Contacted for his observations, Auburn Rabbi Hillel Katzir of Temple Shalom Synagogue said he found the ad has used “clear stereotypes associated with Jews in a negative way. The picture of the ‘bandit’ with a big nose, glasses, a full beard, and old-style dress, calls to mind the image that many people have of an Orthodox Jewish man. It is used as a negative image having to do with greedy bankers, a familiar slur used by anti-Semites for centuries.”

Katzir said the six-pointed star at the bottom of the page also caught his attention. “The advertiser obviously intended it to represent the badge of the Old West lawman, which was often such a star.” But, he pointed out, the six-pointed star is also a universally recognized symbol of Judaism.

“Given the fact that most people don’t read all the fine print in newspaper ads, what many readers will come away with is an impression of a money-grubbing Jew as the bad guy,” he said.

Katsir said he expected the advertiser did not intend any malice, but rather had made a bad choice and the paper’s error in publishing it, showed the need for “advertisers, newspapers and readers to be sensitive to stereotypes that have been perpetuated in American culture about any group, in this case about Jews.”

“For those who might complain that the Jewish community is being overly sensitive, that this is ‘political correctness’ in a negative way, my answer would be that doing our best to not offend our fellow citizens is not political correctness,” the rabbi said. Adding, “It is something that we all must do to get along in our country’s free and open society, which is still -and probably always will be – a work in progress.”