The ongoing Bernie Madoff tragedy – a Ponzi scheme now in the $50 billion range – is one of the most bizarre Jewish stories of the ages.

Here you have a Jewish guy who targeted Jews as clients. Those Jews who made a lot of money (on paper at least) from Madoff then used it to found and fund countless good charities serving Jews and non-Jews. The end result in this very sad chapter in modern America is that some operations have already been forced to shut their doors (such as the Robert I. Lappin Foundation in Boston) and others (such as Hadassah and Yeshiva University) have lost more than $90 million each.

Unlike what many talking heads are jabbering about, this is not just all about the alleged greed of Madoff and key colleagues. Rather, it’s also about a handful of very wealthy Jews taking huge earnings and giving it away for good causes. In fact, I’ve seen some of those investors on TV talking about their sense of personal devastation over the reality that more people will go hungry and not be helped in countless ways because of those tidal wave of financial fraud.

Thus, we have a bizarre silver lining to all of this: American Jewish charitable largesse is being exposed to the nation once again. Of course, the anti-Semites won’t get that. But we should.

So say what you want about Madoff – and if convicted (how can he not be?) 50 billion life sentences is what I say for him and his alleged colleagues – but this all reveals a very good side about American Jews. May we continue to find such angels and may those damaged – particularly those who were being helped by all of these charities – gain new sources of income.

Only a few years ago the eyes of the Jewish world were nervously trained on France as that country’s Jewish community faced an unprecedented level of violence directed toward it in recent years. Much of that hatred – which resulted in firebombing of a few synagogues, roughing up Jews walking in the street and vicious articles in the media – was an expression of anti-Israel hatred that targeted all Jews. Emergency leadership missions took place as did top level dialogue. And, defying the predictions of many, the French government responded. Even more importantly, so did the official apparatus of the nation’s Muslim community, including via a personal dialogue between Paris’s chief rabbi and chief imam.

With that in mind, it is not a surprise but still quite welcome to learn that about 100 Jews and Muslims marched through the streets of the storied capital city last week under the auspices of the French Jewish-Muslim Friendship group, according to the JTA Wire Service. They were showing outraged and solidarity over the desecration of more than 500 Muslim and up to 20 Jewish graves.

Of course, the reason for their joint action comes from the equally disturbing reality that between Dec. 7 and 8, on the eve of the Muslim holiday Id al-Adha, a suspected group of neo-Nazis sprayed racist slurs on military gravestones in a northern France cemetery. As Bernard Kanovitch, a leading member of the Jewish umbrella group CRIF, to a crowd at the Place de la Bastille, “There are so many things uniting the Jewish and Muslim communities. What shocks us isn’t just that this happened again, but also the number of tombs.” On top of al that, on Dec. 12, more than 2,000 people gathered at the Notre Dame de Lorette cemetery to hear community and political leaders condemn the crime.

France still has tremendous problems in policing and controlling the racists and anti-Semites in its midst. Yet, there is progress on this issue. It is duly noted and must be roundly applauded and encouraged.

I keep trying to give the United Nations the benefit of the doubt, but it’s hard to come to a conclusion other than this: They stink.

The latest noxious smell comes as concerns mount over the planning for another U.N. human rights conference. It’s already predicted to be another likely orgy of radical anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism – just like the one a few years ago in Durban.

Now U.N. officials are again plunging their once prestigious organization into an ever thickening vat of anti-integrity slime. The latest incident occurred with Monday’s observance of the annual U.N. International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. I, too, have compassion for the plight of the Palestinian people – but I always put it in the context of their leadership’s historic allergy to doing anything to help their people while giving lavish attention to their own bank accounts.

Meanwhile, U.N. General Assembly President Miguel D’Escoto Brockmann of Nicaragua just made remarks comparing Israel’s policy in the Palestinian territories to South Africa’s apartheid policies. In his noxious comments, the president declared that Israel should be subject to “boycott, divestment and sanctions.” Maybe he’s never heard of the U.N.-backed Road Map that he’s supposed to promote. Or perhaps he’s vying for his post-U.N. days to hold the position of leader of the Arab League boycott against Israel.

As JCPA Chair Andrea Weinstein declared rightly called it “terribly sad” for the U.N. to spend two days criticizing a member state’s existence.” She added that it was “more abhorrent” that Mr. Brockmann sought to delegitimize Israel in general. I add that his lack of mention of the continual Palestinian terrorist rocket bombings on Israeli civilians in Sderot, Ashkelon and elsewhere is appalling.

One must ask how these U.N. actions further promote peace in the Middle East. Instead of working to build a Palestinian peace constituency – as repeated Israeli prime ministers have now tried to do among the Jewish state’s citizens – the world body continues to enable further bloodshed among innocents by promoting a culture of hatred. Israel’s far from perfect, but at least it is transparent and its leaders understand context.

And this is coming from the keyboard of a guy who advocates for unconditional peace talks. So let’s keep talking, but let’s add some honesty to the mix.

This is the best Italian food in town. We have tried many others and nothing can top Fazzini’s. Everything is fresh, homemade and delicious.

The pizza here was undercooked and really doughy.
entrees on other tables looked good though.

we like fazzini italian kitchen because of good wait staff and consistently good italian food. everything there is homemade; pasta, sauce,bread,pizza dough,etc.  large portions and reasonable prices and no ambiance!