Podcast appearances and mentions of michael fraiman

Israel's Supreme Court ordered the government on Feb. 19 to complete long-delayed renovations to Robinson's Arch, the official egalitarian prayer section just south of the main Western Wall. For years, it's where non-Orthodox Jews, including women, can pray together, and also read from a Torah scroll. But what began as a ruling about construction permits has quickly become something bigger. Members of Israel's governing coalition are advancing legislation this week that would effectively bring the broader Kotel site, including Robinson's Arch, under the authority of the ultra-Orthodox Chief Rabbinate. The law could mean prison terms of up to seven years for anyone deemed to be desecrating the holy site — and observers fear the new proposal could ban any alternative forms of Jewish prayer around Judaism's holiest place. This raises a deeper question: where does that leave millions of Jews, especially outside of Israel, who are not Orthodox? On today's episode of The CJN's “North Star” podcast, Toronto Rabbi Elyse Goldstein joins host Ellin Bessner to explore what's at stake. The Rabbi is a longtime advocate for pluralistic prayer, for women's place in Judaism, and a supporter of the Women of the Wall movement's decades-long struggle for equality at the Kotel. Related stories: Read about the Israel Supreme court decision on Robinson's Arch Feb. 19, 2026, and reaction, in The CJN Learn more about what Rabbi Elyse Goldstein experienced joining the Women of the Wall's 25th anniversary prayer service in 2013, in The CJN . Hear what it was like in July 2023 at a Women of the Wall prayer service in this eye-witness account by The CJN's producer Zachary Judah Kauffman , who was studying in Israel and produced this podcast for The CJN's North Star Podcast. Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner ( @ebessner ) Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer), Alicia Richler (editorial director) Music: Bret Higgins Support our show Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to North Star (Not sure how? Click here ) Watch our podcasts on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/@TheCJN Help others find this podcast by leaving us a review for “North Star” on Apple Podcasts via your iPhone or iPad device, or with your Android. (Spotify allows only starred ratings but you can do that, too!)

For many Canadian Jews who grew up feeling secure here, the idea of needing a ‘Plan B' might have never occurred to them. Unthinkable, even. It was something their grandparents faced before the Holocaust. But in recent months, that conversation is now happening in many Jewish spaces across this country — even among people who have no immediate plans to leave. Some families are actively scouting Florida, despite the political and immigration challenges which the U.S.A. poses. Others are traveling to Panama, to explore buying property there just in case-where permanent residency is attainable. Real estate agents and immigration lawyers in Israel and beyond are fielding new calls. And communities in the U.S. and Israel are marketing directly to Canadians: you will have heard about Lech L'Tulsa, Oklahoma. But is this a real demographic shift — or is it something deeper: a rupture in confidence about the future of Jewish life in Canada in response to rising antisemitism and uncertainty? Today on The CJN's flagship podcast North Star, host Ellin Bessner examines why some Canadian Jews are looking for Plan B: we speak with Aryeh Snitman and his wife Heather Snitman of Thornhill who're exploring both Florida and Panama; with Jaqueline Lewis, of Toronto, who bought a place in Panama just a few months ago; and with Lauren Cohen, a Canadian-born lawyer based in Boca Raton, Florida who provides immigration business and real estate guidance to clients considering moving to “Mechaya Florida”. Related links: Learn more about Tafsik's Plan B resources, their next trip to Panama in March , and watch their Zoom video about moving to Panama. Read more about Lauren Cohen's immigration and real estate services designed for Canadians interested in relocating to Florida, or elsewhere in the United States. Why these Canadian Jews moved to Israel months after Oct. 7, 2023, in The CJN. Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner info@thecjn.ca Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer), Alicia Richler, The CJN's Editorial Director Music: Bret Higgins Support our show Subscribe to The CJN newsletter https://thecjn.ca/newsletters/ Subscribe to North Star https://thecjn.ca/north https://www.youtube.com/user/CanadianJewishNews https://www.youtube.com/user/CanadianJewishNews Donate to The CJN + get a charitable receipt Watch our podcasts on YouTube. Help others find this podcast by leaving us a review for “North Star” on Apple Podcasts via your iPhone or iPad device, or with your Android. (Spotify allows only starred ratings but you can do that, too!)

