Proud Jews 'have gone into their shells' since October 7, Shopify president says after Montreal protest (2024)

An anti-Israel protester disrupted a podcast hosted by the Jewish president of Shopify, to accuse a Jewish guest, who wasn’t talking about Israel, of supporting genocide.

Harley Finkelstein — of the $81.86 billion Ottawa-based e-commerce company Shopify—and his Big Shot co-host David Segal, a Jewish entrepreneur, were conducting a live taping of the podcast on July 12 in Montreal at Startupfest, a gathering of hundreds of entrepreneurs and venture capitalists.

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Their guest was Heather Reisman, founder and CEO of Indigo Books and Music, who told the story of her nearly 30-year-old book chain to about 400 people at the conference.

Some 20 minutes into the taping, a man screamed at her, accused her of “funding a genocide” against Palestinians and tried to rush the stage. A security officer tackled the man, who claimed that he was being assaulted.

As some audience members appeared uncomfortable, Reisman held her composure and invited dialogue with him.

“Do you want to know the truth?” she asked. The man screamed back that he did, as he was escorted out of the room.

“The truth is we fund education for kids without parents,” she told the audience to applause.

“Can we do more live tapings?” Finkelstein quipped, after the dust had settled. The audience laughed.

After the show concluded, Reisman spoke with JNS as she left the convention center. She said that invited the protester to engage, because he was “spouting something that wasn’t true.”

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“I’d rather engage with people,” she said. “Maybe you bring a few people around.”

The Big Shot podcast, per its website, is “an archive and celebration of Jewish entrepreneurs who took risks, overcame the odds and created legendary businesses that changed the game.”

The podcast’s about page makes no mention of Israel.

“We’re proud Jews, who want to celebrate our culture and show the world how much they can gain from our experiences,” Segal told JNS. “That’s what Big Shot is all about.”

Finkelstein told JNS that the episode that was live-taped at the conference “was a celebration of someone that started from humble beginnings in Montreal and created one of the most iconic companies in Canada.”

That setting “wasn’t the right venue” for a protest, he told JNS.

“It also had nothing to do with Israel,” Segal said.

After October 7, the podcast has felt “more important than ever,” according to Finkelstein.

“A lot of proud Jews have gone into their shells a little bit and are not necessarily as proud and as vocal. That’s not who we are,” Finkelstein told JNS. “We are proud of who we are. We are proud of what we built. And I think Big Shot is a celebration of these stories now more than ever before.”

“Big shot is about reminding people of all that they can learn from Jewish culture, just like we can learn from all cultures,” Segal added. “This happens to be our culture, and we want to share it with everyone.”

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