Tête-à-tête: Conversations in Canadian Jewish Studies – Details, episodes & analysis

Last year, two of the leading historians of Jewish Canada, Pierre Anctil and Richard Menkis, published In a "Land of Hope": Documents on the Canadian Jewish Experience, volume 1, 1627-1923, a landmark collection of primary sources. Thanks to the generous support of York University's J. Richard Shiff Chair for the Study of Canadian Jewry and the University of British Columbia's Open Access Fund, the volume's publisher, The Champlain Society, has made all of the primary sources freely available to read online.

In this episode, Richard Menkis, who teaches at the University of British Columbia, chats with host Jonathan Slater about the reader: how it came to be, its contents, uses, and its value for anyone interested in Canadian Jewish history. Menkis, the ACJS's Louis Rosenberg Distinguished Service Award winner in 2018, also discusses his circuitous path into Canadian Jewish studies, and the state of the field. 

Please visit the website of the Association for Canadian Jewish Studies to learn more about its work, how it supports the research and study of Canadian Jewish life, and how you can contribute. The entire catalogue of Canadian Jewish Studies / Études juives canadiennes, an interdisciplinary, peer-reviewed journal devoted to original scholarship that illuminates the Canadian Jewish experience, is free to read online. The Association for Canadian Jewish Studies is based at the Israel and Golda Koschitzky Centre for Jewish Studies at York University, in Toronto, ON. 

For updates on the goings-on of the Association for Canadian Jewish Studies and Canadian Jewish Studies, sign-up for the ACJS's newsletter. If you have comments or thoughts about our podcast, please email us at acjs@yorku.ca 

Over the past couple of years, no scholar has tried to understand what makes Canadian Jews tick with greater energy and enthusiasm than the sociologist Robert Brym. Since publishing his groundbreaking post-October 7 report, "Jews and Israel 2024: A Survey of Canadian Attitudes and Jewish Perceptions," in the spring of 2024, Brym has gone on to produce similarly pioneering research on Jewish intermarriage and continuity; visible, Indigenous, and gender minorities within Canadian Jewry; and antisemitism in Ontario's K-12 school system, among other topics.

Brym's fascination with the sociology of Canadian Jewry dates back decades, and for his larger body of work the Association for Canadian Jewish Studies awarded him its Louis Rosenberg Distinguished Service Award in 2025. In this episode, Brym reflects on his recent findings with host Jonathan Slater while looking ahead to even more vital contributions, including a study on Jewish voting patterns in the 2025 Canadian federal election, coming out in the months ahead. 

Please visit the website of the Association for Canadian Jewish Studies to learn more about its work, how it supports the research and study of Canadian Jewish life, and how you can contribute. The entire catalogue of Canadian Jewish Studies / Études juives canadiennes, an interdisciplinary, peer-reviewed journal devoted to original scholarship that illuminates any and all aspects of the Canadian Jewish experience, is free to read online. The Association for Canadian Jewish Studies is based at the Israel and Golda Koschitzky Centre for Jewish Studies at York University, in Toronto, ON. 

For updates on the goings-on of the Association for Canadian Jewish Studies and Canadian Jewish Studies, sign-up for the ACJS's newsletter. If you have comments or thoughts about our podcast, please email us at acjs@yorku.ca.

In this special episode, host Jonathan Slater passes the microphone to historian David S. Koffman, the J. Richard Shiff Chair for the Study of Canadian Jewry, for a solo reading of his excellent essay, "Two Inward Turns: Canadian Jews Since Multiculturalism, Since October 8, and Since Trump's Annexationist Threat," which appeared in the summer 2025 volume of Sources: A Journal of Jewish Ideas, published by the Shalom Hartman Institute. 

We want to express our gratitude to the Shalom Hartman Institute for helping us bring David's words from the page to the podcast, and give thanks in particular to Claire Sufrin, director of research and publication at SHI-North America and editor-in-chief of Sources, who joins us on the show to introduce David's work. We also thank Karen Kollins, the Shalom Hartman Institute's Canada director and the lead on its Courageous Leadership Canada program, for which the germ of this essay was created.

