Kids are heading back to school in what may turn out to be another shaky semester, with the risk of virtual learning, school closures and mandatory vaccination policies for teachers hanging over students’ heads.

But there’s a positive side for Jewish parents and students: private Jewish education, which has generally been on a decline over the past two decades, saw an uptick during the pandemic, as more parents perhaps decided it was a safer, better organized route for kids studying from home.

Is this the beginning of a larger trend, or just a brief quirk in history? To help navigate the topic, we’re joined by Randal Schnoor, a sociologist and professor of Jewish Studies at York University.

Also: we catch up with political pundit Josh Lieblein to compare the Liberal and Conservative platforms vis-a-vis Israel and antisemitism, and announce a political debate hosted by The CJN and CIJA. Listeners can submit question we’ll ask the candidates at thecjn.ca/debate.

Credits

Bonjour Chai is hosted by Avi Finegold and Ilana Zackon. Michael Fraiman is the producer. Andrew 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. Find more great Jewish podcasts at thecjn.ca.