The exodus from Forest Hill

The story of four Jewish kids who grew up and left Toronto.
Photo by SimonP, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

In Toronto’s Forest Hill neighbourhood, where Ralph grew up, there’s a certain expectation that Jewish kids will stay in the tight-knit community. But Ralph didn’t end up doing that—and neither did his three guests, each of whom moved to small communities across the country, from B.C. to Nova Scotia. In this episode, Ralph brings on three former classmates to talk about why they left the big city and what it’s like being Jewish far from their hometown.

Plus: Ralph gets some negative feedback on his last episode and confronts the listener face-to-face.

Yehupetzville is hosted by Ralph Benmergui. Michael Fraiman is the producer and editor. Our music was arranged by Louis Simão and performed by Louis Simão and Jacob Gorzhaltsan.

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