Not in Heaven – Details, episodes & analysis
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Not in Heaven
The CJN Podcasts
Frequency: 1 episode/8d. Total Eps: 206

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How do we memorialize events when we're still living through them?
Season 1
jeudi 1 mai 2025 • Duration 48:10
Most Jewish holidays date back thousands of years. We commemorate the time when an ancient Persian with a triangle hat tried to kill the Jews, when the Maccabees rededicated the temple in Jerusalem, when we escaped slavery in Egypt and the seas parted ways. But in the past century, Jews have added three new holidays, all of which fall in the span of a week.
We're now at the tail end of the trilogy of "memory days": Yom HaShoah, Yom ha-Zikaron and Yom ha-Atzmaut. And, perhaps because they're recent additions, the way in which we mark them is susceptible to shifting, particularly after Oct. 7. Just this week, former hostages and survivors of Oct. 7 marched in the March of the Living in Poland. The USC Shoah Foundation is expanding its mission beyond the Shoah, collecting testimonies of antisemitism in the modern world.
It begs the question: How do you memorialize events when you're still living through them?
That's the topic for this week's episode of Not in Heaven, a podcast about the future of communal Judaism. Avi Finegold, Yedida Eisenstat and Matthew Leibl join to discuss these traditions, memory engineering, and how the stories we tell about the past shape our present—and our future.
Credits
- Hosts: Avi Finegold, Yedida Eisenstat, Matthew Leibl
- Production team: Zachary Judah Kauffman (editor), Marc Weisblott (editorial director), Michael Fraiman (executive producer)
- Music: Socalled
Support The CJN
- Subscribe to The CJN newsletter
- Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt)
- Subscribe to Not in Heaven (Not sure how? Click here)
Should rabbis politicize the pulpit?
Season 1
vendredi 25 avril 2025 • Duration 35:16
It's election season in Canada, with a record-breaking 7.3 million voters having already cast their ballots ahead of April 28. And between Passover seders and weekly Shabbat sermons, there's been no shortage of opportunities for Jewish communal leaders to weigh in on federal affairs during this high-stakes election cycle.
But should they?
An Israeli think tank recently used AI to analyze 4,400 sermons from 2021 to 2024. Across denominations, about half of all sermons focused on politics—with a clear jump to roughly two-thirds post-Oct. 7, including 80 percent of modern Orthodox sermons.
Rabbis are divided. Some see it as their duty to guide their community and stand up for values they believe to be in the best interest of the Jewish people; others prefer to keep divisive topics out of synagogues, focusing instead on what binds us together.
It's a ripe topic for our first-ever episode of Not in Heaven, The CJN's new podcast about the future of communal Judaism, taking over our previous weekly debate program, Bonjour Chai. Avi Finegold returns with a new panel of rabbinic voices: Yedida Eisenstat is a scholar, writer and associate editor at the Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization in Washington, D.C.; and Matthew Leibl is a freelance rabbi in Winnipeg with a background in sports radio.
"How should your Jewish values affect your vote?": Read the new On One Foot column by Avi Finegold in the Spring 2025 premiere issue of Scribe Quarterly
Credits
- Hosts: Avi Finegold, Yedida Eisenstat, Matthew Leibl
- Production team: Zachary Judah Kauffman (editor), Marc Weisblott (editorial director), Michael Fraiman (executive producer)
- Music: Socalled
Support The CJN
- Subscribe to The CJN newsletter
- Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt)
- Subscribe to Not in Heaven (Not sure how? Click here)
Gaza is the 52nd State
vendredi 7 février 2025 • Duration 36:26
U.S. President Trump's threats of tariffs and making Canada a 51st state has sparked a resurgent nationalism across Canada. In progressive neighbourhoods, Canadian flags have replaced Palestinian ones; in Conservative messaging, federal leader Pierre Poilievre has stopped claiming Canada is "broken" and started defending it from our southern neighbours.
One tangible fallout from the schism—and eventual trade war, should it actually happen—will be an even higher cost of living than what Canadian have grown accustomed to. This is specifically true of kosher food products, many of which are imported from the United States. With this backdrop, a growing number of Canadians who once admired Trump—including Canadian Jews, but also Ontario Premier Doug Ford—are now realizing their mistake.
