Raphael "Ralph" Benmergui (born 1955) is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

television and radio personality, a writer, an ordained spiritual director, and a strategic advisor in political, environmental, and academic realms.

Early life and education

Born to a Sephardi Jewish"Shabbat goes universal"
. '' Jewish Tribune'', April 20, 2012. family in

Tangier Tangier ( ; , , ) is a city in northwestern Morocco, on the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. The city is the capital city, capital of the Tanger-Tetouan-Al Hoceima region, as well as the Tangier-Assilah Prefecture of Moroc ...

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

, and raised in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, Benmergui studied journalism at

Ryerson Polytechnical Institute Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU, or Toronto Met), formerly Ryerson University, is a Public university, public research university located in Toronto, Canada. The university's core campus is situated within the Garden District, Toronto, Gar ...

, where he was news director and program producer at the university's radio station,

CKLN-FM CKLN-FM was a community radio station based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. From 1983 to 2011, CKLN Radio Inc. was licensed by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission as a campus-community FM radio station affiliated with Ry ...

Career

While Benmergui was still at Ryerson, the CBC offered him a research job in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

. From there, he went on to produce current affairs documentaries and was named host of '' Night Lines'', a late-night music show on CBC Stereo. Back in Toronto, Benmergui hosted ''

Prime Time Prime time, or peak time, is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for television shows. It is mostly targeted towards adults (and sometimes families). It is used by the major television networks to ...

'', a nightly one-hour entertainment program on

CBC Radio CBC Radio is the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which (regardless of language) are outlined below ...

, and its weekend sister program ''

The Entertainers ''The Entertainers'' is a one-hour American variety show which aired on CBS from September 25, 1964, through March 27, 1965. Produced by Joe Hamilton, the series featured three hosts: Hamilton's then-wife Carol Burnett, Bob Newhart, and Cater ...

''. He later moved on to co-host

CBC Television CBC Television (also known as CBC TV, or simply CBC) is a Television in Canada, Canadian English-language terrestrial television, broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcasting, p ...

's ''

Midday Noon (also known as noontime or midday) is 12 o'clock in the daytime. It is written as 12 noon, 12:00 m. (for '' meridiem'', literally 12:00 midday), 12 p.m. (for ''post meridiem'', literally "after midday"), 12 pm, or 12:00 (using a 24-hour cloc ...

'' with

Valerie Pringle Valerie Pringle (née Whittingham, born 5 September 1953) is a Canadian television host and journalist, hosting the Canadian edition of '' Antiques Roadshow'' on CBC since 2006. Pringle was born in Windsor, Ontario. Pringle began her career in ...

, and also later hosted the variety show '' Friday Night! with Ralph Benmergui'' and the talk show '' Benmergui Live''. He has won a prestigious Japan Prize for Best International Youth Programming, a Yorkton Film Festival prize for Best Youth Programming, and has been the recipient of five

Gemini Award The Gemini Awards were awards given by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television between 1986–2011 to recognize the achievements of Canada's English-language television industry. The Gemini Awards are analogous to the Emmy Awards given in t ...

nominations. Benmergui produced Stuart McLean's Christmas special and the children's quiz show '' SmartAsk'' for CBC television, and for Vision TV he produced six episodes of a series called ''Seekers'', chronicling the experience of five people on journey to find their spirituality, and '' Ralph Benmergui: My Israel'', taking a critical and bipartisan look at the issues and landscape of

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

. as well a six part series titled Hod Bless America about religion and politics on the U.S. He hosted three specials, entitled ''Seriously Funny'' in Canada and ''Punchlines in the Sand'' in the US, where three comics comment on and explore serious issues of the day through comedy. In 2009, Benmergui joined the

Green Party of Canada The Green Party of Canada () is a federal political party in Canada, founded in 1983 with a focus on green politics. The Green Party is currently the fifth largest party in the House of Commons by seat count. It elected its first member of ...

as a strategic communications advisor. He has since worked as a strategic advisor and Communications Director at different political, environmental, media, business, and academic organizations and boards. He continues to work in media. Ralph had his memoir, I Thought He Was Dead, and he leads workshops and counsels clients on spiritual companionship and finding deep meaning as we age. In 2021, Benmergui started a podcast for The Canadian Jewish News called ''Yehupetzville'' about Jews living in small towns across the country. For the last seven years Ralph has hosted the podcast Not That Kind of Rabbi. His website is ralphbenmergui.ca

Personal life

Benmergui is married to Cortney Pasternak, a registered psychotherapist, educator, and former television journalist. He is the father of four and the grandfather of three.

References

1955 births Living people People from Tangier Jews and Judaism in Tangier Mass media people from Toronto 20th-century Moroccan Jews Canadian Sephardi Jews Canadian people of Moroccan-Jewish descent Canadian television talk show hosts Canadian television variety show hosts Canadian television producers CBC Radio hosts Canadian political consultants Moroccan emigrants to Canada 20th-century Sephardi Jews 20th-century Canadian Jews 21st-century Sephardi Jews Jazz radio presenters CBC Television people {{Canada-tv-bio-stub