Tête-à-tête: Conversations in Canadian Jewish Studies

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.

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. 

"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.