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  • 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.

  • 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 InstagramHow the Fast of Esther became linked to International Agunah Day, from The CJN archivesRead 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.

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  • 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 glimpse into what life has been like for North American Jews since Oct. 7. One major point of coverage: pro-Palestinian (or anti-Israel) protests.

    The pictured painted by these articles and others, including here at The CJN, is one of constant fear, heightened tensions and feelings of isolation. Antisemitism is indeed on the rise, no question. But is daily life as bad for Jews as these articles make it seem? Or are social media doom-scrolling and binge-reading articles about antisemitism only exacerbating these feelings of dread?

    Our guest host this week is Gabby Deutch, a senior national correspondent at Jewish Insider.

    What we talked about

    Read "The Golden Age of Jews is Ending" in The AtlanticRead "The New Antisemitism" in TimeFind Gabby Deutch's articles at Jewish Insider

    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.

  • 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 memoir by Jewish author Molly Roden Winter, More: A Memoir of Open Marriage. And it got her thinking. What does Judaism say about all this? What does the Talmud say about threesomes? She quizzes resident rabbi Avi Finegold about what Jewish law says about marriage, commitment and the essence of love.

    And before that, Avi debriefs Phoebe on his visit to the Illinois Holocaust Museum for their annual gala dinner, where he got to meet Debra Messing, Hillary Clinton and many others.

    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.

  • 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 greater backlash in response to the initial backlash, resulting in the Jewish Public Library rescinding their ban.

    The co-hosts of Bonjour Chai were especially keen to discuss this subject. Phoebe Maltz Bovy has written extensively on cancel culture and literature, while Avi Finegold sat on the board of the Jewish Public Library for many years. To dissect the politics and undercurrents of this debacle, they're joined by Emil Sher, an author of children's and young adult books, screenplays and stage plays, who is also currently the writer in residence at the Jewish Public Library in Montreal.

    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.

  • 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 young rabbis identifying as non-Zionist or even anti-Zionist—young Jews who have no ties to the Holy Land in the way previous generations did—shul search committees have to ask themselves how flexible they're willing to be. As Tevye once said, "If I bend that far, I'll break."

    Hosts Avi and Phoebe are joined by Bonjour Chai producer Zac Kauffman to discuss the implications of this generational shift, which was recently covered in a feature story on Jewish Insider.

    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.

  • 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 billboards spouting pithy lines about Jewish inclusion, suddenly start shouting increasingly aggressive slogans about gas chambers and Hamas. Meanwhile, the Foundation to Combat Antisemitism, founded by billionaire Robert Kraft, is airing a multimillion-dollar anti-antisemitism commercial during the Super Bowl.

    Even within our own communities, dozens of organizations—most recently the Union for Reform Judaism—have undergone rebrands, changing logos and colour schemes away from blue, white and black.

    But who are these marketing efforts geared towards? What are they trying to say? And are they actually going to change anything?

    Arno Rosenfeld, the Forward's enterprise reporter, and Lex Rofeberg, the co-host of the podcast Judaism Unbound, join for a lengthy discussion about the relevance and impact of Jewish marketing.

    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.

  • 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 Jewish communities around the globe in solidarity with the Jewish State. But the flip side to this heightened engagement—and more emotionally intense reporting—has been taxing for journalists. And while web traffic is nice, it doesn't solve the fundamental financial problems inherent to the media industry writ large.

    Earlier this week, Laura E. Adkins, the opinion editor of the Forward, resigned her position to join Jewish Women International, in part moved by the impacts of Oct. 7 on Jewish women and girls and the denials of Israeli women being sexually assaulted. She joins to discuss the future of Jewish media as she sees it—and also chat about one of her most recent articles, covering the sexual assault scandal surrounding prominent Jewish leader Rabbi Art Green.

    What we talked about

    Subscribe to Laura E. Adkins's Substack Read Laura's piece in the Forward, "A beloved rabbi committed sexual misconduct. Here’s why the reckoning needs to be public"

    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.

  • 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. The movement, dubbed "diasporism," embraces the idea of exile as either a secular, socialist philosophy, or perhaps an inspiration for greater emphasis on personal religious beliefs—depending on who you're talking to.

    The concept got a splashy treatment in a New York Times feature earlier this month, as Marc Tracy, a Times reporter covering arts and culture, published a piece called "Is Israel Part of What It Means to Be Jewish?", which digs into the phenomenon. He joins Bonjour Chai to explain what diasporism means and why it's in the spotlight after Hamas's murder of 1,200 people and the resulting war in Gaza.

    Plus, Avi and Phoebe chat about the passing of Norman Jewison (yes, Canadian; no, not Jewish), and how it's brought one of his most famous films, Fiddler on the Roof, back into global debate... with a Palestinian twist.

    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.

  • 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 these people actually Nazis?

    Auslander wrote a piece for Tablet, published this week, in which he argues the word "Nazi" has all but lost its meaning, having been watered down to refer to most people with nationalist, xenophobic, extreme right-wing beliefs. He joins the show to lay out his argument for being more careful with words—especially for the People of the Book—and the danger in making the word "Nazi" synonymous with "racist asshole".

    And before that, Phoebe laments the lack of Jews in Only Murderers in the Building, the popular show on Disney+, which specifically takes place in one of the most Jewish parts of the United States.

    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.

  • 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 anti-Zionism? Bonjour Chai host Avi Finegold made some calls and read through the media coverage to unearth the truth.

    Before then, he and co-host Phoebe Maltz Bovy discuss the national headlines made by a public spat in Windsor, Ont., and how the bizarre culmination of the Ivy League Congress hearings about antisemitism have devolved into internal right-wing fights that have much less to do with Jews than you'd think.

