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
Shattering Glass and Breaking Stereotypes
Mazel tov to David Sklar, co-host of our weekly current affairs podcast, Bonjour Chai. David just got married this week—to a non-Jewish man. To celebrate their…
- Not in Heaven
Definitely Not the Mafia
Earlier this summer, we produced an episode on the modern ethics of kosher food. It was so popular, the following week we recorded a spiritual sequel, tackling…
- Not in Heaven
The Hillels are Alive with the Sound of Wedding Music
In 2016, Hillel Montreal was absorbed into Federation CJA as part of their GenMTL program. Then things went a little sideways. Hillel went from having a…
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Putting the 'Oy' in Cowboy
The Calgary Stampede, winding down this week, is about more than Stetson hats and corn dogs. The annual festival creates an opportunity for Albertans of all…
- Not in Heaven
None is Not Enough
It's a trend extending beyond Jewry, beyond Canada, but persists in our nation nonetheless: younger people are donating less than their parents' generation…
- Not in Heaven
As Canadian as Possible, Under the Circumstances
To celebrate Canada Day, we have a special audio feast of Canadiana lined up. First up, we chat with a recent immigrant from Israel to Montreal, Shauli, who…
- Not in Heaven
The Kosher Empire Strikes Back
Last week's episode about the state and ethics of kosher food drummed up a lot of responses from our listeners—so many, in fact, we decided to run a spiritual…
- Not in Heaven
You Are What You Eat
Kosher has been in the news a lot lately. A restaurant in Hamilton came under strutiny because the rabbi that certified its kosher status wasn't Orthodox; in…
- Not in Heaven
Born This Way
Over recent years, the Jewish community has grown from merely being aware of queer Jews to standing where we are today: leaders and activists in almost every…
- Not in Heaven
Sally Priesand's Semicentennial
It was almost 50 years ago today, on June 3, 1972, that Sally Priesand broke ground as the first-ever female rabbi ordained in North America. But still, even…
- Not in Heaven
Chai Means Live
It's a little-known fact that the first Jews in Canada were actually Sephardim, founders of the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue in Montreal in 1768. Over…
- Not in Heaven
The Kulturkampf Edition
Festival season is upon us, which means Canadian Jews are marking their calendars with the myriad dates slotted for cultural celebrations across the country…
- Not in Heaven
Plan B from Olam ha-Ba
With the United States embroiled in the fight over abortion rights, many Canadians have turned to reflect on our own nation's history with the…
- Not in Heaven
Ilana is Significantly Younger than Israel
York University has been in the Jewish news a fair bit recently, after their student union bungled an educational session on antisemitism and the school's name…
- Not in Heaven
Six Million are Still With Us
Jews are no strangers to the apocalypse. Having survived centuries of persecution and the biggest genocide in human history, generational trauma and fears of…
- Not in Heaven
Mayim and Yayin
After Mayim Bialik lost her father, she began a year of mourning, culminating in thoughts and feelings that she'd end up culminating into her first screenplay…
- Not in Heaven
The First Annual Great Canadian Seder
It's the first annual Bonjour Chai Passover extravaganza! In this super-special edition, we bring you stories from 20 prominent Canadians about what Passover…
- Not in Heaven
There's Nothing Funny About War Crimes
Shocking images from Ukraine emerged this week, depicting war crimes and massacres happening in Bucha, a town outside Kyiv. Suddenly, onlookers are using the…
- Not in Heaven
The Boy Who Cried Wolf
For over a decade, Jews have been the number-one most-targeted religious group in federal and municipal hate crime reports. Just a few weeks ago, StatsCan…
- Not in Heaven
Blankets and Bedding
It's been a month since Russia began its invasion of Ukraine, forcing 10 million Ukrainians to leave their homes, including nearly four million refugees. Many…
- Not in Heaven
Modern-Day Haman
It's not making headlines nationally, but Quebec is ushering in Bill 96, legislation that will further cement French as the province's dominant language. While…
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Bonjour High
In the days ahead of Purim, we wanted to take a step back from all the serious news and focus on some lighter fare. To honour King Achashverosh, who ruled from…
- Not in Heaven
One Down, 119 to Go
It's the one-year anniversary of Bonjour Chai, and to celebrate, we're taking a look ahead at what the future of Judaism looks like. As more Jews engage with…
- Not in Heaven
Ukraine is Not Weak
Ukraine has one of the largest Jewish populations in the world. But as Russia invades the Eastern European nation this week, the country's Jews—as they so…
- Not in Heaven
Parliamentary Cop
Last weekend, acclaimed Canadian director Ivan Reitman passed away at 75. The director of such 1980s classic comedies as Ghostbusters, Meatballs and Stripes…
- Not in Heaven
Hate is Just a Four-Letter Word
This week, Conservative MP Kevin Waugh introduced a private member's bill to amend the criminal code by prohibiting Holocaust denial. It came the same week NDP…
- Not in Heaven
Wait, Whoopi Goldberg Isn't Jewish?
