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: Ralph Benmergui
• Producer: Michael Fraiman
• Music: Yevhen Onoychenko

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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: Ralph Benmergui
• Producer: Michael Fraiman
• Music: Yevhen Onoychenko

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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: Ralph Benmergui
• Producer: Michael Fraiman
• Music: Yevhen Onoychenko

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Growing up in the Orthodox movement, Neshama Carlebach would hear it a lot: "It's a shame your father never had sons." The father in question, the acclaimed Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach, instead had two daughters—and the implication was that his legacy as a prolific songwriter, whose repertoire includes the popular 1965 folk anthem "Am Yisrael Chai", would die with him.

Neshama didn't let those comments stop her—in fact, the opposite became true. After growing up in Toronto, Neshama ended up following in her father's footsteps, first becoming an acclaimed singer, teacher and songwriter, and now embarking on a years-long journey to becoming a rabbi. Her theological studies changed tone after Oct. 7, sparking a new desire in her to be "a rabbi who fights" for her community. But what's remained consistent has been her stubborn defiance of societal expectations.

Neshama joins Ralph Benmergui on Not That Kind of Rabbi to discuss her life and music, and explain what it's like raising two sons to carry on the Carlebach legacy in an increasingly antisemitic world.

Credits

• Host: Ralph Benmergui
• Producer: Michael Fraiman
• Music: Yevhen Onoychenko

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In the aftermath of Oct. 7, Jesse Brown—who has risen to prominence as a media critic and muckraker with his Canadaland podcast and digital media company—once again stirred up controversy online. But it wasn't a big news investigation that sparked outrage; it was a series of posts about antisemitic attacks on Canadian Jewish-aligned institutions, from synagogues and community centres to bookstores owned by Jews.

Brown was shocked at the response he got from his own progressive supporters. As he saw it, he was doing what he'd always done: report in objective terms about the ongoing harassment of an ethnic minority on Canadian soil. But not everyone saw it that way. Every day, by the dozens, his supporters dropped off, boycotting him and pressuring his advertisers to do the same.

Ralph Benmergui invited Brown onto Not That Kind of Rabbi to hear what it's been like going through this public flogging—and also chat about the evolution of news media and where podcasting fits into everything.

Credits

• Host: Ralph Benmergui
• Producer: Michael Fraiman
• Music: Yevhen Onoychenko

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When Rabbi Victor Gross was looking for a home to grow his congregation in Boulder, CO, he knew he didn't want a dedicated building. It wasn't just the cost, but the environmental impact of operating a space that's only used a few hours a week. Instead, he looked for a church to rent out Friday evenings and Saturday mornings. He asked church leaders two questions: Was the church open and affirming to everyone? And could the churchgoers and clergy not proselytize to Jews?

After many honest rejections, they found a partner in a Lutheran church, establishing a concrete example of what's been dubbed "deep ecumenism". It's a level beyond interfaith work that sees members of different religious communities dialoguing, working together and praying in the same space—a true form of acceptance and tolerance.

This is just one way of drastically reimagining the future of not just Judaism, but all organized religions, as many synagogues shutter and congregations dwindle across the world. Rabbi Gross joins his former student, Ralph Benmergui, on Not That Kind of Rabbi to explain more about deep ecumenism and how religion can be used as a force of unity—rather than division.

Credits

• Host: Ralph Benmergui
• Producer: Michael Fraiman
• Music: Yevhen Onoychenko

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While Israel remains on the brink of war with Lebanon in the north, one of the country's most iconic sites—the famous Baha'i Gardens and shrine—sit less than an hour away. That a religion based on unity among humankind, which views all religions and tribes as branches from the same tree, should have its headquarters so close to a warzone is tragically ironic.

The irony is not lost on Mary Darling, a Canadian TV producer of Baha'i faith and longtime friend of Not That Kind of Rabbi host Ralph Benmergui. During these tense times, Ralph wanted to speak to spiritual people outside the Jewish community to learn their perspective on religion, peace and conflict. Can the world transition from creeping nationalism to a global community? Can the United Nations play a role in global governance? Or is all this just a cute idea from an offbeat peacenik group of people? Mary Darling joins to discuss the issue directly from Haifa, where she was visiting the Baha'i headquarters.

Credits

• Host: Ralph Benmergui
• Producer: Michael Fraiman
• Music: Yevhen Onoychenko

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Bernie Farber helped create the Canadian Anti-Hate Network (CAHN) in 2018, and sat as its founding chair until shortly after Oct. 7, 2023. The organization—which investigates, publicizes and works with journalists to report on hateful far-right extremist groups—was infamously silent in the weeks following the Hamas slaughter and kidnapping of 1,200 people in Israel, which sparked waves of antisemitic acts across Canada. It was around that time that Farber quietly stepped down as chair. Amid the tension and silence, many wondered how correlated the two events were.

Now, in a candid conversation with his old friend (and fellow progressive Jew) Ralph Benmergui on Not That Kind of Rabbi, Farber opens up about the real reason why he left CAHN. Further on, he reflects on decades of work educating non-Jewish communities about antisemitism and traces how progressive Jews and Zionists—once embraced and even looked up to by other minority and community organizations—came to be challenged and excluded from left-wing circles.

Credits

Not That Kind of Rabbi is hosted by Ralph Benmergui and produced by Michael Fraiman. We’re a member of The CJN Podcast Network. To support The CJN and receive a charitable tax receipt, please consider a monthly donation by clicking here.