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20/10/2023

The Misconceptia Edition

After two weeks of war between Israel and Hamas with no resolution in sight, many Jews have experienced a similar phenomenon: non-Jewish friends asking how they're doing. And while the answers will of course vary, even among the more ambivalent crowd, it's causing self-reflection about not just how we as individuals are doing, but how we as a global community are reacting. For Phoebe Maltz Bovy and Bonjour Chai producer Zac Kauffman, the war has sparked fundamental questions about what it means to be Jewish in the 21st century. How settler identity is warped into European identity—and neither one fits Jews very well. And how Israel's conceptia, its illusion that it has this infallible army and an Iron Dome to keep it safe, has been totally shattered. And how Israel may not, in fact, be the one safe haven for Jews in the world, as it was originally conceived; it may in fact be one of the most dangerous. A lot of preconceived notions are being broken right now—and we're here to unpack what that means. Credits Bonjour Chai is hosted by Avi Finegold and Phoebe Maltz Bovy. Zachary Kauffman is the producer and editor. Michael Fraiman is the executive producer. Our theme music is by Socalled. The show is a co-production from The Jewish Learning Lab and The CJN, and is distributed by The CJN Podcast Network. Support the show by subscribing to this podcast, donating to The CJN and subscribing to the podcast's Substack.
27/10/2023

This Land is My Land

Join Avi Finegold and Phoebe Maltz Bovy for a special live taping of Bonjour Chai, as we kick off Holocaust Education Week in partnership with the Toronto Holocaust Museum and the Prosserman JCC. The hosts will be sitting down with author Michael Frank to discuss his book, One Hundred Saturdays. Get your tickets here. When reports came out of Gaza last week that the al-Ahli Arab Hospital was bombed, killing hundreds and wounding hundreds more, both sides immediately pointed fingers at their enemy. For days, whether it was an Israeli airstrike or a faulty rocket launched by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad somehow boiled down to a simple matter of opinion. In the days that followed, even as reporting surfaced and international governments (including Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom) independently determined Israel was not at fault, for millions of onlookers, the die had been cast. Whatever you thought in the first 24 hours has probably remained your belief, facts be damned. This has been the story of the war. Both sides are literally consuming different media reports, living in different bubbles, believing different facts. Beliefs have informed realities. This segregation has led to rampant dehumanization, antisemitism being conflated with anti-Zionism and harassment of Jews around the world simply for being in Jewish spaces. To dissect the role the media plays in all this, and how narratives are shaped and cemented, Avi and Phoebe are joined by Jesse Brown, founder of the Canadaland podcast network, which takes a critical lens to conventional Canadian media narratives. Credits Bonjour Chai is hosted by Avi Finegold and Phoebe Maltz Bovy. Zachary Kauffman is the producer and editor. Michael Fraiman is the executive producer. Our theme music is by Socalled. The show is a co-production from The Jewish Learning Lab and The CJN, and is distributed by The CJN Podcast Network. Support the show by subscribing to this podcast, donating to The CJN and subscribing to the podcast's Substack.
05/10/2023

Some of My Best Friends are Jewish

It's Canadian Thanksgiving weekend, which means Jewish Canadians will most likely... be doing nothing special. Because a lot of Canadian Jews, it turns out, don't really celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving. In fact, Thanksgiving feels like a particularly white Christian festivity, connected to early pioneers—or, as society calls them these days, settlers. Which brings us to today's main topic: Are Jews settlers? The term "settler" has become a catch-all for all non-Indigenous Canadians, used regardless if you are a newly arrived immigrant, refugee or privileged white person. Even though the term "settler" can have non-offensive connotions of simply settling into a new country, that's rarely how it's heard in public discourse, when it conjures images of early settlers taking land from the tribes who lived here before. To figure out how Jews fit into the picture, we bring on guest host David Weinfeld, a writer, professor, former CJN columnist and the author of An American Friendship, a 2022 book that analyzes how "cultural pluralism" was a precursor to modern multiculturalism. He discusses the distinctions between those two concepts, and how Jewish identity (and the Jewish relationship to African Americans) played a major in the evolution of identity politics. Credits Bonjour Chai is hosted by Avi Finegold and Phoebe Maltz Bovy. Zachary Kauffman is the producer and editor. Michael Fraiman is the executive producer. Our theme music is by Socalled. The show is a co-production from The Jewish Learning Lab and The CJN, and is distributed by The CJN Podcast Network. Support the show by subscribing to this podcast, donating to The CJN and subscribing to the podcast's Substack.
15/03/2024