    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.

  • 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 announced the mistaken killing of three hostages who managed to escape captivity. The next night, families of hostages still held by Hamas and supporters rallied in Tel Aviv chanting the slogan ‘Now’. They meant that now is the moment to re-evaluate, to pause the violence and prioritize negotiations.

    In the immediate aftermath of the Oct. 7 attack, many Jews and other Israel sympathizers felt the need to put aside political differences and unite behind the Israeli government. Two-and-a-half-months later, is that still the case? As pro-ceasefire protests step farther into public space at busy malls abroad, and Israelis call for a new approach to the war at home, do Canadian Jews feel permission to break ranks with the Israeli government? Bonjour Chai hosts Avi and Phoebe wrap up 2023 breaking down everything you have to know about the current moment.

    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.

  • 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 student bodies, over-emphasize safe spaces and no longer teach young people to think critically—let alone welcome dissenting opinions.

    These subjects are familiar territory to Jeffrey Sachs, who teaches about politics, authoritarianism and the Middle East at Acadia University in Wolfville, Nova Scotia. Sachs has analyzed the data on campus free speech and written extensively about how there is not, in fact, a "free speech crisis" in universities. He gives us insight into that world, recaps the high-profile Congress hearings and discusses the role of religion in places of worship.

    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.

  • 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 on Oct. 7.

    The conversation is global. Former Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg made a presentation to the United Nations, in which she criticized the organization for its silence; six high-ranking feminist writers and attorneys penned a piece in Slate describing the sexual assaults and insisting "the victims of the Oct. 7 attack stand excluded from the world’s sisterhood;" and in Canada, Beth Tzedec's Rabbi Robyn Fryer Bodzin wrote an op-ed for the National Post demanding Minister of Foreign Affairs Mélanie Joly "must end" her silence on the issue by condemning it publicly.

    From London, U.K., journalist Nicole Lampert has covered this as well, writing a piece in UnHerd on why people are refusing to believe what really happened. She joins Avi Finegold and Phoebe Maltz Bovy to break down why it's been such an uphill battle to get feminists to believe Israeli women and to understand the distinctions between realities in Canada, Britain and the United States.

    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.

  • 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 organizations began planning a similar rally on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Dec. 4. And while it will likely have a similar effect—uniting Canadian Jews and allies of Israel during a moment of crisis—its focus is deliberately one-sided. The question remains: Can this kind of massive movement extend beyond communities, uniting Jews and Muslims, anyone who believes in both Israel's and Palestine's right to exist, at one time?

    On Nov. 27, Taylor C. Noakes, a Montreal-based journalist, published an open letter to Mayor Valérie Plante on the website Cult MTL, imploring her to organize a peace rally in a city marred by molotov cocktails and gunshots recently fired at Jewish institutions. Noakes joins Avi Finegold on this week's Bonjour Chai to discuss why he feels Montreal, home John Lennon's famous "bed-in for peace", would be perfect for a rally to cool temperatures on both sides.

    What we talked about

    Read Noakes's open letter, "Montreal needs a peace rally to unite Israeli and Palestinian communities — and all of us, really", on Cult MTLHear "How Canadians felt marching for Israel at the historic Washington rally" on The CJN DailyRead about Montreal's month of molotov cocktails and gunshots targeting the Jewish community 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.

  • 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 Phoebe Maltz Bovy and CJN managing editor Marc Weisblott analyze how the urban-suburban divide continues to shape Jewish life in their respective native cities of New York and Toronto. After that, they discuss Canadian activist and writer Naomi Klein’s most recent book, Doppelganger, which examines the ways Klein’s life has become strangely intertwined with that of Naomi Wolf, whose politics could not be more different.

    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.

  • 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 feeling too anxious to send their kids to school.

    But context does matter. Is a gunshot still a gunshot if it's fired late at night, when a building is empty? Or is it, as host Avi Finegold argues, tantamount to graffiti: an act of vandalism, albeit with a potentially lethal tool? He and Phoebe Maltz Bovy debate whether the Jewish community's feeling of insecurity is overblown—and whether it's justified to be scared of someone walking down the street wearing a keffiyeh.

    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.

  • 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 international debate—until the Hamas massacre on Oct. 7, 2023.

    So now that Israel is settling into what could become a long-term engagement in Gaza, it's worth asking how that international relationship has changed. Jews around the world have largely set political differences aside and come out overwhelmingly in support of the Holy Land, but how long will that last? And how do Israelis on the ground feel about this? To find answers, Bonjour Chai co-host Phoebe Maltz Bovy sat down with Lahav Harkov, a senior political correspondent at Jewish Insider based in Israel._

    After that, Avi Finegold introduces the long-awaited winner of this year's Great Canadian Sermon Slam, Rabbi Lisa Grushcow of Temple Emanu-El-Beth Sholom in Montreal. She joins for a deep discussion on her rabbinic duties this past month and what the Torah can teach us about handling trauma.

    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.

  • 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 Michael Frank got the privilege of spending six years hearing her life's story and turning their conversations into a new book, One Hundred Saturdays. It's not quite a biography, nor an "as-told-to", or even a memoir or straight non-fiction narrative; as Frank explains, the book is the description of an encounter he had with this remarkable survivor.

    On the night of Nov. 1, Avi and Phoebe kicked off Neuberger Holocaust Education Week in Toronto with Michael Frank, live at this special podcast recording, in partnership with the Toronto Holocaust Museum and the Prosserman JCC. Hear Levi's story, how Frank approached writing the book and what themes resonate most in today's heated climate of rising antisemitism.

    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.

  • 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.