Adam Horowitz: Haaretz says members of an exclusive Orthodox synagogue in NY lost $2 billion to Bernie Madoff.
According to the New York Post, the synagogue was a breeding ground for Madoff investors given that its president, J. Ezra Merkin, reportedly served as a powerful recruiter for the alleged scamster.
At least 10 of the Fifth Avenue Synagogue members lost millions to the scam. The report names Ira Rennert, the chairman of the synagogue board, who reportedly invested $200 million with Madoff's company. Author and Nobel Prize Laureate Elie Wiesel was also listed as a long-time Fifth Avenue Synagogue member whose foundation lost $37 million.
Another synagogue member hurt by the scheme was investment banker Michael Jesselson, whose Orthodox Jewish school in The Bronx took a $1.3 million hit.
