No, Timothy Geithner, Barack Obama's former secretary of the treasury, is not a Jew.Geithner was president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Peter F. Geithner of Larchmont, N.Y.
According to the Times, he is married to Carole M. Sonnenfeld and has two children. The Rev. Thomas Keehn, a United Church of Christ minister, officiated at his wedding in 1985.
On 11/22/2008 I received an email reply from Geithner's father-in-law, Prof. Albert Sonnenfeld, confirming that, "Geithner (is) not Jewish, (he was) raised Episcopalian, but (is) hardly religious now."
The reference in Wikipedia that previously (up to 11/2008) said he is a Jew - was removed. See the discussion.
Update 5/14: Geithner has a new book: Stress Test: Reflections on Financial Crises
and was profiled in the Times magazine.(Reposted.)
28 comments:
God Bless Barack & Tim! All prayers are with them. What a mystery they have before them after the past 8 years.
Can you believe this: yesterday, on November 21, 2008, Wikipedia had an unambiguous line that Geithner is Jewish, but today it has been removed... What a shame!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timothy_F._Geithner
Paul Volcker is not Jewish either. On p86 of his biography "Paul Volcker: The Making of a Financial Legend", we read that Volcker attended a Lutheran church on Sundays with his mother, while his father went to an Episcopalian church. (See the bottom of this link: http://books.google.com/books?id=yqIzrWTxmc8C&pg=PA86&dq=Paul+Volcker+church)
Though it is one of the major Israeli news websites, YNet is not particularly reliable.
Some Israelis have a habit of claiming anyone influential in America is a Jew. It's an interesting phenomenon, seemingly a weird form of "Jewish pride" based in non-reality. I met one Israeli flaunting the notion that the US was controlled by Israel and the Jews, and mentioned Lindsey Lohan and Ben Affleck's popularity as an attempt at proof. Neither are Jewish. But maybe this is kind like Obama being a "secret Muslim".. these folks are all secret Jews? Hah.
sprouty how right you are. i've met the same type of people. always, though, they're israeli and a little crazy lol. israeli running the u.s.? lmao. more like the other way around. more like the vatican using a made-up country to occupy and distract muslims. but the hews' time will come, along with the u.s.'s. sorry to say, but within 25 years. however, i disagree with the comment about obama. he is indeed muslim. him being christian was simply a smart political move on his part years ago. but i'll bet on the fact, he has a deep respect and lve for islam. after all, it's a real religion solely dedicated to God. not propaganda. almost forgot, God bless america!!!
Sonnenfeld is a very Jewish name. Is the perception because he is married to a Jew?
Also, church attendance has nothing to do about it. Being Jewish is a question of ethnicity and not just religion. Many ethnic Jews get bought up in another religion because of having one parent Jewish and another parent not.
Volcker went to Princeton in the 1940s. Very few Jews did so in that era.
Geithner's father-in-law's letter doesn't actually demonstrate that he isn't biologically Jewish. I know a Jewish family named Moore, at least one of whom is Orthodox and lives in Israel, who went to Princeton.
Is Jill Jacobs, the wife of Joe Biden, part-Jewish? How did she get the last name Jacobs?
Why are such comments even an issue in light of the overwhelming problems facing American. I never see comments about the religious preference of non-jews. Such inquisitive commentary demonstrates a latent mind set which a civilized country like our,should devote little time debating. The choice of how one worships their beliefs is the beholders alone and is not for public discussion. Dan Wimmer, a proud jew.
RE: Judy said...
Is Jill Jacobs, the wife of Joe Biden,
part-Jewish? How did she get the last name
Jacobs?
1/21/2009 9:03 PM
Danny Thomas' name was also Jacobs and he was Lebanese.
Those who buy into the absurd great Zionist conspiracy myth seem to label everyone influential as Jewish. No doubt if the economy tanks further there will be plenty from all religious denominations and atheists to share the blame.