You can read David's essay here in the summer 2025 volume of Sources.   

This episode was produced and edited by Theadora Draper. Original music is by J. K. Bradley. Our executive producers are Joshua Tapper and David Koffman.  

Please visit the website of the Association for Canadian Jewish Studies to learn more about its work, how it supports the research and study of Canadian Jewish life, and how you can contribute. The entire catalogue of Canadian Jewish Studies / Études juives canadiennes, an interdisciplinary, peer-reviewed journal devoted to original scholarship that illuminates any and all aspects of the Canadian Jewish experience, is free to read online. The Association for Canadian Jewish Studies is based at the Israel and Golda Koschitzky Centre for Jewish Studies at York University, in Toronto, ON. 

For updates on the goings-on of the Association for Canadian Jewish Studies and Canadian Jewish Studies, sign-up for the ACJS's newsletter. If you have comments or thoughts about our podcast, please email us at acjs@yorku.ca.

Ruth Panofsky, a writer, literary scholar, and professor of English at Toronto Metropolitan University, sits down with host Jonathan Slater to examine the making of renowned Canadian Jewish writer Helen Weinzweig's seminal 1989 short story "My Mother's Luck." Working with material from Weinzweig's estate and the author's papers at the University of Toronto's Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, Ruth traces the story's evolution and examines Weinzweig's writing process in volume 40 of Canadian Jewish Studies / Études juives canadiennes. Ruth and Jonathan chat about how a scholar navigates the archive of a writer, Weinzweig's fascination with biography and her distinctive authorial voice, and her legacy as a Canadian Jewish woman writer. 

Click here to read Ruth's essay, along with recently unearthed early drafts of "My Mother's Luck." The entire volume is free to read on our website. 

This episode was produced and edited by Theadora Draper. Original music is by J. K. Bradley. Our executive producers are Joshua Tapper and David Koffman.  

Please visit the website of the Association for Canadian Jewish Studies to learn more about its work, how it supports the research and study of Canadian Jewish life, and how you can contribute. The entire catalogue of Canadian Jewish Studies / Études juives canadiennes, an interdisciplinary, peer-reviewed journal devoted to original scholarship that illuminates any and all aspects of the Canadian Jewish experience, is free to read online. The Association for Canadian Jewish Studies is based at the Israel and Golda Koschitzky Centre for Jewish Studies at York University, in Toronto, ON. 

For updates on the goings-on of the Association for Canadian Jewish Studies and Canadian Jewish Studies, sign-up for the ACJS's newsletter. If you have comments or thoughts about our podcast, please email us at acjs@yorku.ca.

In this episode we speak with Miriam Borden, a doctoral candidate in Yiddish studies at the University of Toronto and contributor to the summer 2024 volume of Canadian Jewish Studies / Études juives canadiennes, which is devoted entirely to the field of Jewish education. Miram chats with host Jonathan Slater about her article, "Joshua, King David, and the Flying Nun: Doodles and Reader Annotations in Post-Holocaust Yiddish Primers for Children," which unpacks what the (often vulgar) marginalia that kids left behind in those textbooks reveals about the relationship between the Yiddish language and Jewish identity in a postwar Canadian context. 

Click here to read Miriam's essay. The entire summer 2024 volume is free to read on our website.

This episode was produced and edited by Michelle Chang. Original music is by J. K. Bradley. Our executive producers are Joshua Tapper and David Koffman.  

Please visit the website of the Association for Canadian Jewish Studies to learn more about its work, how it supports the research and study of Canadian Jewish life, and how you can contribute. The entire catalogue of Canadian Jewish Studies, an interdisciplinary, peer-reviewed journal devoted to original scholarship that illuminates any and all aspects of the Canadian Jewish experience, is free to read online. The Association for Canadian Jewish Studies is based at the Israel and Golda Koschitzky Centre for Jewish Studies at York University, in Toronto, ON. 

