Farber Gets a Smackdown From the Rabbinate

They say (in a letter to the Toronto Star) that he's using the Holocaust innappropriately, thereby demeaning the memory of the murdered. (Hey, it wouldn't be the first time. In his previous guise, as Grand Poobah of the now defunct Ceej, the man in question used the Holocaust to justify state censorship):

Re: Jews and gays: Taking the road less travelled, July 2

The Holocaust was a singular human catastrophe. For many of our congregants, it was a personal tragedy. As rabbis, we invoke the Holocaust with reverence for those martyred.

For this reason, Bernie Farber and Glen Murray’s article is of grave concern. They write: “It is imperative that Jews, the most numerous of the victimized communities, pay respect to the murder of gays and lesbians during the Nazi period.”

We acknowledge that the Nazis did not only kill Jews. Yet using Farber and Murray's logic, it would be demanded of us to respect other ideologies, as well. The Nazis killed Communists. As Jews, must we pay respect for the Communism of these victims?

We respect all victims of Nazism as human beings, no matter their life choices. We demand respect for Jewish victims of the Holocaust as human beings. We ask for nothing more.

The Holocaust teaches us to recognize the divine within all people; it does not demand that we respect the politics of each of its victims. It demeans the memory of those martyred to use the Holocaust as a political tool of the moment.

Rabbi Yaakov Hirschman, Rabbi J. Immanuel Schochet and 11 other members of the Vaad HaRabbanim of Toronto

Meanwhile, Bernie still has at least two fans, neither of them Jewish (although one was so empathetic to Jews' "feelings" that he complained--many, many times--to the Canadian "human rights" racket on Jews' behalf--and got an award for his efforts from Farber's Ceej; the other one got an award from Khomeinists).