The Irony of Being a Jew

[I've received this from several friends who all failed to name the source.  If anyone knows who wrote it, I'd love to provide correct attribution.]

When Paul Newman died, they said how great he was but they failed to mention he considered himself Jewish (his father as Jewish).

 

When the woman (Helen Suzman) who helped Nelson Mandela died recently, they said how great she was, but they failed to mention she was Jewish.

 

On the other side of the equation, when Ivan Boesky or Andrew Fastow or Bernie Madoff committed fraud, almost every article took pains to mention they were Jewish.

 

However, when Ken Lay, Jeff Skilling, Martha Stewart, Randy Cunningham, Gov. Edwards, Conrad Black, Senator Keating, Gov Ryan, and Gov Blagojevich went astray; no one reported what religion or denomination they belonged to, because they were not Jewish.

 

This calls to mind a famous Einstein quote:

 

In 1921, Albert Einstein presented a paper on his then-infant Theory of Relativity at the Sorbonne, the prestigious French university.

 

"If I am proved correct," he said, "the Germans will call me a German , the Swiss will call me a Swiss citizen, and the French will call me a great scientist.

 

"If relativity is proved wrong, the French will call me a Swiss, the Swiss will call me a German, and the Germans will call me a Jew."