Welcome to The CJN’s first-ever Great Canadian Seder! In this super-special edition of our weekly current affairs podcast, Bonjour Chai, we bring you stories from 20 prominent Canadians about what Passover means to them.
Pull up a chair, break off some matzah and join us at the virtual seder table alongside Evan Solomon, Zach Hyman, Bob Rae, Ya’ara Saks, Melissa Lantsman, Nathan Englander, Lisa Rubin and a whole slew of rabbis, CJN podcasters and community leaders, swapping stories and reflecting on the meaning of freedom in these unique times. Listen and subscribe above.
Our guest list, in order of appearance:
- Ben Langer, family doctor, Sioux Lookout First Nations Health Authority
- Melissa Lantsman, Member of Parliament
- Anthony Housefather, Member of Parliament
- Ya’ara Saks, Member of Parliament
- Bob Rae, Canadian ambassador to the United Nations
- Irwin Cotler, Special Envoy on Preserving Holocaust Remembrance and Combatting Antisemitism
- Rabbi Robyn Fryer Bodzin, rabbi at Beth Tzedec Congregation
- Ralph Benmergui, host of Yehupetzville
- Rivka Campbell, host of Rivkush
- Ellin Bessner, host of The CJN Daily
- Gabe Pulver and James Hirsh, hosts of Menschwarmers
- Nathan Englander, author and storyteller
- Lisa Rubin, artistic and executive director of the Segal Centre for Performing Arts
- Zach Hyman, left wing for the Edmonton Oilers
- Ezra Shanken, CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver
- Evan Solomon, host of CTV’s Power Play and Question Period
- Rabbi Baruch Frydman-Kohl, rabbi emeritus at Beth Tzedec Congregation
- Rabbi Bluth, chief creative officer of Living Jewishly
- David Koffman, J. Richard Shiff Chair for the Study of Canadian Jewry at York University
- Selina Robinson, Minister of Finance of British Columbia
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.
