That Jews are greedy and obsessed with money is one of the oldest and most persistent antisemitic tropes prevalent in mainstream society and continues to harm world Jewry today.
Joe Rogan's podcast
On February 4, American podcast host and commentator Joe Rogan took to his show, The Joe Rogan Experience, to discuss United States Representative Ilhan Omar’s getting kicked off the House Foreign Affairs Committee. By natural progression, Rogan and his co-hosts touched on Omar’s previous antisemitic comments about Jews and money.
Rogan condoned Omar’s comments, claiming that there was nothing antisemitic about her “It’s all about the Benjamins” tweet. He added, “the idea that Jews aren’t into money is ridiculous. That’s like saying Italians aren’t into pizza.” One of his podcast guests, political commentator Krystal Ball reinforced Rogan’s sentiments, stating, “She shouldn’t have apologized. I mean, I’ll go ahead and say it.”
Rogan’s Spotify podcast is among the most popular in the US, averaging over 11 million listeners per show (according to American Jewish Committee research).
If those comments weren’t damaging enough, Rogan’s co-host, Ball, found a way to make it worse by adding: “There is a very obvious reason why for my entire life there’s been a unipartite consensus around our policy vis-à-vis the Israeli government and a total inability and unwillingness to criticize the Israeli government. It has everything to do with organization and, yes, money.”
A funny thing happens when a public figure like Rogan espouses antisemitism. Other individuals who have also been accused of antisemitism have a nasty habit of rushing to our aid to recuse themselves by pretending to be our allies.
MSNBC commentator Mehdi Hasan took to Twitter to write: “So I am a massive critic of Israel’s occupation, a massive critic of AIPAC lobbying, and a massive critic of money in politics. But saying ‘the idea that Jewish people are not into money is ridiculous,’ as Rogan does here, is just straight-up antisemitism.”
Hasan continued his backhanded solidarity and wrote: “The irony is that Ilhan Omar was clumsily referring to AIPAC and apologized. She wasn’t even talking about ‘Jews’ as Rogan does in this clip.”
No, Mehdi Hasan, both Rogan and Omar were talking about Jews and money.
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) is a lobby like any other. Singling it out and ignoring other larger and better-funded lobbies plays into the false claim that Jews can control the world through money.
One of the most common stereotypes about Jews is that they are greedy and will do anything for wealth. This trope has been used to fabricate that Jewish people control the world’s financial systems. Historically, Jews have been portrayed as stingy and regularly accused of cheating people out of money.
The Jewish stereotype
Where did the stereotype of Jews and money come from? It began in the Middle Ages. Jews were barred from most professions, so many took jobs as moneylenders (a job prohibited to Christians because it was considered a dirty job). It was easy to blame Jews for charging high-interest rates and scapegoating them. Eventually, mainstream society could blame them for the financial troubles of ordinary people.
MAINSTREAM SOCIETY at the time was able to reinforce these stereotypes in literature and art (not so different from today’s modern public figures, like Joe Rogan).
A famous character that best depicts this example is Shylock, the greedy Jewish money lender in Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice. Predating Shakespeare was a play called The Jew of Malta, written by Christopher Marlowe in about 1590, which was also a great public success. The play’s central theme is antisemitism, as the main character Barabas, a Jew, goes on a revenge killing spree of predominantly Christian victims.
This portrayal of Jews as greedy villains reinforced the notion that they were money-hungry and working against the honest man. When writing Jewish characters, English authors often resorted to antisemitic tropes.
The Nazis were all aware of this, which is why they, too, pushed the notion of Jewish greed in their antisemitic campaign. The Nazis produced three huge propaganda films, one titled Die Rothschilds Aktien auf Waterloo (The Rothschilds’ Shares in Waterloo) depicting the Rothschild family in an antisemitic light regurgitating the falsehood that they profited from the Battle of Waterloo in 1815.
Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan echoes the same notions in his speech, “The Conspiracy of the International Bankers,” claiming that the Rothschild banks are members of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, which they are not (according to American Jewish Committee research).
The notion of Jewish greed has seeped into mainstream society and affects Jewish people today. Hollywood has even reinforced the stereotype of wealthy Jews in many movies and TV series. Popular shows like Never Have I Ever and Gilmore Girls depict Jewish characters as rich and snobby, an unfair and inaccurate representation of Jewish people.
Netflix’s new movie You People has also come under fire for playing into those stereotypes. Even the phrase “Jews are good with money” has become so normalized today that those saying it are convinced that it’s just a compliment.
The reality is that Jews come from all socio-economic backgrounds and associating us with greed is harmful. With the rise of antisemitic figures like Kanye West to spread his antisemitic rants about Jewish greed and control, it has never been more critical for us to tackle this false trope.
When politicians like Ilhan Omar or figures like Joe Rogan paint us as into money or claim that “the Benjamins” influence Jewish and American-Israeli policy, it feeds into the same stereotypes that have fueled centuries of antisemitism. Both must realize their comments contribute to the foundation for modern-day antisemitism.
The writer is a social media activist with over 10 years of experience working for Israeli, Jewish and cause-based NGOs. She is the co-founder and the COO of Social Lite Creative, a digital marketing firm specializing in geopolitics.