A lot of gentiles tell Jews who are concerned about antisemitism that we're shutting down criticism of Israel by crying antisemitism. Most of the time, it's more that we're asking you to take a breath and *learn* how antisemitism manifests before you speak so that you don't fall into it when you do.

I rewatched SYRIANA the other day for the first time in ages and I know it's a cynical movie that's got a lot going on, especially on first viewing, but, holy cow, it has not aged poorly, folks.

In case you missed it or need some weekend reading, please feel free to check out my piece in The CJN about the past couple of years of (gestures vaguely) this stuff. thecjn.ca/opinion/pers...

This a great interview. I mentioned elsewhere that I went to school and synagogue with Rabbi Gruschow and it is terrible to heat about the attack on her synagogue but great to hear her moral clarity and leadership.

I don't do as much writing as I used to but I'm very appreciate that @thecjn.bsky.social has published some thoughts I've been kicking around for some time about what a lot of Toronto-area Jews have been enduring in recent years. thecjn.ca/opinion/pers...

The 747 once symbolized glamor, innovation, and populism. Today, flying is “disappointing at best, and inhumane at worst,” Ian Bogost writes. He reports on the slow death of the 747—and the end of an era of American culture:

Hot take incoming from Rick Salutin in the Star! Basically: if our democratic allies have nuclear weapons, it's only reasonable to think that our terrorist enemies should too. www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...

I went to see Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish. It's great! You should go, if you can. But FYI, there were police outside and metal detectors inside, unlike every theatre production in this city that isn't so Jewish. I think we're teetering on the edge.

It's still a few weeks away got my birthday afternoon plans locked.

I've had issues with how the Globe has dealt with antisemitism, including platforming problematic writers, but their Editorial Board has written several strong pieces and this is one of the strongest. Its a shame the PM didn't ask their advice.

My piece on this is here: open.substack.com/pub/joshyuni...

The replies here are fucking rancid.

Amazing self-ownage here as the PM talks about antisemitism and literally made no mention of Israel and yet every response from the "antizionism is not antisemitism! "crowd to this post mentions Israel (which, to reiterate, has nothing to do with this speech).

Not on the front page of the website and "below the fold" (ie you have to scroll down) on the "Canada" sub page. Given how little the PM ultimately said, this is probably a fair placement of the story.

About six weeks ago, the Senate of Canada released a thorough report on antisemitism. I only mention it because, despite this much ballyhooed speech, there is no evidence the Prime Minister is aware of it or its 22 recommendations for actually confronting antisemitism. sencanada.ca/content/sen/...

They’re doing a reading of the unproduced Slings and Arrows prequel pilot at the Stratford Festival on July 26. All my passions combined!

If memory serves, the last 2 Jays games I attended were ALDS Game 2 and Canada Day 2025, making this my third straight game in which someone hit a grand slam.

I've known for years that this was a Jewish charity,though it's true they're not forthright about it and you have to dig on their website to see it. Still, this "joke" makes clear that that the current "scandal" is really only newsworthy in the context of the ongoing normalization of antisemitism.

Missing girl in Toronto. www.cp24.com/video/2026/0...

There are about 3M people who live in Toronto. There are more than 5M people living in Peel, York, Niagara Halton and Durham Regions facing a form of disenfranchisement by this antidemocratic move. That's nearly 1/3 of the Province's population. It should be a huge story, of concern to everyone.

Trying to watch the Blue Jays game and I keep getting distracted by the guy behind home who likes like Doug Ford wearing a cartoon elephant tshirt.

And it's been another busy day for this guy, pivoting from antisemitic attacks being false flags to being real but justifiable. Calls people "pathetic" and makes jokes about toy guns being used against Jews, as rabbis are wont to do. 🌲 #cantstopwontstop

This is a really good interview and it will be interesting to see if a reasonable discourse actually takes place regarding the stuff discussed around the halfway mark

Hey, Rego Park is where Art Spiegelnan interviews his father in the "present day" sections of Maus.

It's still on Amazon Prime in Canada but starting with "33." I still have my DVDs but I don't know how you otherwise see the ministries first which you kind of need to, I think?

My sister wanted to get a puppy to cheer up her daughter and bought one from someone who turns out to have a long history of selling sick dogs. This puppy had to be put to sleep within a week but it turns out that the breeder sold to the wrong mom. www.thestar.com/gift-redeem?...

