Not That Kind of Rabbi
Award winning broadcaster Ralph Benmergui brings his passion and curiosity to a brand new podcast. ‘Not That Kind of Rabbi’ lets you see people you thought you knew and turns their story upside down by looking at them through a spiritual lens.
Listen to the latest episodes of Not That Kind of Rabbi:
'You can forgive and seek justice at the same time': Robert Enright on how to learn forgiveness
January 21, 2025
With the recent news of a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas and the eventual return of the remaining Israeli hostages, tensions remain high between pro- and anti-Zionist communities here in Canada, who've stood sharply divided on the foreign conflict for 15 months. Members of those communities may still be holding hatred or anger in […]
Gary Topp ushered Toronto into the cultural future—and he’s still making alternative history
January 13, 2025
Once upon a time, Toronto was a sleepy city. The atmosphere shut down at night. Red tape and cultural meekness kept things status quo. But through the 1970s and 1980s, the city's younger generations changed how things work—and one of the biggest players behind the scenes was Gary Topp. A music promoter and independent movie […]
How Choir! Choir! Choir! grew out of a living room gathering into 2,500 strangers singing Leonard Cohen's 'Hallelujah' in Montreal
December 23, 2024
On Oct. 9, around 2,500 strangers packed Montreal's Place des Arts concert hall to sing Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" in surprisingly perfect harmony. The melody was beautiful. In a video recording posted online, tears and smiles are visible as people sing out the familiar chorus. You could say it was a spiritual performance—unless you're Nobu Adilman, […]
Playwright Mark Leiren-Young explains why Shylock needed a revival in 2024
December 5, 2024
Mark Leiren-Young wrote Shylock in 1996, a play using Shakespeare's controversial Jewish character in The Merchant of Venice to explore modern-day cancel culture. While the script saw productions aorund the world, Leiren-Young was wary of giving the rights away too quickly, knowing it was complex, sensitive subject matter that required an intellectual approach. So when […]
Filmmaker Allan Novak turns the camera on his family: the oldest living Holocaust survivors in the world
November 20, 2024
Growing up, Allan Novak assumed his family was fairly ordinary: modest, witty, hardworking Jewish immigrants who found a new live in Canada after the war. That his mother was one of four sibling survivors was noteworthy, but the outside world did not take notice. That is, until the siblings all began reaching the age of […]