Want to create an interactive transcript for this episode?
Podcast: North Star with Ellin Bessner
Episode: Saving Sukkot: Hear why the Canadian government almost accidentally banned importing lulavs
Description: Over the last few days, Canadian border officials blocked a shipment of lulavs bound for Montreal. Why? They believed, erroneously, that the Sukkot staple violated the country's agriculture laws, designed to prevent dangerous diseases or invasive bugs from entering the country.
The situation caused a panic among religious communities in Ontario and Quebec, as the fate of thousands of lulavs suddenly seemed uncertain. In group chats and across social media, Canadian Jews began freaking out, worried that a longstanding waiver for commercial imports of these products for Sukkot was no longer being granted.
To break...