When the financial crisis erupted in the fall of 2008, concerns arose about possible anti-Semitic reactions. Our antennae were up because the most prominent elements of anti-Semitism are the charges that Jews have too much power and they are primarily concerned about money.

And sure enough, "blame the Jews" statements erupted on the Internet and in the international community.  Blogs and chats on mainstream financial Web sites and elsewhere were bombarded with comments. 

Here is a sample of some of those comments:

-          "World-Jewry Finance grabbled trillions of Euro's and Dollars.  Among them the Jews, Rothschild and Morgan-Stanley.  With the trillions they will incite further wars and finance them."

-          "Jews have infiltrated Wall Street and Government and have ruined our country."

-          "Can you see why the Jews need to be routed out and sent packing…they are a cancer on our society."

Comments like these were not limited to the Internet.  Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told the gathering of world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly that Zionists, although they are a small minority "have been dominating an important portion of the financial and monetary centers…in a deceitful, complex and furtive manner."

And just as we were countering these "blame the Jews" statements, the Bernard Madoff affair broke and again our antennae quivered.

Madoff, a pillar of the financial world and a prominent philanthropist, including to many Jewish institutions and charities, allegedly admitted he duped his clients by running a giant Ponzi scheme.  Where once they thought they had thousands or millions of dollars, individual investors, including many retirees, and non-profit institutions found there were none.  Ironically, a great many of the victims of Madoff's scheme were those same Jewish institutions and charities with which he was involved.  Also hurt were "Bernie's friends," many in Palm Beach where he was a part-time resident, and many Jewish.

Once again we saw an outpouring of anti-Semitic comments on mainstream and extremist Web sites. The public comment sections of highly trafficked news sites, blogs, and financial message boards that ran articles about the Madoff scandal were filled with anti-Semitic comments, mostly from anonymous users.  

Jews are always a convenient scapegoat in times of crisis, but the Madoff scandal and the fact that so many of the defrauded investors were Jewish created a perfect storm for the anti-Semites.  Popular news sites in New York and Florida – the two epicenters of the Madoff story –carried many anti-Semitic posts.  Anti-Jewish posts could be found on many high-traffic news sites.  Those that appeared in the comments section of the Palm Beach Post online were subsequently removed by the site's administrators.

Examples of anti-Semitic postings included:

• "Ho hum, another Crooked Wall Street Jew.  Find a Jew who isn't Crooked.  Now that would be a story."
• "One Jew thief robs another bunch of Jew thieves – I suppose that's what you'd call a victimless crime.  I suppose if he'd not scre*ed his fellow Jews – and robbed us poor gentiles it would've been absolutely kosher, eh?"
•  "Just another jew money changer thief.  It's been happening for 3,000 years.  Trust a Jew and this is what will happen.  History has proven it over and over.  Jews have only one god – money."

All of this would be disturbing enough in a vacuum, but three particular factors require us to take them especially seriously.

First, there has been much talk about how anti-Semitism has changed, the focus being on how events in Israel are the main connection today.  But the anti-Semitism expressed here is not this "new" anti-Semitism but represents the "classic" anti-Semitism that has caused such damage and destruction to the Jewish people.  Accusing Jews of being responsible for the woes of mankind through their allied control of the worldwide financial system is and age-old canard.

A second factor, which is worrisome, is that these accusations come in the context of a period of resurgence of anti-Semitic conspiracy theories around the world that have infiltrated the mainstream.

Since the 9/11 attacks, a series of charges against Jews have surfaced which are believed by millions of people the world over:  That Jews and Israel were responsible for the attacks, not Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda; that the U.S. was dragged into the war in Iraq by American Jews to serve Israel's interests; that the Holocaust is a myth fabricated by Jews to promote a sinister agenda.

The third compelling factor is the Internet.  With all its huge benefits, it is a unique instrument for spreading hate.  So when the financial crisis and the Madoff scandal generate anti-Semitism on the internet, there should be concern.

The last few years remind us that anti-Semitism is not a history lesson but a current event.  As we experience a time of great economic anxiety, we must be vigilant and outspoken whenever anti-Semitism reveals its ugly head.

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