Not That Kind of Rabbi

When Rabbi Natan Margalit looks at a dead tree on the ground he probably doesn't see what we see. He sees a divine spark of the creator. Everything, you see, is infused with that cosmic power. Reb Natan has a book out called the Pearl and the Flame. We had a great talk on this week's episode of NTKR. Have a listen.

There is, shall we say, a lot of turbulence in the Jewish world right now. Sometimes that turbulence becomes toxic and conversations are polarizing. One person who wants to change all that is the Executive Director of a progressive Jewish thought leadership and lobby group called Jspace. Her name is Maytal Kowalski and she joins me from Vancouver on Not That Kind of Rabbi.

Sometimes we see what our parents do and think that it would be a great idea to follow in their footsteps. Especially when they both chose the same profession. In this episode of Not That Kind of Rabbi I speak with a next generation Rabbi who did his best to resist the siren call of spiritual leadership. Didn't work. He's a Rabbi, but not that kind of Rabbi. Arik Labowitz is,and has been for a while, the Rabbi at Canada's largest Renewal Synagogue, Or Shalom.

On the latest episode of Not That Kind of Rabbi, Ralph talks to Rabbi, Zen practitioner and spiritual rascal Rabbi Rami Shapiro. Shapiro is the author of 36 books, his latest being Zen Mind--Jewish Mind. The Rabbi believes that everything is God. There is no outside or inside of the divine . The Divine is in everything , we just have to be available to experience it.

More Jewish couples are deciding to skip a ritual That has been a part of Jewih life for four thousand years. the Brit Milah. The circumcision of a male Jewish child at eight days old. Circumcision today has a scientific and a religious aspect. We'll explore those in this edition. of Not That Kind of Rabbi with my guest, a pediatric surgeon (retired) and a Mohel, Someone who performs circumcisions.

In this episode of Not That Kind of Rabbi, Ralph speaks with actor, director, producer, and playwright Saul Rubinek.

On this episode of Not That Kind of Rabbi, Ralph Benmergui speaks with neohasid.org founder and author of the book, Kabbalah and Ecology, Rabbi David Seidenberg, on how we can restore the spiritual bond with an earth based Judaism.

When Amichai Lau-Lavie realized he was gay, he knew he had to make a choice: hide his identity to abide by his Orthodox upbringing, or be true to himself. It wasn't an easy call for a man whose ancestors had been rabbis for generations—including his uncle and cousin, who both served as the Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel. Ultimately, Lau-Lavie decided to split the difference. As an out gay man, he became an Jewish leader, drag performer and rabbi, founding Lab/Shul—a "God-optional" experimental community for Jewish gathering—in New York City. Now, he's also the star of a documentary about his controversial career, Sabbath Queen, which is currently touring the American film festival circuit. If anyone is "not that kind of rabbi," it's Amichai Lau-Lavie—and he joins Ralph Benmergui this week on Not That Kind of Rabbi, a show about spirituality and personal journeys. Credits Host:Producer:Music: Support The CJN Subscribe to The CJN newsletterDonate to The CJNSubscribe to Not That Kind of RabbiClick here

Rabbi Aaron Rotenberg realized at a young age he was drawn to Jewish studies. After graduating from Jewish day schools around Toronto, he decided to attend the Jewish Theological Seminary, a Conservative rabbinical school in New York City, for five years—only to end up a Renewal rabbi years later, ordained just this month. As the spiritual leader of the Annex Shul in downtown Toronto—and one of a handful of Renewal rabbis in the city—his goal is to connect with younger audiences. That means leading unconventional services including music, dance parties and an emphasis on Earth-based Judaism. Just ahead of Tu b’Shevat, Rabbi Rotenberg sat down with Ralph Benmergui on Not That Kind of Rabbi for a lengthy discussion about the Renewal movement, eco-spirituality and the age-old relationship between Jews and the land. Credits Host:Producer:Music: Support The CJN Subscribe to The CJN newsletterDonate to The CJNSubscribe to Not That Kind of RabbiClick here

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 their hearts—leading to increased depression, anxiety and isolation. But according to Dr. Robert Enright, forgiveness is a choice rooted in mercy—and doesn't come at the expense of moral justice. As the co-founder of the International Forgiveness Institute, Enright has dedicated his career to studying forgiveness and the effects it has on the human brain and body. He joins Ralph Benmergui on the latest episode of Not That Kind of Rabbi. Credits Host:Producer:Music: Support The CJN Subscribe to The CJN newsletterDonate to The CJNSubscribe to Not That Kind of RabbiClick here

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 theatre operator, it was Topp—along with his colleague, Gary Cormier, together known as the Two Garys—who first brought and promoted The Ramones, The Police, Slayer and other countercultural icons to Canadians for the first time. Topp also began operating the Roxy Theatre, an art deco building on the Danforth, for punk concerts and movie screenings that wouldn't be shown anywhere else in the country. Last month, Topp's transformative career was printed in a coffee table book, He Hijacked My Brain: Gary Topp's Toronto, recalling legendary stories and performances from decades past. He joins his old friend Ralph Benmergui (who also grew up in Forest Hill, not far away) for a walk down memory lane in exploring his influence on the cultural fabric of the city—and what's changed in the music scene today. Credits Host:Producer:Music: Support The CJN Subscribe to The CJN newsletterDonate to The CJNSubscribe to Not That Kind of RabbiClick here