The GTA's resident antizionist "Rabbi" is having a full-on meltdown about people saying shooting at Jews is bad, actually.

Tfw two Boston franchises get kicked out of the playoffs in one week.

Oh, it was just a replica gun? Then I guess it was only like a replica of a violent, antisemitic attack and Toronto's Jews remain as safe a they ever were!

In case you missed this… Raptors marching to game 7. #WeTheNorth is not gone yet.

Looking for this guy, in particular, who (allegedly) shot up this shul around the corner from my house, in which my daughter was bat mitzvahed.

Wait a sec. I need to know more about the connections between UJPO and Sharon, Lois and Bram.

There are those who will question the B'nai Brith stats but make no mistake. POLICE-REPORTED crimes compiled by Statscan show and indisputable increase in incidents over 5 years (300%) both as a % and in objective terms. Jews are 1% of the Canadian population. www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quo...

I'm guessing the number of 905 residents who can name their Regional Chair is ~10%. Even fewer know what they do or how much they make. Making them electable (as the Libs tried, too late) would have changed this. What the government is doing now exacerbates/exploits a serious democratic deficit.

It's hard to imagine that anyone who didn't much care about the first 15 or so synagogue attacks would start to care after this one, even if it's a slight nudge from shooting at buildings overnight to actually assaulting Jews on their way to pray.

Not that I'm keeping score but the synagogue attacks in the GTA have now racked up: -my childhood shul -the shul where I was married -the shul in which my daughter had her bat mitzvah Can't wait to see what's next! toronto.citynews.ca/2026/04/25/m...

Thanks to CBC News for making this public. It's scary this kid nearly murdered numerous Canadian Jews - not "Zionists" but JEWS - but also that prominent people, including the newly crowned federal NDP leader, repeatedly assert that Canadian Jews are completely safe. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

A sad serendipity to read this the same morning as this article in Judith Magazine, about independent bookstores, in Chicago. These are all the same stories about the same, damaged ecosystem. judithmagazine.substack.com/p/the-great-...

I'm not saying Cathal Kelly is wrong. But I would point out that last year he was positive (based on pretty much nothing) that Vlad Gurrero was leaving Toronto, just before he signed a $500m contract and the team went to the World Series. www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/artic...

Great @thestar.com piece on how 1063 Avenue Rd. in Toronto became the home and social hub of various people associated with “SCTV” and “Saturday Night Live.” www.thestar.com/entertainmen...

Personally, I don't care about soccer and I really don't care about the World Cup and technically I'm not even a Toronto taxpayer but, holy cow, what the city has given to FIFA to in exchange for 6 early round games is ridiculous. www.thestar.com/news/gta/tor...

This article is all sorts of yikes but I think my favourite part is this bit, which is basically the scene in MONEYBALL where David Justice realizes he has to pay for cans of pop in the clubhouse. Except the Leafs are not exactly one of the most cash-poor teams in the NHL.

You'd think that there can't be much more Holocaust stuff to see but until I saw Ken Burns' THE US AND THE HOLOCAUST I'd never seen this gut-punch footage of Capt. David Eichhorn leading the Torah service on shabbat for the liberated prisoners in Dachau. youtu.be/G-Ah-bdDWmg?...

One of the coolest gigs I had was running the Facebook side of the One Perfect Shot Account in the mid 2010s. I thought I lost my entire collection of film stills I shared, but just got a new device that somehow synced up to a really old account & I found them! Let’s kick things off. 1) VERTIGO

Flashing back to the 90s, when The Simpsons and a music called "grunge" were the hot, new things and erstwhile educator Mike Harris removed school board taxing powers, amalgamated boards,reduced the number of trustees, gutted salaries and reformed collective bargaining. Because it was common sense.

It's been a week in Ontario.

I'm not saying I've never made this mistake but in Judaism, days start at sunset ("... And there was evening, there was morning, the first day." etc) So, "this solemn day" is tomorrow; like celebrating Christmas on Dec. 24. Politicians should have staff to check this stuff.

Chairs aren't quite Uber-Mayors but they are key power brokers, even though they only vote to break ties on Council votes. Giving them Strong Mayor powers is fundamentally altering a job that's existed since the 1970s and the least the Province could do to justify it is make them electable.

I can't say I feel "safer" seeing cops stationed in my neighbourhood and going through multiple levels of security just to go to synagogue but it's good to hear that this has apparently resulted in something substantive.