In less than two months on the job for Noah Shack, the interim CEO of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) has had to speak out after someone shot at a Jewish girls’ school in Toronto; decry a repeated arson attack on a Montreal-area synagogue; and oversee the response in Winnipeg after five swastikas were spray-painted on a community centre in a Jewish area during the final days of Hanukkah. But none of those moments marked his true national introduction, which came on Jan. 27, when he delivered a televised speech from Ottawa’s Holocaust monument as part of the official ceremony to mark the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.
Shack—who spent nearly 15 years working for CIJA in Ottawa and Toronto—has now risen to become the organization’s public face, following the exit of Shimon Koffler Fogel, who managed Jewish government relations in the capital for approximately 40 years.
Insiders have told The CJN that CIJA’s board wanted a change of leadership ahead of an expected change in government in the coming federal election. Shack is also clear that CIJA is eager to combat anti-Israel policies, such as federal funding for the UN-backed Palestinian relief agency UNRWA—but insists CIJA isn’t hitching its wagons to the Conservative party.
On today’s episode of The CJN Daily, Shack sits down with host Ellin Bessner to explain why he took the job, why he’s calling for unity among Canada’s Jewish organizations, and why he hopes Jews soon won’t need to think about fleeing Canada for their own safety.
Related links
- Read more about Noah Shack’s Holocaust survivor relatives, the late Zalman and Pola Pila, of Toronto, in The CJN.
- Read Shimon Fogel’s outlook for the Jewish community, in The CJN archives.
- Watch Shimon Fogel’s final testimony to the Canadian Senate about antisemitism, on Dec. 2, 2024.
Credits
- Host and writer: Ellin Bessner (@ebessner)
- Production team: Zachary Kauffman (producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer)
- Music: Dov Beck-Levine
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