Shopify President Harley Finkelstein & The Jews of Thessaloniki
4/28/20261 hr 17 min
He's worth hundreds of millions, runs one of Canada's most powerful companies, and he still gets antisemitic replies every Friday when he posts “Shabbat Shalom,” here's why he refuses to stop.
Shopify President Harley Finkelstein joins host Jonah Platt for a wide-ranging conversation about Jewish identity, antisemitism, entrepreneurship, and legacy. Finkelstein, a grandson of Holocaust survivors whose family fled Hungary during the Soviet crackdown of the 1950s, opens up about why he has grown increasingly vocal as a public Jewish figure in Canada, especially in the wake of October 7th. He recounts two pivotal incidents that motivated his public advocacy: protesters storming his Big Shot podcast recording at Startup Fest, and demonstrators disrupting his speech at the opening of the Finkelstein Chabad Center in Ottawa. He discusses his relationship with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, Shopify's massive e-commerce footprint (14% of all U.S. e-commerce), and his journey from being one of Shopify's first 136 merchants to its president. He also digs into Big Shot, his podcast with David Siegel that archives the stories of legendary Jewish entrepreneurs, from Charles Bronfman to Jeffrey Katzenberg, arguing that grit is the defining trait behind Jewish entrepreneurial success.
Plus, Jonah shares about his recent trip to Thessaloniki, Greece where he explored Jewish history.
Topics:
- 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
A special thanks to our partner this week - Hadassah.org
Donation Links:
Synagogue of the Monasteriotes (Thessaloniki)
The Jewish Community of Athens
Mentioned in the episode:
The Jews of Thessaloniki, a Once Great Jewish City
Sephardic Jews in Eastern Europe and Greece
The Route Saint Paul Followed In Greece
The Cooking Accident that Decimated a Jewish Community of 70,000
Aristotle University Built on The Ruins of Jewish Cemeteries
Jewish Federations’ National Young Leadership Cabinet
Jonah Describes “The Jeremiah Effect”
Ladino! Ron Eliran: Folk Songs for Sephardic Jews
How September 11 Affected the U.S. Stock Market
Harley Finkelstein weekly Shabbat Shalom post on X
Harley Finkelstein’s Article: Canadian Jews are being targeted simply because they are Jewish
Shopify President Makes Good on 18-Year-Old Promise to His Campus Rabbi
The Right Honorable Mark Carney, Prime Minister of Canada
Justin Trudeau | Former Prime Minister of Canada
Lindsay Taub (Harley Finkelstein’s spouse)
Charles Bronfman: A Lifetime of Giving
The Merchant Prince: The Man Behind The Gap, Old Navy, and J. Crew | Mickey Drexler
Deni Avdija becomes 1st Israeli named to NBA All-Star Game
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Written and Hosted by Jonah Platt, Executive Producers: Steve Hein, Jonah Platt, Chief Business Officer: Kenyon Laing, Chief Marketing Officer: Katya Chen, Production Manager/Executive Assistant: Josie Rothschild, Research Associate: Samantha Greenwald, Production Associates: Rachel Stern, Charlie Zuker, Production Interns: Sasha Nelson, Emma Webb, YouTube Consultants: Jason Al-Samarrie & Zac Stein, Post Production by TIMEWEAVER, Creative Director: F. Brian Scofield, ACE, Lead Editor: Noam Klement, Editor: Gray Clevenger, Joe King. Graphic Designer: Noah Bell, Theme Music by Gabriel Mann, Performed by Jonah Platt
Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsJonah Platt· Host0:00
[gentle music] This is a story about a city, about the people who once lived there, and the few who still do. This is a story about memory, about the past haunting the present, and the present echoing the past. It's a story about loss, about what's been stolen, and about what we've given away. It's a story I didn't realize I was a part of, and now it's a story you're a part of, too. Halfway around the world, nestled along the northwest corner of the Aegean Sea, sits the port city of Thessaloniki. A city you've maybe only heard about if you're Greek, or a hardcore history buff, or maybe you're a child of its Sephardic or Romaniote Jewish communities. Thessaloniki was home to one of the world's most ancient Jewish societies. Our earliest record of it found in the writings of St. Paul the Apostle, who traveled there to preach in three of the city's synagogues during the first century CE. As empires rose and fell, the Jewish community of Salonica, as it was also known, stayed steady until a generational calamity shook things loose. [medieval music] In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue, and also it sucked if you were a Jew. The Alhambra Decree, the Spanish Inquisition, Jews on the run. Spaniards being hostile to Jews, imagine that. The Ottoman Turks, who by this point had conquered Greece, sensed an opportunity to populate its territory