Shows / Not in Heaven
Not in Heaven
A weekly podcast about Judaism in the 2020s—because the Torah was left for us to figure out on the ground. Sublime and irreverent conversations about the present and future of communal, religious and spiritual life, led by Avi Finegold, Yedida Eisenstat and Matthew Leibl.
Episodes
- Not in Heaven
Twin Peaks
Two antisemitism summits occurred this week: one hosted by the Anti-Defamation League in the United States, and the other by the federal government in Ottawa…
- Not in Heaven
Two Rights Make a Wrong
For decades, it has been broadly accepted in the Jewish community that Meir Kahane—founder of the Jewish Defense League, accused terrorist in Israel and the…
- Not in Heaven
You Can't Spell TDSB Without BDS
Last week, the Toronto District School Board held two virtual meetings that lasted seven hours each. In those 14 hours, trustees were set to vote on whether to…
- Not in Heaven
Serenity Now
Valentine's Day, for most people, is a day to celebrate love. For the more neurotic among us, we might be inclined to spend the day analytically dissecting our…
- Not in Heaven
Gaza is the 52nd State
U.S. President Trump's threats of tariffs and making Canada a 51st state has sparked a resurgent nationalism across Canada. In progressive neighbourhoods…
- Not in Heaven
Why Did the Nazi Cross the Road?
Last week, billionaire internet troll Elon Musk made headlines (including several at this publication) for making what appeared to be a Nazi salute at the…
- Not in Heaven
Raise Your Hand if You Like Trump
Donald Trump has wasted no time in his first days as president of the United States in signing executive orders to enforce mass deportations, gender laws and…
- Not in Heaven
Deal or No Deal
The world is sitting in suspense in anticipation of a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, which would end the 15-month war that has devastated Gaza and…
- Not in Heaven
You Had Me at Goodbye
With Justin Trudeau's announced resignation as prime minister and Liberal leader this week, media pundits wasted no time in penning their reflections, looking…
- Not in Heaven
Freeland of Expression
This week's abrupt resignation of Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland from cabinet has rocked the federal government. It happened the same day Sean Fraser, the…
- Not in Heaven
The Z Word
This week, the New Israel Fund of Canada, JSpace Canada and Canadian Friends of Peace Now released a survey of 588 Jewish Canadians that aimed to figure out…
- Not in Heaven
Pushy Pencils
The war between Israel and Hamas has claimed yet another casualty in the Canadian arts world: Broken Pencil, an independent magazine that has covered zine…
- Not in Heaven
Stuffed to the Gillers
Shortly after Anne Michaels won the Giller Prize, Canada's foremost literary fiction award, on Nov. 18, she posted a lengthy letter on social media. "I write…
- Not in Heaven
Challah Back
Recently, a Canadian women's magazine, Chatelaine, removed an article from the digital version of its website for including a photo of the author sporting a…
- Not in Heaven
Don't Heart Huckabees
This week, president-elect Donald Trump has confirmed several planned appointments for next year. Aside from numerous cabinet members was the incoming…
- Not in Heaven
Roncesvalles Minyan
In the aftermath of Oct. 7, Canada's broadly left-wing literary community took aim at the Giller Prize, Canada's foremost award for fiction, for its title…
- Not in Heaven
Election-Swinging Jews
With the U.S. election less than a week away, the hosts of Bonjour Chai are turning their attention south with a comprehensive pre-election primer. Pollsters…
- Not in Heaven
What Do We Mean by Zion?
During our extended break for the High Holidays, we're bringing Bonjour Chai subscribers something different. Sukkot is described as the holiday of joy—a time…
- Not in Heaven
Dishy Vicar
Whenever there's a new mainstream TV show with a Jewish bent, Jewish audiences share a familiar reaction: excitement over representation, followed by dread…
- Not in Heaven
Watermelon Shtreimel
The cover illustration of the fall issue of The Canadian Jewish News Magazine drew hundreds of responses from readers across the country. The image depicted a…
- Not in Heaven
Live, Laugh, Liberate
Last week, Toronto's public school board came under fire after footage emerged on social media showing students partaking in a public protest for Indigenous…
- Not in Heaven
Lucky Jews
On a recent trip to Poland, the writer Tanya Gold visited the Auschwitz concentration camp memorial site. In her lengthy travel essay on the visit, "My…
- Not in Heaven
The Bari Files
The Toronto International Film Festival is going on, and while it only has a handful of Jewish-themed or Israeli-produced films, those films have drawn some of…
- Not in Heaven
Brooklyn Book Banning
Joshua Leifer made headline last month when he was slated to do a public talk at a Brooklyn bookstore about his debut book, Tablets Shattered: The End of an…
- Not in Heaven
Classically Avi
It's time to head back to school—but this year, for some Jewish students in North America, school is going to look a little different. Some will be receiving…
- Not in Heaven
The Wild, The Innocent and the Poilievre Shuffle
Canadian Jews may have noticed a trend in their communities this summer: Conservative politicians making the rounds. Leader Pierre Poilievre, Deputy Leader…
- Not in Heaven
The CJN Daily: Canada’s kosher meat packers won in federal court. How will this affect the Jewish community?