For updates on the goings-on of the Association for Canadian Jewish Studies and Canadian Jewish Studies, sign-up for the ACJS's newsletter. If you have comments or thoughts about our podcast, please email us at acjs@yorku.ca.

"If you have not been to Łódź you cannot imagine its texture, the strange uniqueness of its streetscape...."

In this episode we speak with Norman Ravvin, writer, literary scholar, Concordia University professor, and contributor to the fall 2024 volume of Canadian Jewish Studies / Études juives canadiennes. Norm discusses with host Jonathan Slater his essay, "City, Writer, Conference: A Chava Rosenfarb Conference in Łódź, Poland, October 2023," a moving on-the-ground report from Łódź, where he attended a centennial conference devoted to the Canadian Yiddish writer Chava Rosenfarb, who was born in the city.

Click here to read Norm's essay. The entire volume is free to read on our website.

This episode was produced and edited by Michelle Chang. Original music is by J. K. Bradley. Our executive producers are Joshua Tapper and David Koffman.  

Please visit the website of the Association for Canadian Jewish Studies to learn more about its work, how it supports the research and study of Canadian Jewish life, and how you can contribute. The entire catalogue of Canadian Jewish Studies, an interdisciplinary, peer-reviewed journal devoted to original scholarship that illuminates any and all aspects of the Canadian Jewish experience, is free to read online. The Association for Canadian Jewish Studies is based at the Israel and Golda Koschitzky Centre for Jewish Studies at York University, in Toronto, ON. 

For updates on the goings-on of the Association for Canadian Jewish Studies and Canadian Jewish Studies, sign-up for the ACJS's newsletter. If you have comments or thoughts about our podcast, please email us at cjeditor@yorku.ca. 

In this episode we speak with Daniel Held, co-editor of the special summer 2024 volume of Canadian Jewish Studies / Études juives canadiennes, which dives into the many varieties of Jewish education in Canada, past, present, and future. Dan, the chief program officer for the United Jewish Appeal of Greater Toronto and executive director of the Julia and Henry Koschitzky Centre for Jewish Education, discusses current trends challenging Jewish educational institutions and programs and shares his vision for how Jewish education can continue to flourish in Canada. 

Click here to read Dan's co-authored introduction to the volume. The entire volume is free to read on our website.

This episode was produced and edited by Michelle Chang. Original music is by J. K. Bradley. Our executive producers are Joshua Tapper and David Koffman.  

Please visit the website of the Association for Canadian Jewish Studies to learn more about its work, how it supports the research and study of Canadian Jewish life, and how you can contribute. The entire catalogue of Canadian Jewish Studies, an interdisciplinary, peer-reviewed journal devoted to original scholarship that illuminates any and all aspects of the Canadian Jewish experience, is free to read online. The Association for Canadian Jewish Studies is based at the Israel and Golda Koschitzky Centre for Jewish Studies at York University, in Toronto, ON. 

For updates on the goings-on of the Association for Canadian Jewish Studies and Canadian Jewish Studies, sign-up for the ACJS's newsletter. If you have comments or thoughts about our podcast, please email us at cjeditor@yorku.ca. 

Welcome to Tête-à-tête: Conversations in Canadian Jewish Studies, a new podcast from the Association for Canadian Jewish Studies. Join host Jonathan Slater, an emeritus professor of communications based in Montreal, each month for incisive and thought-provoking conversations with scholars, journalists, curators, and more, whose work fills the pages of the ACJS's flagship journal, Canadian Jewish Studies / Études juives canadiennes. 

Please visit the website of the Association for Canadian Jewish Studies to learn more about its work and how it supports the research and study of Canadian Jewish life. The entire catalogue of Canadian Jewish Studies, an interdisciplinary, peer-reviewed journal devoted to original scholarship that illuminates any and all aspects of the Canadian Jewish experience, is free to read online. The Association for Canadian Jewish Studies is based at the Israel and Golda Koschitzky Centre for Jewish Studies at York University, in Toronto, ON. 