The Olympics kick off this weekend, but sports are far from the biggest story. Instead, international media attention has turned to the persecution of China's…
- Not in Heaven
Nobody Knows the Troubles I've Seen
Just in time for International Holocaust Remembrance Day this year, a new study by Liberation75, a Canadian organization focused on Holocaust awareness and…
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Rabbis Throwing Chairs
This week, JSpaceCanada's president, Karen Mock, who is in her 70s, is stepping down to let a new, younger voice steer Canada's largest organization that…
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Ob-La-Di, Omicron, Life Goes On
Nostalgia is in vogue these days—in politics, pop culture and food trends—and Judaism is no different. As North American Jewry evolves, nostalgia for our…
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The Only Thing Orderly in Canada Right Now is the Order of Canada
Of the 135 recent appointees to the Order of Canada, at least 19 are Jewish. The recipients come from diverse fields of medicine, the arts, community activism…
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It's the End of the Year as We Know it, and I Feel Fine
What were the biggest Canadian Jewish stories of 2021? What did readers of The Canadian Jewish News care about? What stories transcended the community? In a…
- Not in Heaven
Bon Jew, Bad Jew
In late November, Michael Toledano, a Jewish documentary filmmaker, was arrested while recording from behind the blockades of Wet'suwet'en activists in British…
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Moderate Mrs. Maisel
A new trailer for the very Jewish, very popular TV show The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel recently dropped, announcing its next season for February. Notably, the lead…
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The Latke Who Couldn't Stop Screaming About BDS
The past two weeks have been a whirlwind for Jewish students at the University of Toronto's Scarborough campus. The campus student union passed a motion…
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Crass Commercial Hanukkah
In the last decade, executives at the Hallmark Channel and Lifetime have realized that Hanukkah exists. Now every year seems to bring a new heaping spoonful of…
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Community Ensures Continuity
Some news: we're launching a Slack channel. If you want to join our community in a tangible way—at least until we can start hosting live events—and chat with…
- Not in Heaven
Circumspect About Circumcision
Ritual circumcision for Jews came under heavy fire in October. First, an article came out in the New York Times in which writer Gary Shteyngart recalled his…
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The Week Jews Buy Halloween Candy on Sale
It's a question that grows more disturbing every time it pops up in the news: Should private sellers of antiques be allowed to sell Nazi memorabilia? Some will…
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G'Day, Jewish Mate
As a group, Jews have one of the lowest rates of organ donation in the world. And as a country, Canada also ranks at the bottom of opt-in organ donations, well…
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Welcome to the Prairies
This coming week marks the third anniversary of the shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue, where 11 people from Pittsburgh's Jewish community lost their…
- Not in Heaven
Rabbis Love Cheshvan
The high-holiday season is always been a stressful time for rabbis. Week after week, throughout September and October, they are busier than perhaps at any…
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Mixed Use Does Not Equal Mixed Dancing
Housing affordability is not a uniquely Jewish issue, but Jews face a unique challenge. Practising Jews, in particular, have certain geographic…
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Truth Before Reconciliation
On the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, Canadians have an opportunity to reflect on the brutal history and treatment of Indigenous people in…
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Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head
We're nearly at the end of a frantic late-summer blitz, combining a tight 36-day federal election campaign with Jewish high holidays, the beginning of the…
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Back to School, Back to Shul
With most congregations returning to some semblance of normalcy, one of the biggest questions is how children—who cannot be vaccinated—can safely return after…
- Not in Heaven
Consider us the Canadian Jewish 'As it Happens'
Years ago, Mishy Harman wondered about his fellow Israelis. There seemed to be so many differences within the country—political, ideological, sociological—and…
- Not in Heaven
Party like it's 5781
Kids are heading back to school in what may turn out to be another shaky semester, with the risk of virtual learning, school closures and mandatory vaccination…
- Not in Heaven
Election Preview: What are the Jewish issues to watch?
How much is antisemitism an election issue? Do Jews vote as a bloc? Who are the Jewish candidates to watch? With a federal election underway, Avi and Ilana…
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So Long, Farewell, Au Revoir—to Melissa
It's hard to say how Judaism fits into identity politics. As both an ethnicity and religion, comprising (in North America) mostly white-skinned people who may…
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Jewish Geography Should be an Olympic Sport
For three years, Jamie Hirsh and Gabe Pulver have hosted Menschwarmers, the world's only podcast about Jews and sports, for The CJN Podcast Network. In the…
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Thank God Laura Secord Still Loves Israel
A recent investigation into toxic hook-up culture among American Jewish teens, published in the digital magazine New Voices, shone a light on pervasive sexual…
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The journey to becoming Rivkush
Rivka "Rivkush" Campbell, a Jew of Jamaican descent, has been one of Canada's most vocal Jews of colour. As a co-founder of Jews of Colour Canada, as well as a…
- Not in Heaven
The Real Stanley Cup was the Friends We Made Along the Way
With a hot wildfire season upon Western Canada and a record-shattering heat dome that just killed hundreds of people in B.C., it's imperative for Jewish…
- Not in Heaven
It's Jacques Cartier, Right this Way
As the manager for The Pursuit of Happiness, The Watchmen, Adam Cohen and, of course, The Tragically Hip, Jake Gold has been an integral part of Canada's music…
- Not in Heaven
It's Not Easy Being Blue and White, Either
June 24 is the Fête nationale du Québec, also known as Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day. It's one of the province's biggest holidays, despite being largely unknown by…
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It's Not Easy Being Green
Ever since another round of conflict began in the Middle East in May 2021, the Green Party of Canada has been rocked by infighting and a leadership crisis…
- Not in Heaven
The Habs are the Only Good News in Canada
Few Canadians understand both the First Nations and Jewish communities as well as Nakuset. The prominent activist, at a young age, was taken from her home in…
- Not in Heaven
Bite-Sized Bonjour: Love is Love
Rabbi Steven Greenberg has been described as the first openly gay Orthodox rabbi. He is the founding director of Eshel, a non-profit organization that helps…
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Blue Screen of Death
May has been an exhausting month for Canada's Jews—a steady stream of anti-Semitism conflating with anti-Zionism has flowed across social media and is…