On this week's episode of Bonjour Chai, Avi and Phoebe break down the ways in which Donald Trump is reshaping Canadian politics, from a Jewish perspective and beyond.
Credits
- Hosts: Avi Finegold and Phoebe Maltz Bovy (@BovyMaltz)
- Production team: Michael Fraiman (producer), Zachary Kauffman (editor)
- Music: Socalled
Support The CJN
- Subscribe to the Bonjour Chai Substack
- Subscribe to The CJN newsletter
- Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt)
- Subscribe to Bonjour Chai (Not sure how? Click here)
[Title Redacted by Sensitivity Reader]
Season 1
jeudi 23 février 2023 • Duration 49:12
Over the past week, news broke that the novels of Roald Dahl were being rewritten to match modern sensibilities and remove language that some people have deemed offensive. These changes—which came at the behest of the Roald Dahl Story Company and Puffin, the books' publishing house—were ostensibly made to make the books better representative of, and more approachable for, diverse audiences.
While the publishers can rewrite the book, however, they can't rewrite history: namely, that Dahl himself was a self-proclaimed antisemite. Is changing a few words an effective cover-up for the author's more problematic ideals? To get to the core of the issue, we're joined by YA author Joanne Levy. Dedicated Bonjour Chai listeners may recall Levy from her participation in our book club in November 2021.
Plus, Avi and Phoebe chat about Michael Steinhardt's tarnished legacy and Phoebe's latest article on the intersection between feminism and aging.
What we talked about
- Read Phoebe's article "Hag feminism is the future" at Unherd
- Read about Michael Steinhardt's exile from the antiquities world at New York Magazine
- Hear Joanne Levy discuss her book I'm Sorry For Your Loss on Bonjour Chai in Nov. 2021
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. To learn how to support the show by subscribing to this podcast, please watch this video.
Just Be a Mensch
Season 1
vendredi 17 février 2023 • Duration 48:18
Today we're asking an existential question: How can you be a good person? New York Magazine recently published an editorial package on how to behave, declaring 194 rules on how to "tip, text, ghost, host and politely deal with strangers." Social anxieties—and figuring out how to fit in and act right—are nothing new for Jews. So Avi and Phoebe, recording in-person at the Drake Hotel, dive in and discuss why rules matter, Hey Alma’s own list of Jewish rules for living today, how this all relates to Jewish law and why this topic is having a 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. To learn how to support the show by subscribing to this podcast, please watch this video.
Sitdown special: Mark (Moishe) Bane
Season 1
lundi 13 février 2023 • Duration 01:02:47
We're starting a new occasional series with Bonjour Chai: extended interviews that dive deep into a person or idea that matters to the Jewish community. In this debut episode, Avi sits down with Mark (Moishe) Bane, who was—when they spoke late last year—the president of the Orthodox Union, the largest umbrella organization of Orthodox congregations in North America, perhaps best recognized as the ones behind the "OU" kosher symbol. The native Montrealer, who stepped down in January after six years at the helm, opens up about the role of synagogue in adult life, the political leanings of the OU and what makes his home city's Jewish identity unique.
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. To learn how to support the show by subscribing to this podcast, please watch this video.
Hot and Chanshi
Season 1
vendredi 10 février 2023 • Duration 43:31
One of the hottest new Israeli shows is Chanshi, about a young Orthodox woman who travels solo to Israel, ditching her fiancé, with the sole mission of having sex with as many IDF soldiers as she can. The provocative story of self-discovery and sexual awakening screened at Sundance in January 2023 to rave reviews, and the woman who created it—the writer and star, Aleeza Chanowitz—joins the show to talk about the origins of the program and how Orthodox Jews in Israel are reacting.
Plus, Phoebe dishes on Leonardo DiCaprio's new teenage maybe-girlfriend—who happens to be Israeli—and Avi pays tribute to Chava Rosenfarb, who would have turned 100 this week.
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. To learn how to support the show by subscribing to this podcast, please watch this video.
