Even CANADA Has an Antisemitism Problem, Shopify President Harley Finkelstein

Shopify President, Harley Finkelstein joins us in the studio this week on Being Jewish with Jonah Platt, to discuss Jewish pride, antisemitism in Canada, Holocaust survivors, entrepreneurship & building a $380B e-commerce empire. A special thanks to our partner this week http://Hadassah.org Jonah sits down with Harley Finkelstein — President of Shopify, Jewish entrepreneur, Holocaust survivor grandchild, and one of Canada's most prominent Jewish voices — for a conversation about what it means to be loudly and proudly Jewish in today's world. Harley opens up about his family's journey from surviving the Holocaust and fleeing Soviet-occupied Hungary, to losing everything after 9/11, to building one of the most powerful e-commerce companies on the planet. He shares the two pivotal moments that transformed him from a quiet Jewish business leader into a fierce, public advocate for Jewish identity — including protesters storming his Big Shot podcast recording and disrupting the dedication of the Finkelstein Chabad Center in Ottawa, which he promised a rabbi he would build 18 years earlier. They discuss antisemitism rising in Canada and across the world, the power of being visible as a Jewish leader, why staying "below the radar" no longer works, and what's changed under Prime Minister Mark Carney. Harley also shares the surprisingly romantic story of meeting his wife Lindsay at Chabad speed dating, why he's inspired by his 93-year-old Holocaust survivor grandparents who are still madly in love, and how Shopify went from store #136 to processing $380 billion in commerce in 2025. Harley also breaks down his podcast Big Shot — an archive and celebration of Jewish entrepreneurship — and why he believes now is the most important time to be loud, visible, and unapologetically Jewish. 00:00 - Meet Harley Finkelstein 05:12 - Two Incidents That Changed Everything 08:25 - Response to the National Post Op-Ed 09:15 - Feeling Antisemitism for the First Time 12:49 - Advocating to Canadian Politicians 15:07 - Jews Under Carney vs. Trudeau 17:26 - The Shopify Boycott 19:20 - Jewish Business Leaders: Show Up or Stay Silent? 22:42 - Loud Philanthropy & the Power of Leverage 27:34 - Meeting His Wife at Chabad Speed Dating 32:11 - What Is Shopify? 37:33 - Big Shot Podcast: The Origin Story 47:00 - Grit: The Jewish Entrepreneur's Secret Follow Harley Finkelstein On Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/harley/ The Big Shot Show is on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/bigshotshow/ On YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@bigshotpodcast/videos Jonah Platt and Harley Finkelstein discuss: - His published an op-ed in the National Post about rising antisemitism in Canada - Meeting Shopify founder Tobi Lutke at a Saturday entrepreneur coffee group - Finkelstein advocates loudly for visible Jewish philanthropy, arguing that public giving creates a "flywheel" of inspiration - Finkelstein and David Siegel co-founding Fire Belly Tea - Figures who inspired him like Jerry Schwartz and Izzy Sharp. - His optimism for AI and technology - Meeting his wife Lindsay Taub, and his view on her being a partner in life - Why he does the Big Shot podcast - Being in a public role and the responsibility that comes with that - The importance of Jewish advocacy and leading by example #HarleyFinkelstein #Shopify #BeingJewish #JonahPlatt #JewishPride #Antisemitism #JewishEntrepreneur #Holocaust #ShopifyPresident #JewishIdentity #CanadianJews