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, who co-organized the event, for whom this mass choir has always been about enjoying life. While people often feel tapped into a higher power, Adilman is more pragmatic about the whole thing. Adilman, along with his artistic partner, Daveed Goldman, founded the group Choir! Choir! Choir! in a living room more than a decade ago. The idea was simple: strangers singing songs together. Those first contributors had so much fun, Adilman and Goldman decided to keep it going. The group grew in popularity until they amassed hundreds of thousands of social media followers and tour dates that rack up hundreds, even thousands of paying attendees. And before all that, Adilman worked at CBC with a young Ralph Benmergui. Adilman reconnects with his old mentor on Not That Kind of Rabbi to discuss the origins of his hit group and the innate spirituality of music. Credits Host:Producer:Music: Support The CJN Subscribe to The CJN newsletterDonate to The CJNSubscribe to Not That Kind of RabbiClick here

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 he met the acclaimed actor Saul Rubinek, who proposed that Leiren-Young rewrite the script to tailor it to his own real life, Leiren-Young jumped at the chance. A fan of blending fact with fiction, the B.C.-based writer began researching Rubinek's life and updating the nearly 20-year-old script to match a post-pandemic view of what "cancel culture" really means. The result is Playing Shylock, running at Canadian Stage until Dec. 8 in Toronto. Leiren-Young sat down with his old friend Ralph Benmergui to discuss how this show came to life, what it was like creating the production during and after Oct. 7, and how he got his start in writing—including an early break writing an unconventional pacifist episode of the '90s CGI cartoon Beast Wars. Credits Host:Producer:Music: Support The CJN Subscribe to The CJN newsletterDonate to The CJNSubscribe to Not That Kind of RabbiClick here

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 100. Once international reporters and Holocaust foundations discovered the story of the world's oldest survivor siblings, Novak—a veteran director who worked with Canadian comedy icons in the 1980s and '90s—decided to turn the camera on his own family. The result is a 30-minute documentary called Crossing the River: From Poland to Paradise, featuring intimate and insightful interviews with his aunts, uncle and mother, the youngest of whom is 96-years-old. The film has been touring the festival circuit this year and is currently available on-demand. Novak sat down to share his family's remarkable story with his longtime friend and collaborator, Ralph Benmergui, on the latest episode of Not That Kind of Rabbi. Credits Host:Producer:Music: Support The CJN Subscribe to The CJN newsletterDonate to The CJNSubscribe to Not That Kind of RabbiClick here

Michael Coren has lived many lives. Born to a Jewish cab driver in England, Coren converted to Catholocism in the 1980s, then Evangelicalism in the '90s; he grew into a bombastic right-wing Christian talk radio and TV personality with shows on the Sun News Network and the Crossroads Television System; then he came back to embrace the Catholic Church, before finally leaving again to become not just an Anglican—but an Anglican priest. Coren's spiritual malleability—including open repentance for insulting comments he made about queer people decades ago, and the journey he's taken to fundamentally change various political opinions—is at the heart of his new memoir, Heaping Coals: From Media Firebrand to Anglican Priest, published in October 2024. In it, he recounts how he never considered how hard it was for his parents when he left his home country for Canada, and how his perspective on Christian values has changed, while the role of Christiandom has shifted in the broader Western world. Coren sits down with fellow former broadcaster Ralph Benmergui for a frank talk about his numerous mea culpas, handling backlash on social media and the profound difficulty in forgiveness. Credits Host:Producer:Music: Support The CJN Subscribe to The CJN newsletterDonate to The CJNSubscribe to Not That Kind of RabbiClick here

Both of Eva Almos's parents were Holocaust survivors. Her mother, from Lithuania, was a kind and gentle soul who went out of her way to uplift strangers and support her daughter. But her father was the opposite: a traditional Greek man with chauvinist ideas who was hardened by the horrors of the Holocaust. The duality sent Almos into therapy, where she spent years trying to piece herself together. All this time, she was making a career in the Los Angeles entertainment industry. She's worked on numerous cartoons from the 1980s to today, including Care Bears, Pinky and the Brain and the popular current PBS show Wild Kratts. But her latest project has a very different vibe. Almos voices numerous characters in The CJN's new original audio drama, Justice: A Holocaust Zombie Story, including a survivor whose voice she styled after her late mother. To explain more about her inspiration and life, Eva Almos sat down with her old friend Ralph Benmergui for a candid conversation about the impacts of generational trauma and the new zombie audio drama, available at thecjn.ca/zombies. Credits Host:Producer:Music: Support The CJN Subscribe to The CJN newsletterDonate to The CJNSubscribe to Not That Kind of RabbiClick here

Devon Spier has long COVID. The artist, poet and spiritual guide has spent days bedridden, feeling ill and angry at God. But that forced pause gave her time to reflect on her life, art and beliefs, and she began to realize more emphatically how God, for her, exists in liminal spaces—in the wilderness, in small moments of peace and beauty between devastation and pain. These thoughts led her to create a new exhibit that blends art, design, poetry and spirituality. "18 Plus One" is on display at the Gerrard Art Space in Toronto from Oct 2 - 9, ahead of a fuller exhibit at the JCC Ann Arbor in Michigan from December 2024 to February 2025. Spier joins Ralph Benmergui—who is, like Spier, also not a rabbi but kind of vaguely close to one—on Not That Kind of Rabbi for a fulsome conversation about artistic expression, humanistic empathy and the meaning of God. Credits Host:Producer:Music: Support The CJN Subscribe to The CJN newsletterDonate to The CJNSubscribe to Not That Kind of RabbiClick here