The Jewish Entrepreneurial Spirit

"[The Big Shot podcast is] an archive and celebration of Jewish entrepreneurs who took risks, overcame the odds and created legendary businesses that changed the game." 

"We're proud Jews, who want to celebrate our culture and show the world how much they can gain from our experiences."

"That's what Big Shot is all about."

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

Big Shot co-host David Segal, Jewish entrepreneur, David's Tea

"[The episode 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]."

"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."

"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."

Harley Finkelstein, CEO, founder Shopify e-commerce company

Heather Reisman, founder and CEO Indigo Books and Music, interviews with Shopify president Harley Finkelstein and David Segal, an entrepreneur, during a live-taping of their podcast Big Shot on July 12, 2024 at Startupfest in Montreal. Photo by Izzy Salant.

 

Nothing shy and retiring of people whose bold enterprise, innovative spirit and willingness to gamble on the potential of ideas whose creative function represents their future success in establishing companies offering unique services that will become popular with the consuming public and eventually skyrocket them to success, fame, and corporate wealth. Providing a public service of great acclaim and in so doing benefiting society through their services.

Jews, particularly successful, enterprising members of the Jewish community, are not given to ostentation nor to kvelling triumphantly in public about their level of success. Put it down to a genetic memory when in ages past and in fact to the present, popular rumour would have it that all Jews are wealthy, pushy, scheming and money-mad. When it was obvious that to be too visible was to invite lashback, resulting in anger, jealousy, threats and violence. Out of sight, out of mind.

Even out of sight, if you're a Jew,  unfortunately, you're never out of mind of the members of a public that subscribe to antisemitic propaganda. At one time, public authority figures commonly used the Jewish presence as a handy scapegoat, convincing their public that it is the Jews that are responsible for everything that goes wrong, diverting attention from their poor governance to old canards victimizing Jews. 

 

At the present time, with antisemitism skyrocketing, that ancient racist hatred feeds on itself as it escalates -- and governments who pledge equality among their populations, don't need to inspire hatred; they just ignore it, if it's Jews that are the target. Jews were the target of the Palestinian terrorist gangs that flooded into Israel on October 7 to indulge in a chaotic melee of torture, rape, mutilation, mass murder and hostage-taking. Palestinian sympathizers and  Islamists have, since then, demonized Israel and Jews internationally, setting a standard for maleficent slander.

On July 12, a Montreal gathering called Startupfest, with hundreds of venture capitalists and entrepreneurs in attendance, greeted guest Heather Reisman, founder and CEO of Indigo Books and Music as she spoke of her three-decade-old bookstore chain to the conference of 400 attendees. A man interrupted the taping after 20 minutes to shout at her the accusation of "funding a genocide" against Palestinians. 

 

He was stopped by a security officer as he attempted to rush the stage. The heckler claimed he had been assaulted when the security guard tackled him to arrest his intention.

 

On the 85th anniversary of Kristalnaucht, Indigo books was vandalized by protesters who claim it has connections to Israel. Photo by Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center (posted on X)

Months ago an Indigo downtown Toronto store was vandalized with the same charges of 'funding a genocide' levelled against Reisman by a group of employees of York University and a York sociology professor. Jews make easy targets for bigoted racists. Latent antisemitism in a civilized society is easily rekindled by inciters who infiltrate society in the form of Islamists who have migrated to Canada through immigration, study visas or illegal entry as economic migrants whose focus is slandering Israel and Jews, boosted by the October 7 Palestinian terrorist attack on southern Israel.

"Do you want to know the truth?", Reisman shot back as the man was being escorted out of the chamber. "The truth is we fund education for kids without parents." Following the production, Reisman explained her invitation to the protester to engage was based on the fact that he was "spouting something that wasn't true. I'd rather engage with people. Maybe you bring a few people around [to reason]".