Avi and Phoebe are taking a little summer vacation and will return soon. In the meantime, we're presenting an episode of The CJN Daily that Avi was on earlier…
- Not in Heaven
Chickens for KFC
This week, the hosts of Bonjour Chai are digging into the explosive world of U.S. politics. It began with President Joe Biden announcing on July 21 that he…
- Not in Heaven
Other Positions Are Possible
Last week, two very different sex-related 1980s icons passed away: Dr. Ruth Westheimer, the 4'7" German-born Holocaust survivor, who was 96; and Richard…
- Not in Heaven
Vive l'Omnicause
This month, two major elections have changed the European political landscape. In both France and the United Kingdom, progressive parties have overcome…
- Not in Heaven
Settling for Biden
It was true before Oct. 7, but especially afterwards: an increasing number of progressive-minded people are viewing Jews as settlers in Israel. "Go back to…
- Not in Heaven
Jews Against the Omnicause
What does Palestine have in common with climate change, gender equality and indigenous rights? The Omnicause, that's what. In the modern era of left-wing…
- Not in Heaven
Kiss and Tell
The trope of Hasidic women leaving their communities—particularly during a journey of queer self-discovery—is not exactly unique. And yet, memoirs and…
- Not in Heaven
Bonus: "Labour of Love", from recollections with the Jewish Public Library
We're taking the week off for Shavuot. Instead, we're airing a new episode of a podcast miniseries from our friends at the Jewish Public Library, called…
- Not in Heaven
Bot Rabbis for Jesus
Israel had some strange bedfellows in the news this week. The New York Times unveiled that country's Ministry of Diaspora Affairs created social media bots…
- Not in Heaven
Hipster Tznius
When Israel's Judaica store, a prominent retailer in the Toronto area, announced it was closing after 40 years, it felt like another moment in an unfortunately…
- Not in Heaven
I've Got Schisms
Last September, Eitan Hersh, a political science professor at Tufts University in Boston, tried something that hasn't been done before: he created a class…
- Not in Heaven
Gatekeepers of Heaven
You may not know who Joe Roberts is. But some people online, who may or may not have ever met the man face-to-face, claim to know him extremely well—to the…
- Not in Heaven
The Tedious B
College campuses have been heated spaces for Jewish students for a long time. The rapid spread of tent-in protests that began at Columbia University last month…
- Not in Heaven
Notes on Encampment
As pro-Palestinian encampments pop up across Canadian campuses this week, protesting against university ties to Israel and threatening to keep their tents…
- Not in Heaven
The Third Annual Great Canadian Seder
For the third year in a row, Bonjour Chai is proud to present the Great Canadian Seder, a coming-together of notable and insightful Canadian Jews from across…
- Not in Heaven
No Fans, Only Poems
This week, the editor of Guernica resigned in protest of her own staff and publisher. The respected literary journal had recently published of an essay by an…
- Not in Heaven
The Medium is Messy
Do your young kids have a smartphone? Most do. And parents have been witnessing the repercussions firsthand for years. This week, the subject came to the…
- Not in Heaven
Culturally Antisemitic
A slew of headlines came out this week, within Canada and beyond, warning of a rising tide of antisemitism within Canada. It's not just Fox News and the…
- Not in Heaven
The Royal Steaks
Editor's Note: This episode was recorded one day before Kate Middleton revealed she had been diagnosed with cancer, and thus the episode makes no reference to…
- Not in Heaven
Can't Get No Satisfaction
Malky Berkowitz wants a divorce. But the 29-year-old Orthodox woman, who lives in Kiryas Joel, north of New York City, can't get a _get—_a Jewish Orthodox…
- Not in Heaven
The Students Doth Protest Too Much
In the last month, several high-profile features have come out, in publications such as Time and The Atlantic, giving mainstream, non-Jewish audiences a…
- Not in Heaven
Jacob & Rachel & Leah & Bilhah & Zilpah
What is polyamory? It's the modern, glamorous, feminist version of non-monogamy that's branded as distinct from the old, patriarchal polygamy—often a man…
- Not in Heaven
Potato Latke on a Bike
The Jewish Public Library in Montreal came under fire last week when it pulled the books of Élise Gravel from its shelves, following a series of social media…
- Not in Heaven
Rabbinical School Dropouts
In recent years, Jewish seminaries and synagogues have faced a problem: there aren't enough young people looking to become rabbis. This shortage has resulted…
- Not in Heaven
Jew Don't Belong
Does Judaism need a rebrand? In the wake of Oct. 7—against a backdrop of rising Jew hatred, rampant anti-Zionism and more antisemitic conspiracy theories than…
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It's Not Easy Being Art Green
Since Oct. 7, Jewish media outlets have skyrocketed in popularity. Comparing website traffic in November 2023 against November 2022, we here at The Canadian…
- Not in Heaven
Normie Jewisons
For much of the last century, Judaism became intertwined with Zionism—the belief that Israel is our homeland and being a good Jew requires support for, if not…
- Not in Heaven
No Nazis at Zabars
Late last year, the newsletter startup Substack came under fire when an article in The Atlantic boldly proclaimed the tech company "has a Nazi problem". Nazis…
- Not in Heaven
The Entire World is a Very Narrow Tunnel
In case you've been living underground the past week, a major story broke about police being called to break up a fight happening around a secret tunnel that…
- Not in Heaven
What's the deal with Zionism?
Last week, a video from the Toronto Eaton Centre depicted a heated exchange between an individual and one of about 150 pro-Palestinian protesters chanting…
- Not in Heaven
From the St. Lawrence River to the Beaufort Sea
Last week, the U.S. Congress grilled several top university professors about antisemitism on their campuses—and the scrutiny on these institutions has never…
- Not in Heaven
Believe Jewish Women
This past week, a Jewish feminist movement has gained serious momentum across the world. Under the hashtag #MeTooUnlessUrAJew, critics have been calling out…
- Not in Heaven
Give Peace a Chance
Earlier this month, tens of thousands of people from across the continent congregated in Washington, D.C., for a massive rally in support of Israel during…
- Not in Heaven
The Two-Naomis Solution
While playing ‘Jewish geography’ highlights the ways Canadian Jews are connected, thinking about the geography of Jews reveals some of the community’s most…