Jew, Not a Jew

Canadian real-estate agent Peter Ysselstein wanted the good folks of Guelph, a city in southern Ontario, to know he wasn't Jewish—so much so, he decided he'd better advertise that fact in a direct mail flier.

In bold letters at the bottom of the piece, Ysselstein, a sales rep with Re/Max, rhetorically wonders, "Does the 'stein' in my last name automatically make me Jewish? Don't let 'stein' stop you from calling me for a 'Home Value' Estimate!"

Instead, people called him a bigot, among other things, says Dr. Michael Grand, a professor of psychology at University of Guelph. Dr. Grand, by the way, is Jewish and has lived in Guelph (popula tion 100,000) for roughly 25 years.

"There are about 80 Jewish families in Guelph," Dr. Grand tells Shoptalk. "I believe this incident is an aberration. Perhaps once in the time I've lived here have I heard a slur or reference to 'Jewing someone down.' That's not what this place is like."

Ysselstein took out an ad in a local paper to apologize. But in private, with Shop talk's shoulder to cry on, he vented his dismay at being profiled. "Even though I'm not Jewish, I have frequently been a victim of anti-Jewish views," he says. "I thought I was taking a stand against that. Some people just took it the wrong way."