Not in Heaven

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 having multiple wives. Polyamory essentially refers to open relationships, in which couples are free to have sex with anyone they like, but remain fundamentally committed to each other. Co-host Phoebe Maltz Bovy recently read and reviewed a new m...

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 posts that the Montreal-born author and pro-Palestinian activist made that were critical of the Israeli government. The initial decision came after backlash from Jewish organizations—but, as has become de rigeur , the decision caused an even...

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 in institutions becoming more lax about who they accept—bending, for example, denominational lines for a young rabbi who at least actually wants to be there. But then the question of Israel comes up. And in a post-Oct. 7 world, with more youn...

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 ever before—some would argue we do. It's through that lens that Avi and Phoebe have noticed a number of organizations shift their marketing strategies. Speaking to the broader public, we've seen JewBelong , once a quirky series of hot-pink b...

Since Oct. 7, Jewish media outlets have skyrocketed in popularity. Comparing website traffic in November 2023 against November 2022, we here at The Canadian Jewish News saw visitors nearly double. What's more—those new heights have held strong ever since. It's a bittersweet byproduct of Israel's war with Hamas, and the subsequent spikes in antisemitism worldwide, which has captivated and unified J...

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 a migration to, the nascent State of Israel. But in the aftermath of Oct. 7, a sharp uptick of North American Jews have also begun speaking out more clearly against Israel—not just its government's actions, but against the concept of Zionism...

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, it was reported, were starting newsletters on Substack and spreading their hateful propaganda. While the existence and quantity of said Nazis remained the core issue, writer Shalom Auslander was struck by something else: were th...

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 was dug beneath the Chabad world headquarters in New York City. Justifiably, plenty of questions were raised: who made this tunnel? Why? How long ago? Why were police called? Is any of this going to fan the burning flames of antisemitism and...

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 slogans in front of the Zara clothing store. The clip shows police keeping apart the protestors and the person filming; trying to keep the situation calm in the midst of the bustling shopping season around them. Meanwhile in Israel, the IDF an...

Last week, the U.S. Congress grilled several top university professors about antisemitism on their campuses—and the scrutiny on these institutions has never been more intense. The hearings were, in some ways, the culmination of years of backlash against so-called "elitist" institutions, attacks and assumptions by right-wing critics who have long complained that universities coddle their...

This past week, a Jewish feminist movement has gained serious momentum across the world. Under the hashtag #MeTooUnlessUrAJew , critics have been calling out the hypocrisy of democratic institutions and progressive activists, who were almost certainly extremely vocal during the #MeToo movement, downplaying or denying the rape of Israeli women and sexual violence by Hamas terrorists that occurred o...

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 their ongoing war against Hamas. Those who attended the event said it was the first time they could relax and exhale after weeks of feeling isolated and defensive. Perhaps inspired by this American moment of solidarity, Canadian Jewish organizat...

While playing ‘Jewish geography’ highlights the ways Canadian Jews are connected, thinking about the geography of Jews reveals some of the community’s most important divisions. In recent weeks, suburban Jews have trekked down to city centres for rallies and marches—not far from the working-class immigrant neighbourhoods where their forbears settled in Canada. This week on Bonjour Chai, co-host Pho...

Antisemitic crimes have been on the rise across the world in the past month, but Montreal in particular has been rocked by sudden violent acts : two bullets were, on separate occasions, shot at the Yeshiva Gedola elementary school, and molotov cocktails were thrown at a Federation building and synagogue. Subsequently, security has been top of mind for the local Jewish community, with people feelin...

If you'd asked Diaspora Jews earlier this year, in the wake of the mass protests against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's judicial reforms, how they felt about their relationship to the Jewish state, an unusually high number would have said something along the lines of "fraught". Indeed, the rift caused by Israel's latest right-wing governing coalition sparked fervent internat...

As Stella Levi was growing up on the island of Rhodes, she lived a normal life. She played with her sisters, lounged on the beach and was excited to start high school—until the Second World War reached the shores of her Mediterranean home. While many of her family members were killed by the Nazis, Levi survived. Today, she is 100 years old and living in Greenwich Village, New York City. Author Mic...

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 bomb...

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 an...

Nearly one full week after Hamas terrorists attacked Israel and sparked a new war, Canadian politicians and institutions have had plenty of time to react, respond with statements and join solidarity rallies. For the most part, support for Israel has been unilateral. But, as always, there are exceptions, mostly—in this case—from left-wing politicians and organizations who seem to be more focused on...

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 Jew...

Today: a post-Yom Kippur repentance fest. We discuss the teshuva of the recently resigned Speaker of House of Commons, Anthony Rota. Is it enough that Rota stepped down and apologized for unwittingly inviting a Nazi into Parliament for a standing ovation ? Special guest David Frum joins to dissect what really matters here: Canadian carelessness. But before that, Avi and Phoebe discuss the fights t...

With Rosh Hashanah in the near past and Yom Kippur on the horizon, it's time for Canadian Jewry's most important annual event: the Great Canadian Sermon Slam, hosted by Bonjour Chai . Just like last year, we're bringing you sermons from rabbis across the country to face off with their best sermons, speeches and spiels while vying for the grand prize: the Kiddush Cup. This year, you'll hear from ra...

As Rosh Hashanah draws near, we wanted to take our annual look back at the biggest news stories of 5783. To get a sense of what topics dominated the Jewish news landscape, Avi and Phoebe invite Marc Weisblott, managing editor of The CJN, to dissect the media trends, from Israeli politics to the neverending mission of ending Jew hatred. But before that, the panel tackles the biggest news story of t...

One of this week's biggest online fights was between the Anti-Defamation League and Twitter (is anyone calling it "X"?)—or, more specifically, Twitter's CEO, Elon Musk, the richest man in the world. If you believe the ADL, since Musk took over, antisemitism has skyrocketed on the platform, as banned accounts got reinstated and free speech rules became relaxed. If you believe Musk, Twitte...

September is upon us: school supplies are being purchased, backpacks are being filled, books are being covered. In that same vein, it's time podcasts like ours take stock of Jewish day schools, which have historically been a pillar of Jewish communal life. We ought to regularly examine what's going right, what's going wrong and what trends have emerged in recent years. To discuss the state of Jewi...