How is this Ponzi different from all other Ponzis?

Jonathan Tobin explores the Jewish (as opposed to Judaic) dimensions of the Madoff Scandal in the current issue of Commentary Magazine, in an article entitled “The Madoff Scandal and the Future of American Jewry.” “There is nothing uniquely Jewish about the sort of scams that policerefer to as `affinity frauds’… Criminals of all backgrounds and faiths have exploitedco-religionists who trust one of their own, and have done so from timeimmemorial… No, what was unique about Madoff was the scale of his scheme, notthe method of its execution. And that says more about the times inwhich we live than it speaks in any way to a flaw in the Jewishcollective character—save, perhaps, for the flawed notion that Jews aresomehow too smart to get bilked in so spectacular and embarrassing afashion.” 

But if the lessons of the Madoff Scandal apply across groups,