Boston Jewish leaders slam Mass. treasurer

(JTA) — Boston Jewish leaders were among the religious leaders who slammed the Massachusetts state treasurer for criticizing Gov. Deval Patrick’s attendance at a forum at a local mosque. Timothy Cahill, the treasurer, is running as an independent for governor against Patrick, a Democrat.
The leaders — including representatives of several synagogues, the Archdiocese of Boston, the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization, the Massachusetts Council of Churches and some of Boston’s most prominent black churches — gathered May 28 on the steps of the Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center to criticizeCahill for saying that the meeting was “playing politics with terrorism,” the Boston Globe reported.
The forum touched on such issues as discrimination and racial profiling, and encouraged businesses to allow Muslims time off to attend Friday prayers.
Rabbi Eric Gurvis of Temple Shalom in Newton praised members of the mosque, who assisted the synagogue when it was vandalized with a swastika earlier this year. He called Cahill’s statement against the governor an “act of hatred and bigotry.”