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 divorce—because her husband won't allow it, even after four years of Berkowitz fighting for one. Her case is just one of many taken up by Adina Sash, a feminist Orthodox activist in Brooklyn who posts online as @FlatbushGirl. But as Sash kept posting about Berkowitz, she found Berkowitz's story resonated more strongly with her audience than others. As time passed, and Berkowitz remained an agunah—_a "chained woman" whose husband denies her a _get—community support snowballed. "Free Malky" caught on: Sash organized rallies, commissioned an an airplane to fly a banner over New York and, most recently, organized a "sex strike", where women in support of the cause stopped going to the mikvah. (After menstruating, married Orthodox women must visit a mikvah to cleanse themselves before they can have sex with their husbands—so no bath means no sex.) The story has garnered international headlines, drawing comparisons to the ancient Greek play Lysistrata and casting a spotlight on Sash, both positive and (when Orthodox men hear about it) extremely negative. Bonjour Chai's own Phoebe Maltz Bovy had many questions from a secular feminist perspective, so we invited Sash to join the show to explain the societal problems, Orthodox women's perceived agency and what life is like inside these insular communities. What we talked about Follow @FlatbushGirl on Instagram How the Fast of Esther became linked to International Agunah Day, from The CJN archives Read Phoebe's piece on the Guernica debacle in The CJN Credits Bonjour Chai is hosted by Avi Finegold and Phoebe Maltz Bovy. Zachary Kauffman is the producer and editor. Michael Fraiman is the executive producer. Our theme music is by Socalled. The show is a co-production from The Jewish Learning Lab and The CJN, and is distributed by The CJN Podcast Network. Support the show by subscribing to this podcast, donating to The CJN and subscribing to the podcast's Substack.
21/03/2024

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 her health issues. We wish her a speedy recovery. Kate Middleton, an English princess, made international headlines this past week for allegedly disappearing for a few weeks from the outside world. In an apparent effort to assuage public concerns, the British Royal family released a photo of her and her children—but the photo was visibly edited in numerous places. The Royal public relations department admitted to this, leading to further conspiracy theories about where the princess really is. None of this is particularly Jewish. But it did raise some interesting parallels with the story of a popular Jewish royal, Queen Esther, central to the story of Purim, who had to hide her Judaism. It also made Bonjour Chai co-host Avi Finegold flick on his rabbi brain to think about how sacred Jewish texts and theology convey truth and transparency: how there is a clear, organized order in talmudic conversations and debates, a provenance that is missing as computer-altered images and artificial intelligence become mainstream. For a special Purim edition of Bonjour Chai, Avi and Phoebe Maltz Bovy find the Jewish angles to the story of the maybe-missing princess, and then discuss Canada's ongoing legal changes that threaten to profoundly affect kosher slaughter and supply in this country. Credits Bonjour Chai is hosted by Avi Finegold and Phoebe Maltz Bovy. Zachary Kauffman is the producer and editor. Michael Fraiman is the executive producer. Our theme music is by Socalled. The show is a co-production from The Jewish Learning Lab and The CJN, and is distributed by The CJN Podcast Network. Support the show by subscribing to this podcast, donating to The CJN and subscribing to the podcast's Substack.
12/04/2024

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 Israeli writer and translator, Joanna Chen, called "From the Edges of a Broken World". In the piece, Chen conveys Israelis, like their Palestinian neighbours, as human and worthy of compassion. The resulting backlash from left-leaning writers was swift, and Guernica ended up retracting the piece and apologizing for running it, after more than a dozen volunteer staff members quit in protest. Except Jina Moore, the editor-in-chief, did not want to apologize. She stood by the piece. So she stepped down, and it sparked deeper conversations about safe spaces for Jewish authors and artists—such as the one on this week's episode of Bonjour Chai. Writer Erika Dreifus joins to discuss her own work in searching out publications still friendly to Jewish and Israeli Jewish writers and the broader ramifications of an ever-more-restrictive literary environment. What we talked about Browse Erika Dreifus's list of literary publications and organizations that made public statements about Gaza, "Writers, Beware" Read her blog post, "Where to Read (and Publish) Writing on Jewish Themes" Credits Bonjour Chai is hosted by Avi Finegold and Phoebe Maltz Bovy. Zachary Kauffman is the producer and editor. Michael Fraiman is the executive producer. Our theme music is by Socalled. The show is a co-production from The Jewish Learning Lab and The CJN, and is distributed by The CJN Podcast Network. Support the show by subscribing to this podcast, donating to The CJN and subscribing to the podcast's Substack.
08/02/2024

Why UNWRA should be dismantled: Canadian UN watchdog Hillel Neuer weighs in

Two weeks ago, Canada joined the United States and other top Western donors in announcing they will suspend further funding to UNWRA, the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees. The move comes after intelligence from Israel and other sources proved the extent to which thousands of UNWRA employees and their family members have ties to Hamas—in some cases, even being full Hamas members and taking part directly in the Oct. 7 terrorist attack, kidnapping and hiding hostages. Canadian lawyer Hillel Neuer runs the Geneva-based UN Watch, which helped reveal some of that damning evidence. He brought to light a 3,000-member UNWRA teachers’ chat group on Telegram that vocally supported the attack on Israel. UN Watch also exposed the identities of UNWRA teachers who proudly trumpet anti-Israel hate on their social media accounts. UNWRA has now launched its own official investigation, due at the end of April. But already there are calls to allow the discredited agency to be allowed to weed out the few “bad apples”, and for full funding to be restored. due to the humanitarian emergency and displacement of the vast majority of Gaza’s 2 million residents during Israel’s war with Hamas, now entering its fifth month. Hillel Neuer joins Ellin Bessner on _The CJN Daily _to explain why he thinks UNWRA should be disbanded permanently—but probably won’t be. What we talked about: Learn more about Canada announcing it will pause funding for UNWRA, and what new agencies will get the money instead, in The CJN Watch Hillel Neuer’s testimony (eight minutes) before the U.S. Congress on Jan. 30, on YouTube Read when the UN launched investigation in 2014 after missiles were discovered in UNRWA buildings in Gaza during war with Israel, in The CJN Credits: The CJN Daily is written and hosted by Ellin Bessner (@ebessner on Twitter). Zachary Kauffman is the producer. Michael Fraiman is the executive producer. Our theme music is by Dov Beck-Levine. Our title sponsor is Metropia. We’re a member of The CJN Podcast Network. To subscribe to this podcast, please watch this video. Donate to The CJN and receive a charitable tax receipt by clicking here. Hear why The CJN is important to me.
09/11/2022

