[Gail G.]

I can say a bit about the source of the stereotype. In Medieval Europe, Christians believed it was a sin to deal in money, so money lending became the profession of Jews. In fact, the only one they were allowed to have. If you’ve borrowed money, you understand how the rich people of Europe felt about money lenders. They (the rich people) loved the Jews when they needed money. But when it came time to pay it back, their feelings changed. In some countries Jews were expelled when the king owed them money, and then he welcomed them back in when he needed money again. A law of the time said that, when a Jew died, his property belonged to the king. So, any money a Jew had, he had to make during his lifetime. So, here you have a combination of being limited to the profession of money lender, having to support your family only on what you yourself make, and living under the threat of having to pick up and leave. You can see how this would make a person careful about money, and appear greedy to others. And, if those others owed that person money, well, you get the idea. Of course, as time went by, and some of the laws changed, there were some Jewish families that did become rich. There were also some rich Jews that came to America and continued the banking tradition. However, most Jews who came to this country were poor and trying to build new lives in the land of plenty.

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Name : Gail G., Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Jewish/Pagan/Atheist, Age : 35, City : Oakland, State : CA, Country : United States, Occupation : Technical Writer, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

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