Rabbi Who Condemned Pamela Geller Talk Was a Speaker at a Reviving the Islamic Spirit Confab Which Featured Real Hate-Speakers.

Rabbi Who Condemned Pamela Geller Talk Was a Speaker at a Reviving the Islamic Spirit Confab Which Featured Real Hate-Speakers.HT: Scaramouchee.

The hypocrisy of some "interfaithy" types knows no bounds. Take the head of the Toronto Board of Rabbis, for instance. Baruch Fryman-Kohl, senior rabbi at Beth Tzedec Congregation, signed his name to the poisonous little screed condemning Pamela Geller's appearance in Toronto. Rabbi F-K, who's mad for interfaithiness, was concerned that Ms. Geller's heated, "hateful" words might have a negative impact on all the frenetic "bridge-building" he and his cronies have been conducting over the years.

So devoted to the ongoing construction is the good rabbi that he even spoke at one of those Reviving the Islamic Spirit thingys. Back in '05, he addressed the throng (that year's theme: Islamic Civilization), telling them of the "common issues facing Jews and Muslims in Western societies." (Yeah, the Jews face Muslims' Zionhass and jihad proclivities while Muslims face non-existent "backlashes" and "Islamophobia": not exactly even-steven, is it Baruch?). He added that

We are also dealing with the essential issues of how do we, as minorities, remain true to our religious and spiritual traditions in societies which are largely secular or Christian such as in Europe, Canada and the United States," he said. 

And all of us, Muslims and Jews, are dealing with these kinds of issues.

If you say so, rabbi.

Anyhoo, the roster of speakers that year including such paragons of lovingkindness as:

• Dr. Zakir Naik. Dr. Naik thinks death is the appropriate punishment for apostasy, is a fan of Osama bin Laden, and is convinced that George W. Bush was behind the 9/11 attacks.
• Iman Zaid Shakir. The imam would like to see America become a Muslim country and believes that "the US war machine is the single greatest threat to world peace."
• Dr. Tareq Suwaidan. According to his Wiki entry,

In an April 2012 interview for Al-Quds, a TV station affiliated with Hamas, he claimed that since politicians were controlled by money and the media which are controlled by the Jews, only "armed resistance" and not Western aid or Western popular sympathy could change the situation in Palestine and Jerusalem. He also said in the interview that the most dangerous thing facing Muslims is the Jews calling them "the greatest enemy." ^[24] Al-Suwaidan subsequently denied charges of anti-semitism stating "We are not against the Jews, let this be very clear." He alleged that the anti-Semitic comments were based on a report by MEMRI , which he called a "Zionist organization." ^[25] 

In other words, the rabbi who condemns Pamela Geller's speech for being inflammatory and hateful (which it is not) had no problem appearing on the same stage as these hate-speakers.

As my late Bubby, a very wise women who knew a thing or two about Jew-hate having escaped the second pogrom in Kishinev, might have said: feh!

Rabbi Baruch Frydman-Kohl has been senior rabbi of Beth Tzedec Congregation since 1993.  The focus of his rabbinate has been a commitment to family education and life-long learning.

In addition to his congregational responsibilities, Rabbi Frydman-Kohl has been deeply involved in work with the UJA Federation of Greater Toronto, the Rabbinic Forum of Keren Hayesod and the Rabbinic Cabinets of the United Jewish Communities and the State of Israel Bonds.  In 2000 he was honoured by the United Jewish Communities with their Rabbinical Award.  He has also been involved with Mazon Canada and the Canadian Council of Christians and Jews.  Within the Conservative Movement, he is a member of the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards of the Rabbinical Assembly, served on its Executive and Administrative committees and is past President of two of its regions.  He serves on the Chancellor's Rabbinic Cabinet of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America.  Before coming to Toronto, Rav Baruch served Congregation Ohav Shalom in Albany, New York, for seventeen years

In June 1992, the Rabbi was awarded a Coolidge Fellowship by the Association for Religion and Intellectual Life to pursue research in an inter-faith community at the Episcopal Divinity School at Harvard University.  In 2003 he was awarded the degree of a Doctor of Divinity.  In 2004 he received his doctorate in Jewish Philosophy from the Jewish Theological Seminary and was named Senior Rabbinic Fellow of the Shalom Hartman Institute of Jerusalem. 77 Chiltern Hill Road

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