Would this have happened under his watch?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nIt’s worth noting that this kind of interfaith (and internecine) train wreck rarely happened during the 90-year-history of Canadian Jewish Congress. And it’s particularly hard to recall it ever happening under the watch of Bernie Farber, Congress’ former CEO, who usually managed to head off this kind of conflict well before it became a crisis. His contacts were strong, and as someone on the centre-left of the political spectrum with a long history in interfaith relations and working with anti-racist groups, he knew how to engage the left and speak its language. This allowed him and his team to present Israel’s case in ways that progressives could understand and relate to.<\/p>\n
Congress was folded into CIJA a few years back as part of\u00a0a reorganization of advocacy groups aligned with Canada’s local Jewish federations, and, unfortunately, Farber was left out in the cold when the top job at CIJA went to Fogel, a former head of the now-defunct Canada-Israel Committee.<\/p>\n
Lately, he’s been writing opinion pieces for Canadian newspapers and websites, after losing his bid to represent the Toronto-area riding of Thornhill as a Liberal candidate in the last provincial election.<\/p>\n
Could this whole mess been avoided with him in the mix?<\/p>\n
This wasn’t the United Church’s finest hour, but neither was it so for Canada’s Jewish advocacy groups.<\/p>\n
It appears that Farber’s contacts, outlook and skill set are sorely missed.