Of all the stereotypes about Jews in the lexicon of antisemitism, none is as commonplace or enduring as the one about Jews and money. From Shylock and Fagin to Joe Rogan’s podcast and TikTok videos about the Rothschilds, the idea that Jews have a unique taste for acquiring wealth is the one thing that people think they “know” about them. Yet this historic anti-Jewish trope seems able to hide in plain sight, in the most surprising of places.
The Lehman Trilogy, which has returned to the London stage, tells the story of the Lehman Brothers bank from its origins as a fabric store in Alabama to its collapse in the 2008 financial crash, the ultimate symbol of unregulated and uncontrollable banking. This award-winning, acclaimed play is an enthralling piece of theatre with five star reviews and a clutch of Tony awards. Unfortunately, it is also profoundly antisemitic. Not in a crude way – a clumsy turn of phrase here, a jarring stereotype there – but in its innermost essence, connecting a modern audience to malevolent beliefs about Jews and money that are buried deep within western thought. Most striking of all, none of the people responsible for writing, acting, directing or producing this play seem remotely aware, and most reviews have missed it entirely. I’m happy to accept that none of them are antisemitic, but it is as if the idea that Jews love money and power is – to use an appropriate phrase – priced in.