You can’t spell "messianism" without "mess"
Season 1
vendredi 3 février 2023 • Duration 45:40
If you've ever wondered why it seems like there are more Chabad houses than Starbucks in Canadian cities, there's a reason: With their enormous menorahs and frequent sidewalk stalls, the Chabad movement easily represents the most prominent Jews in the public square. On campus, on the street, in smaller communities and online, their ubiquity is undeniable.
How did they get there? Why is this small Hasidic sect succeeding while other denominations are losing ground—especially when so many Jews who take part aren't even Orthodox?
We talk to sociologist Samuel Heilman about the roots of this phenomenon and what it means for the future of Canadian Jewry. Plus, Phoebe and Avi discuss tidiness, piles of books and the Jewish angles of Marie Kondo's recent confession.
Credits
Bonjour Chai is hosted by Avi Finegold, Ilana Zackon and David Sklar. 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. To learn how to support the show by subscribing to this podcast, please watch this video.
Israel Is So Basic
Season 1
jeudi 26 janvier 2023 • Duration 51:20
Over 110,000 protestors packed Tel Aviv’s city centre, in one of the country’s largest anti-government protests in the past decade. They were rallying against the newly elected, right-wing government’s proposals to overhaul the Israeli judicial system. The reforms, introduced by Justice Minister Yariv Levin, could shift a significant amount of power from the courts to the legislature and preclude any law passed by the Knesset from being challenged in Israel’s High Court. These changes are designed, according to Levin, to rein in an activist court that for too long has subverted the democratic will of the Israeli electorate.
Some say shifting more power to elected representatives clearly enhances Israel’s democratic character. Others argue that these changes would spell the end of the inalienable rights underpinning Zionism and the idea of Israel as a modern, liberal democracy.
Our guest today sees several parallels to our own constitutional process and has written about proposed solutions. Bryan Schwartz is a lawyer and law professor at the University of Manitoba Law School. He has argued cases before the Supreme Court of Canada and has taught Canadian and Israeli law to students at the Hebrew University in Israel.
Later in the show, Avi and Phoebe discuss an interview with Taffy Brodesser-Akner, the creator of the 2022 hit TV show Fleischman Is in Trouble, and based on her 2019 novel of the same name. To the surprise of some readers, Brodesser-Akner said that she doesn’t actually see the work as particularly Jewish, despite the clear Jewishness of the setting and main characters. This leads our hosts to dig into what makes a TV show Jewish at all? Is any show with Jewish characters a Jewish show—or is there more to it?
What we talked about
- The Constitutional Crisis in Israel: A Middle Ground Proposal by Bryan Schwartz
- ‘Fleishman is in Trouble’ hits FX Thursday. Just don’t call it a Jewish series, says its creator.
- Homemade Bagels, à la Jo Goldenberg Recipe
- Chanshi’ plays with American-Israeli stereotypes - review
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. To learn how to support the show by subscribing to this podcast, please watch this video.
Bargain Basement Antisemitism
Season 1
jeudi 19 janvier 2023 • Duration 57:21
It seems like discussions of antisemitism have devoured a larger share of the Jewish community’s mental bandwidth in recent years. It dominates the headlines in every Jewish publication, and the social media from Jewish organizations. It’s what we talk about at the dinner table, in synagogues, on the internet, when we lie down and when we rise up. On this episode of The CJN’s weekly current affairs podcast Bonjour Chai, we’re asking: Why has it become such a major preoccupation of our communal conversation? And which conversations about Jewish life are being crowded out? In their search for answers, Avi Finegold and Phoebe Maltz Bovy do a deep dive into the archives of The Canadian Jewish News. They also discuss thrifting while Jewish: how to juggle the joys of bargain hunting for vintage clothes—while avoiding a Jewish stereotype.
What we talked about:
- Toronto store spotlight: Siberia Vintage
- The Canadian Jewish News archives
- Why Would Zelensky Not Mention Hanukkah in his Address to Congress?
- Phoebe Maltz Bovy on the extremely online pastime of getting angry about phantom antisemitism
- What Bari Weiss misunderstands about America and the Jews
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. To learn how to support the show by subscribing to this podcast, please watch this video.