Leonard Cohen speaks about being a Canadian Jewish writer. His profound statements still resonate, today, 50 years later.
I have culled these comments from a recording of a seminar held at the Jewish Public Library of Montreal in June 1964. Cohen participated in a panel along with the great Canadian Jewish writers Melech Ravitch, Adele Wiseman and Ruth Wisse. It took place three years before Cohen's 1967 transition from being a Canadian poet to an internationally known singer-songwriter. Also included are some of Cohen’s dialogue with the audience during the question and answer session.
You can listen to the entire recording here:

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Cohen had a life-long, passionate engagement with religious Judaism. It began with the hevruta (study pair) he had with his grandfather, an important rabbi and talmudist. In mid-life Cohen became renowned for his practice of Zen Bhuddism (a non theistic practice) and eventually became a bhuddist monk. But Cohen never stopped studying Torah or practicing mitzvoth that he found meaningful. Many of his best songs offer profound midrashim (homiletic interpretations) of Torah and apply them to the problems of life.

This article explores Cohen’s relationship with Judaism in-depth
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A strange coincidence : the women with a Yiddish accent who challenges Cohen during the Q &A is Hava Rosenfarb, a respected Yiddish novelist and holocaust survivor. Her then husband is the man with a Polish accent who questions Cohen’s belief that the Jewish people have a unique mission. This man was Dr. Henry Morgantaller, who a decade later would become a household name in Canada for his campaign to legalize abortion.

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