In the aftermath of Oct. 7, Canada's broadly left-wing literary community took aim at the Giller Prize, Canada's foremost award for fiction, for its title sponsorship coming from Scotiabank. The financial institution, they have argued, has millions of dollars invested in an Israeli arms dealer—leading to backlash from pro-Palestinian writers who began boycotting the Giller for taking $100,000 as prize money, withdrawing as entrants and judges.

The controversy has taken a lengthy, convoluted road since then, involving past winners speaking out critically of the Giller Prize; Elana Rabinovitch—the executive director of the prize and daughter of its founder—taking to traditional and social media to defend her organization's actions; and various half-measures by Scotiabank and Giller that have decreased (but not eliminated) their association with the Middle East conflict. Meanwhile, the competition is still going on, with a winner set to be announced on Nov. 18.

With Avi Finegold in Canada this week, he joins his Bonjour Chai co-host, Phoebe Maltz Bovy, in her living room to unpack this mess and discuss whether the criticism is legitimate or yet another example of antisemitism, framing big-money Jews as string-pulling villains.

They're joined by Michael Inzlicht, a professor of psychology at the University of Toronto and writer of the newsletter Speak Now Regret Later, who also happens to live in Phoebe's neighbourhood of Roncesvalles. Their community has seen a surge of pro-Palestinian signs in storefront windows over the past year, prompting the question: What do you do when controversial geopolitics come to your local coffee shop?

Credits

• Hosts: Avi Finegold and Phoebe Maltz Bovy (@BovyMaltz)
• Production team: Michael Fraiman (producer), Zachary Kauffman (editor)
• Music: Socalled

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With the U.S. election less than a week away, the hosts of Bonjour Chai are turning their attention south with a comprehensive pre-election primer. Pollsters tend to lump Jewish voters together in a bloc, but there are different priorities for Jewish communities across the United States—and Jewish residents of certain swing states, namely Pennsylvania, are seeing the brightest spotlight this year.

Besides, there are issues on the ballot beyond antisemitism and relations with Israel. Affordability, the economy and religious issues such as abortion rights all figure into Jewish voting patterns. Does Vice-President Kamala Harris's Jewish husband tip the scales? Do former president Donald Trump's Jewish daughter and son-in-law? How did Oct. 7 change things? Or does none of that matter in a presidential election that could be won more on vibes than facts?

To answer some of these questions, we're joined by William D. Adler, an associate professor at Northeastern Illinois University who specializes in American political development and the presidency.

Credits

• Hosts: Avi Finegold and Phoebe Maltz Bovy (@BovyMaltz)
• Production team: Michael Fraiman (producer), Zachary Kauffman (editor)
• Music: Socalled

Support The CJN

• Subscribe to the Bonjour Chai Substack
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• Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt)
• Subscribe to Bonjour Chai (Not sure how? Click here)

During our extended break for the High Holidays, we're bringing Bonjour Chai subscribers something different.

Sukkot is described as the holiday of joy—a time when the Israelites would gather together as one people in the temple to worship and to rejoice. The easy thing this year would be to say that we hope that we will be able to rejoice with everyone in sukkot, including all the returned hostages and all the soldiers home from the front. The truth is obviously more complicated, and one of things Avi keeps returning to is the complicated composition of world Jewry today.

That complicated relationship was what prompted him to write an extended piece in The CJN Magazine about the nature of Zionism and Jews' relationship to Israel and Zionism today, entitled, "What Do We Mean by Zion?" Today's podcast is an audio version of that article. Hopefully the joy this Sukkot is one of unity among Jews who once saw themselves far apart from those who they disagree with.

Credits

• Hosts: Avi Finegold and Phoebe Maltz Bovy (@BovyMaltz)
• Production team: Michael Fraiman (producer), Zachary Kauffman (editor)
• Music: Socalled

Support The CJN

• Subscribe to the Bonjour Chai Substack
• Subscribe to The CJN newsletter
• Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt)
• Subscribe to Bonjour Chai (Not sure how? Click here)