go to get justice for these women who are essential hostages to these men who refuse to give them divorces. Shuls send threatening letters, tell their employers to put pressure on them, even fire them, and in extreme cases have been beaten up and attacked by other Jews. I know in my own community, a Rabbi of one of the largest communities in North America, was hanging out with a married female friend, his deceased wife's best friend. They would go to a movie alone, she would bring him food for his Shabbat meals. For a couple years people warned him and told him it was inappropriate and looked suspicious of an affair but he did not listen. Someone took it upon themselves to hire a private investigator and with a collection of photos and a letter sent it out to various prominent members of the community, other Rabbis in Toronto, and it got very ugly. It tore Toronto apart. Long story short (if I even know what that means lol) half the community that was close with the Rabbi felt embarrassed on his behalf and defended him and the other half felt it was inappropriate to have such a Rabbi represent a group of the Jewish people. The big Jews in Toronto, that do control certain aspects (common, who are we kidding? We know they all are out there) have been putting efforts and money towards finding out who this person is, there have been tons of talks and behind-closed-door meetings about attacking this person's home and forcing them to move out of Toronto because it was not there place and they have no right to embarrass anyone, especially a beloved Rabbi, in such a horrible and public way. The other half sent out more letters about the Rabbi and eventually the Rabbi was pushed and forced out and has moved to Israel. Not to mention he also got married since he was DATING someone the entire time this was going on. And now my community in Toronto has no spiritual leader, which for 700 families (which if each family has only 2 children is as many as 1,400 people) is a very big problem. So far no houses have been burned down but I wouldn't be surprised if it eventually happens. These are just two examples of what extremes Jews can be let to but I think, while it's not a great thing, Jews do know how to still call on those old ganger roots when its unfortunately needed.