Holocaust survivor Robbie Waisman's life story is now an award-winning YA book

Robbie Waisman was the youngest of six children growing up in Poland, having just turned eight years old when the Nazis invaded. While his whole family was killed except for him and one sister, Waisman survived a ghetto, a slave labour camp, typhus and the Buchenwald concentration camp. After moving to Canada to start a new life, Waisman kept quiet about his time in Europe until prominent Holocaust deniers began making headlines in the 1980s. He decided it was time to share his story and revisit his past. Fast-forward several decades and Waisman, now 91, is a well-known educator and public speaker—whose story is now a book for young adults. Boy From Buchenwald came out last spring, but just won an award at the Toronto International Festival of Authors. To mark the 84th anniversary of Kristallnacht—when, on Nov. 9, 1938, Nazis burned Jewish homes, businesses and synagogues across Germany and Austria—Waisman and his co-author, Susan McClelland, join The CJN Daily to describe the impact they hope his life's story will make on young readers. What we talked about: Order a copy of The Boy From Buchenwald Learn about Waisman at the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre Read about Waisman in The CJN archives (2016) Credits The CJN Daily is written and hosted by Ellin Bessner (@ebessner on Twitter). Zachary Kauffman is the producer. Michael Fraiman is the executive producer. Our theme music is by Dov Beck-Levine. Our title sponsor is Metropia. We're a member of The CJN Podcast Network. To learn how to support the show by subscribing to this podcast, please watch this video.
09/06/2022

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 denomination are working to actively include queer Jews in Jewish law and practice. Queer and nonbinary Jews no longer settle for pointing out their existence and right to be included; they're crafting narratives that explain how deeply and intricarely their queerness and Judaism are intertwined. To dissect these issues and share their personal stories, we're joined by two inaugural members of the Queer Jewish Incubator, a new project run by the Miles Nadal JCC in downtown Toronto. Sadie Epstein-Fine is working on a play about one of Tevye's daughters being queer, and Toby King is gathering and archiving information about queer-Jewish wedding ceremonies to examine the various ways in which those couples celebrate their love. After that, you'll hear an excerpt from The CJN's podcast Rivkush, in which host Rivka Campbell interviews Michael Twitty, the award-winning cookbook author, chef and voice for social justice, who describes life at the intersection of being Black, Jewish and gay. What we talked about Learn about the Miles Nadal JCC's Queer Jewish Incubator Visit Sadie Epstein-Fine's website at sadieepsteinfine.com Contribute to Queering the Jewish Wedding Listen to the full interview with Michael Twitty on _Rivkush_ Credits Bonjour Chai is hosted by Avi Finegold, Ilana Zackon and David Sklar. Michael Fraiman is the producer. Andre Goulet is the technical producer. Our theme music is by Socalled. The show is a co-production from The Jewish Learning Lab and The CJN, and is distributed by The CJN Podcast Network. To learn how to support the show by subscribing to this podcast, please watch this video.
28/07/2022

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 the high cost of kosher meat. The result: the executive director of the Jewish Community Council of Montreal, Rabbi Saul Emanuel, reached out wanting to share their side of the story. Rabbi Emanuel also heads up Montreal Kosher, better known as MK—sometimes jokingly referred to as "Mafia Kosher". This week, Avi had the chance to speak with Rabbi Emanuel and challenge him directly about some of his organizations' choices. Why can't halakhah evolve? Why insist on arcane rules when jobs and affordability are at stake? Why compare Montreal's meat prices to New York's, when the cost of living is so much cheaper in La Belle Province? His answers result in some heated debate with our own resident rabbi podcast host. After that, Gabe Pulver from Menschwarmers pops in to break down how Canada ranked at the Maccabiah Games, and Nathan Englander sat down with Ilana Zackon to describe the experience of adapting one of his books into a stage play for the first time. Credits Bonjour Chai is hosted by Avi Finegold, Ilana Zackon and David Sklar. Michael Fraiman is the producer. Andre Goulet is the technical producer. Our theme music is by Socalled. The show is a co-production from The Jewish Learning Lab and The CJN, and is distributed by The CJN Podcast Network. To learn how to support the show by subscribing to this podcast, please watch this video.

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