Lot of you fuckers obviously never saw Snatch. It was a joke. He was part of a new wave of mobsters who all pretended to be Jewish (the only way to get into the diamond game), but they were still fucking criminals like any other group carrying out hits and extortion. If you haven't seen this movie, go see it now.
Also, Farina was a cop for almost 20 years before getting into acting. Get Shorty not only helped make his career, but also made Gandolfini as it showed him in a dramatic light as an almost sympathetic character, instead of a mindless thug like True Romance. Sucks balls both of this guys died recently.