JTA: The Global News Service of the Jewish People

Bernie’s endowment envy

By Jacob Berkman · August 19, 2009

Since the Madoff scandal broke, many of us have been wondering: What could possibly motivate someone to steal so much money from charities?

Now we know: endowment envy.

The New York Daily News had a lengthy article about the upcoming book from the former Hadassah CFO claiming to have had an affair with Bernard Madoff -- with this little tidbit:

Weinstein, who has known Madoff for two decades, said she was stunned the first time they had sex in late 1993.

"... This man was not well-endowed," said Weinstein, who was once a top executive with the Jewish women's group Hadassah and lost her life savings with Madoff.

When it came to investing, Madoff's talk was big, the returns were tiny. In bed, however, it turned out to be the opposite:

Despite the initial shock and disappointment, Weinstein said, billionaire Bernie turned her on in bed.

"When we made love, I was on fire," she said.

It's a weird day when you need to turn to Bloomberg instead of a New York tabloid to get the dirty details.