Congregation Hijacked! Antisemitism Assembly Derailed by Drama

A private Toronto Jewish forum meant for dialogue was disrupted by theatrics, division, and clickbait chaos.

Antisemitism is rising at alarming rates in universities, public schools, workplaces, and civic spaces. For many Jewish communities, our challenge isn’t only external hatred, it is also how we respond inside the community – because harm can come from within.

This came into sharp focus at a forum on antisemitism hosted by Oraynu Congregation. It was a private panel and community discussion to ask serious questions: What is the local school board’s Human Rights Office doing to protect Jewish students? How is antisemitism being tracked? What can the Jewish Heritage Committee do to hold schools accountable?

To allow candid discussion, the organizers promised that there would be no recording, a standard practice for sensitive forums. That boundary was violated.

Two individuals, David Menzies of Rebel News and Sue-Ann Levy, a self-described ‘investigative journalist,’ entered without identifying themselves as media, began filming, and repeatedly ignored requests to stop. They could have stayed if they had turned the camera off, instead they became disruptive and taunting, behaving less like journalists and more like hecklers. Eventually, security asked them to leave.

In their follow-up video, they claimed they had been silenced, mocked Oraynu as “anti-Israel” and “ultra-left,” and even accused Rabbi Eva Goldfinger of being physically aggressive. The video shows two kinds of contact: an office manager covering a bright phone light and moving the phone out of her personal space, for which she immediately apologized for touching his recording equipment, and later, after a speaker had begun, Rabbi Goldfinger asked them to stop recording or leave, moved a handheld microphone away from her face, and briefly placed a gentle hand on the recorder’s arm to create space and de-escalate. There was no grabbing and no force. No person was pushed or shoved. Calling it “assault”, as Sue-Ann did, misrepresents the incident. Sue-Ann Levy later vilified Rabbi Goldfinger in Jewish Facebook groups, spreading distortions about the night.

I write in my personal capacity as a longtime community member, not on behalf of Oraynu.

Beyond the Smears

Oraynu is part of the recognized Humanistic Jewish movement, alongside Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, and Reconstructionist Judaism. They celebrate Jewish holidays and life-cycle events, teach Hebrew and Jewish history, are led by ordained rabbis and learned leaders deeply knowledgeable in Jewish texts and culture, and grounded in responsibility and ethics.

As a kid at Oraynu’s Sunday School, I finally felt like I belonged. I learned about Jewish holidays, shtetls, the Holocaust, traditions, and about Israel. I even had both a bat mitzvah and a b’nai mitzvah with my classmates. That grounding let me define my own Judaism and feel proud of it.

Far from being “anti-Israel,” Oraynu has supported a spectrum of initiatives in Israel, from medical aid to civil society organizations. Both Oraynu and the Society for Humanistic Judaism, have issued statements affirming Israel’s right to exist and defend itself. As a congregation, they have supported countless projects in Israel and against antisemitism worldwide.

Oraynu has long been a home for Jews who do not fit neatly elsewhere. It is a place to connect with Jewish culture, history, and values without being told you don’t belong. Judaism is a people, not a litmus test.

The Rabbi Who Raised Me

This is personal. Rabbi Eva Goldfinger is my mother. She raised me to be a proud Jew, committed to both my people and the world around me. She taught me that Jewishness is measured by how you live your values.

My career has followed that path: leading trips and helping register young Canadian Jews for Birthright Israel; working with the March of the Living on Holocaust education and the importance of Israel amid real antisemitism; coordinating a bet mitzvah program at a local shul; and doing graphic design for a range of Jewish organizations. Beyond my professional work, I use social media to educate, translating complex realities about Israel and the Middle East into clear, factual explanations.

After my first trip to Israel, I was shaken by an incident: a hotel mashgiach blew out our just-lit Shabbat candles and later grabbed a camera from someone photographing a blessing. Coupled with the shock of seeing soldiers with rifles everywhere, I struggled to reconcile those moments with my love for Judaism. My mom, raised in a Satmar Hasidic family, reminded me the issue was not Judaism itself, it was when people or systems miss the bigger picture. Her guidance stays with me: “Israel is like your child. You may not love everything they do, but you still love and support them, and sometimes support means correction, not silence.”

Colleagues describe Rabbi Goldfinger as a builder: four decades of teaching; author of Basic Ideas of Secular Humanistic Judaism; creator of meaningful liturgy and life-cycle ceremonies; and a pastoral counsellor whose empathy and clarity help people through hard moments. Long before it was common, she welcomed intercultural and LGBTQ+ couples. That is the rabbi I know – serious about learning, relentless about integrity, and fiercely inclusive.

The Ripple Effect

What happened next shows why drama is a terrible strategy for combating antisemitism. A local misunderstanding was weaponized online and turned into clickbait.

Look at what came out of it:

• “Wow… as a non-Jew who supported them against the pro-Hamas crowd, I now don’t care.”
• “Way to treat a supporter. After watching this, I am not supporting the Jews against the Syrian horde anymore.”

Within days, comments escalated from calling Jews “collaborators with Nazis” to accusing us of “hosting Hamas officials.” A dispute over filming was twisted into conspiracy, painting Jews as traitors to their own people.

This isn’t debate. These words are a roadmap for how division inside the Jewish community becomes antisemitism outside it. One video, framed to pit Jews against one another, spiralled into people vowing to withdraw support and branding Jews as enemies – handing our adversaries exactly what they want.

Everyone in that room, speakers, participants, organizers, and disrupters, shared the same goal: make Jewish students safer in Toronto schools. The aftermath replaced dialogue with division. Words have consequences. What went online did not just insult a rabbi or a congregation, it told outsiders, “You’re on your own.” If you have ever written or shared words like these, ask yourself: did this make Jews safer, or did it hand our enemies more fuel?

The Real Danger: Drama

Jewish tradition teaches that the Second Temple fell because of sinat chinam, baseless hatred among Jews. Whether you take that as theology, history, or a cautionary story, the lesson is the same: when we turn on each other, we weaken ourselves and strengthen those who wish us harm. Today it shows up as pile-ons, smears, and “gotcha” videos. The effect is the same, it fractures community and hands antisemites a win.

One of my high school teachers explained the 613 mitzvot like this: half are between people and God, half are between people and people. And if God exists, surely God prefers we keep the mitzvot about how we treat each other, with respect, compassion, and dignity. I may not be traditionally religious, but I live grounded Jewish values every day, and that makes me no less Jewish.

Attempts to delegitimize diverse expressions of Judaism, or communities like Oraynu, are not harmless disagreements. They feed the same pattern of vilification that fuels antisemitism. As the Talmud teaches: “Whoever destroys a single life is considered to have destroyed an entire world; and whoever saves a single life is considered to have saved an entire world.”

Think Before You Click

At our best, Jews are bound by shared values: dignity, ethics, and a love of learning. That means not believing every clickbait headline or posts we see online, but instead leaning on truth, context, and careful thought.

Before you believe or share a video, article, or post, ask:

• Does this build Jewish unity, or erode it?
• Does it reflect dignity and truth, or is it designed to divide?
• Does it help us protect our children, our communities, and our future?

Because when Jews tear each other down for clicks, the only winners are the antisemites. When we stand together, across denominations, philosophies, and politics, we are stronger than any antisemitism we face.