For updates on the goings-on of the Association for Canadian Jewish Studies and Canadian Jewish Studies, sign-up for the ACJS's newsletter. 

Credits:

Host: Jonathan Slater

Producer/Editor: Michelle Chang

Music: J. K. Bradley

Executive Producers: Joshua Tapper and David S. Koffman

In 2025, the Azrieli Foundation's landmark Holocaust Survivor Memoirs Program (HSMP) celebrated its twentieth year in existence. To mark the occasion, the journal Canadian Jewish Studies / Études juives canadiennes brought together six scholars, along with HSMP managing editor Arielle Berger, for a robust conversation that reflects on the educational, cultural, and moral legacy of the program. 

On this episode of Tête-à-tête, host Jonathan Slater sits down with two of those scholars, Carson Phillips and Sara R. Horowitz, for a discussion about their deep involvement with the Holocaust Survivor Memoirs Program over the years, and how the HSMP captures the dynamic interplay between survivor testimony, translation practices, Holocaust education, and public memory in the Canadian context.

This episode was produced and edited by Theadora Draper. Original music is by J. K. Bradley. Our executive producers are Joshua Tapper and David Koffman.  

Please visit the website of the Association for Canadian Jewish Studies to learn more about its work, how it supports the research and study of Canadian Jewish life, and how you can contribute. The entire catalogue of Canadian Jewish Studies / Études juives canadiennes, an interdisciplinary, peer-reviewed journal devoted to original scholarship that illuminates the Canadian Jewish experience, is free to read online. The Association for Canadian Jewish Studies is based at the Israel and Golda Koschitzky Centre for Jewish Studies at York University, in Toronto, ON. 

For updates about the Association for Canadian Jewish Studies, sign up for the ACJS's newsletter. If you have comments or thoughts about our podcast, please email us at acjs@yorku.ca.

Political extremist, fascist agitator, marginal crank? Adrien Arcand, the Montreal-based journalist and publicist, was one of mid-twentieth-century Canada's most notorious antisemites. Known as the "Canadian Führer," Arcand has long been viewed, in scholarship and public memory, as the leading exemplar of Quebec antisemitism from the 1930s through the 1950s, and one of the greatest ontological threats to Jewish life in Canada in those decades.

But what do we actually know about Arcand's influence? Tyler Wentzell, a historian of far-right extremism in Canada, takes up this question in a forum published in the fall 2025 volume of Canadian Jewish Studies / Études juives canadiennes. In "Rethinking Adrien Arcand in Historical Context," Wentzell looks specifically at Arcand's reception in English-language newspapers from 1929-1940; his collaborators in the forum, the historians Pierre Anctil and Simon-Pierre Lacasse, examine the Montreal Yiddish press and postwar Quebec's Catholic hierarchy, respectively.

In this episode, Wentzell sits down with host Jonathan Slater to discuss one of the forum's guiding questions: What does a history of Arcand that looks beyond his inflammatory words and activities, to how he was received (and challenged) in French-Catholic, Jewish, and English Canadian communities, tell us about the history of hate in Canada and the ways in which diverse groups have found solidarity in confronting extremism?

Click here to read "Rethinking Adrien Arcand in Historical Context." You can also read the forum, in complete French translation as "Repenser Adrien Arcand dans son context historique," here. Also check out Wentzell's related article, "Scenes of Berlin: Fascism and Anti-Fascism in Toronto during the Summer of 1938," published in CJS / Éjc in spring 2023. 

This episode was produced and edited by Theadora Draper. Original music is by J. K. Bradley. Our executive producers are Joshua Tapper and David Koffman.  

Please visit the website of the Association for Canadian Jewish Studies to learn more about its work, how it supports the research and study of Canadian Jewish life, and how you can contribute. The Association for Canadian Jewish Studies is based at the Israel and Golda Koschitzky Centre for Jewish Studies at York University, in Toronto, ON. 

For updates about the Association for Canadian Jewish Studies, sign up for its newsletter. If you have comments or thoughts about our podcast, please email us at acjs@yorku.ca.