To address Daniel's concern: Perhaps people need to know what religion one claims so that it can be "known" which "God" one worships. Clearly with there being so many wars fought in the name of one's God, some Americans might feel a need to know which God the people elected or appointed to positions of power are worshipping. After all Daniel, would you feel comfortable if Obama admitted to being Muslim. Most whites in this country demanded that Obama renounce his minister of 20 years because they felt threatened by the truth that he spoke about race relations in this nation. Some Christians refer to Jews as 'Christ-Killers'. And thus see them as an enemy of God as they understand God. Many with the help of an aggressive media see all Muslims as nothing more than a bunch of rabid terrorists. Most Jews or at least their organizations (ADL, etc.)see Muslims as their open enemy and as a threat to their agenda:(1)to control Isreal and the entire Middle-East region and (2)to be seen as the preeminent victims of the world because of Hitler and the Nazis. People develop a self-seeking motive, create a religion to promulgate it then write a book forcing the powerless to accept it as a truth sent by God. So Obama had to confess Christianity as it is understood by citizens of this country, in order to appear "safe". So Daniel, in the eyes of many American Christians especially those asking those questions about Geithner et al. Jews worship the 'wrong' God. They do not go to church. They celebrate neither Christmas nor Easter. And most important of all, they do not believe in Jesus. That is why such comments are even an issue!
It's not about where one goes to church,but about culture, beliefs, family, blood, and all those many other variables that make one a Jew.
I have to think, that at the end of the day - if religions never existed - we would still be living in the same world.
Lindsay Lohan is a soon-to-be Jew, by the way.
I am upset by some of the comments posted here. Many Jews in Europe had to disguise their origins due to discrimination in the past. That should not happen now.
Who is really pulling the strings on Obama? don't be fooled to think that Bush and Obama really run this country.
In response to Paul, I am always amazed at the not too subtle implication that "Jews" must be pulling the strings of an American President. It does not matter whether Geithner or Volker aren't Jewish, from a conspiracy point of view they must be honorary Jews. Never mind that Israel's GDP is approximately $200 Billion and that the US GDP is $14 trillion, or 70 times larger. It can only be concluded that this tiny country is calling of all of the shots, and that the US slumbering giant is ineffectual to look after its own interest.
The whole notion that Jews somehow control world finances is patently false. Israel was founded by refugees from Europe and the Arab world, who were overwhelmingly from working class backgrounds - the RothChilds being the exception. For this reason, it is not surprising the most of the original founders had a socialistic leaning ideology.
I'd like to input that he is not Jewish. I'm good friends with his son (we go to high school together) and I asked him if his dad (Timothy Geithner) is Jewish. He said that his father is not.
"Geithner's father-in-law, Prof. Albert Sonnenfeld, confirming that, "Geithner (is) not Jewish, (he was) raised Episcopalian, but (is) hardly religious now."" That perhaps explains his total lack of understanding the commandment, "Thou Shalt Not Steal."
The issue is not whether he is religious, or has a religion. The question was whether he is at least part Jewish. Now, if he's not, that's fine. I never thought he was. I never thought Volcker was. But it's very annoying when people keep trying to red-herring the question with remarks about "religion." The question was about ancestry and bloodline. Get a grip.
I came here interested in Geithner's religion not looking for what has been said "Some Israelis have a habit of claiming anyone influential in America is a Jew." I am of Indian descent, and I would welcome hearing that Geithner is of Jewish origin because it would give me more faith in his motivations knowing that there is a basic belief in good and evil, and us all being children of one God. Looking to fairness and love for all creatures, and, yes, unlike your general aethist, some responsibility and accounting for one's life at the end of it. Jews in such situation have not let humanity down the way that Germans (WWI), hindus (horrendous caste system), muslim (jihad,dhimmis and dhimmitude), catholics (inquisition) and many others. So yes, I did my search hoping that he is a Jew even tho' I am not. I acknowledge that everyone has their own experience, but maturity and knowledge allows on to reason and rise above, so it made me sad to see many of these comments especially because it illustrats a definite line of anti-semitisn. I particularly wonder at Sri who I would think comes from a very ordained class system, that he would not have grown away from prejudice rather than into into.
Thank God! We don't need another Jew in our Financial system!! After Robert Rubin, Larry Summers, Alan Greenspan,Ben Bernanke,Arthur Levitt and Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein and Gary Cohn...I think we had enough destruction! They made tons of money in this crisis for themselves and friends on expense of the American taxpayer. And now Bachmann for the presidency?? Are you f... kidding me??? This is America not Israel
The Koch Brothers are not Jewish either, thank the Lord! They are of Dutch descent and live in Kansas.
To finanalyst300...Michelle Bachmann is not Jewish...she is belongs to a conservative branch of Lutheranism (Wisconsin Synod)...
Deer in the headlights Geithner, Jewish? Of course not. We wouldn't be in this economic mess if Larry Summers, who is Jewish, were Treasury Sec.
Doesn't matter if he is technically jewish or not. You put millions of dollars in someones pocket and they will be whatever you want them to be.
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