What is behind the push to have Ontario school boards adopt policies to combat anti-Palestinian racism? And why has it prompted an outcry of concern from many families of Jewish students, from Jewish school staff and from some Jewish human rights groups?  The Ontario government recently put more than half a dozen school boards, including in Toronto and Ottawa, under the supervision by the ministry of education. This has effectively halted official school board discussions on the issue there – for now, but the debate over anti-Palestinian racism policies, or APR for short, isn't over: it's just moved out of the spotlight. For weeks, our Mitchell Consky, The Canadian Jewish News's Local Journalism Initiative reporter, has been digging into why the campaign for school boards to adopt APR policies has become such a flashpoint, what's at stake for Jewish and Israeli families, and also for Palestinian ones, and their allies.  His story was published last week. His investigation also uncovered evidence that the Canadian government has been funding APR advocates who strongly oppose Canada's widely-accepted definition of antisemitism known as the IHRA Definition, even as the APR groups accuse this framework of causing anti-Palestinian racism.  On today's episode of The CJN's North Star podcast, Consky joins host Ellin Bessner to tell us more about his reporting, what APR is, and how the clash is playing out on the ground and in the schools. Related stories: Read Mitch Consky's investigative story about the controversy over the campaign to have school boards in Ontario adopt anti-Palestinian racism policies, in The CJN . Hear Mitch Consky evaluate why some Jewish teachers and even a Jewish school board trustee were accused of anti-Palestinian racism, on The CJN's North Star podcast from June 2025. Learn more about why this Jewish advocacy group for parents warned that identity politics are feeling antisemitism in Ontario schools, in The CJN . Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner ( @ebessner ) Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer), Alicia Richler (editorial director) Music: Bret Higgins Support our show Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to North Star (Not sure how? Click here ) Watch our podcasts on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/@TheCJN Help others find this podcast by leaving us a review for “North Star” on Apple Podcasts via your iPhone or iPad device, or with your Android. (Spotify allows only starred ratings but you can do that, too!)

Taglit-Birthright Israel was founded just over 25 years ago, with the aim of strengthening Jewish identity among young adults through a 10-day, free of charge trip to Israel. The program has brought over 900,000 young adults from 70 countries to Israel. The ambitious program began as a grand solution to solve a crisis of Jewish continuity and unity as the world entered the new millennium, spearheaded by Canadian Jewish philanthropist Charles Bronfman and American Michael Steinhardt, but required the mustering of global Jewish communal resources. Last week, Bronfman, along with Jeffrey R. Solomon, the past CEO of the Andrea and Charles Bronfman Philanthropies, wrote an op-ed for the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, titled "We backed Birthright. Now it's time for more big ideas for a post-Oct. 7 world” where they called for the next big idea to address the next big Jewish challenges. On today's episode of Not in Heaven, our rabbi podcasters, offer their perspectives of the Birthright Israel program and suggest what should come next. Credits Hosts: Avi Finegold, Yedida Eisenstat, Matthew Leibl Production team: Zachary Judah Kauffman (editor), Michael Fraiman (executive producer) Music: Socalled Support The CJN Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to Not in Heaven (Not sure how? Click here )

Just over four months from now, thousands of campers and staff will be heading out to Jewish summer camps from coast to coast. But the lead-up to the annual countdown for camp has being threatened by a new boycott campaign from a coalition of pro-Palestine groups who hope to cripple 17 high profile camps over their support for Israel and hiring of Israeli staff. The campaign was launched Feb. 4. They released a report online urging official camping associations in Ontario, Quebec and the Maritimes to de-certify the accreditation of these Jewish camps. They also asked the federal tax department to strip the camps of their charitable status because the programming supports “a genocidal state”. The campaign came to light ahead of the Family-Day long weekend weekend, on Friday Feb. 13, afer the Ontario Camps Association released a blistering statement condemning the targeting of Jewish campers and staffers. The board also denounced the singling out for discrimination of its own executive director, Joy Levy. Levy was accused of being a “Zionist who publicly supports Israel, its military, and promotes anti-Palestinian racism,” among other things.  While public reaction has been swift from some Jewish advocates and some allies, none of the individual Jewish summer camp directors we contacted responded to our request for interviews, except for Camp Northland, who declined to comment. It appears the camps have decided to not amplify the boycott's impact. But on today's episode of The CJN's flagship podcast “North Star”, host Ellin Bessner gets reaction from Risa Epstein, the CEO of Young Judaea Canada, an umbrella group for nine Zionist camps operating in Canada, and also from Simon Wolle, the CEO of B'nai Brith Canada, who previously was director of Camp Northland. You'll also hear what Joy Levy had to say. Related links: Read Ellin Bessner's in-depth print article about the boycott campaign and how it has impacted Yonge Judaea's nine camps, and also Joy Levy, the executive director at Ontario Camps Association, who was personally targeted, in The CJN. Read about Israeli kids finding respite from war at Canadian summer camps, in The CJN. How Canada's Jewish summer camps provided a safe space to discuss the geopolitical issues in the Middle East, in The CJN . Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner ( @ebessner ) Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer), Alicia Richler (editorial director) Music: Bret Higgins Support our show Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to North Star (Not sure how? Click here ) Watch our podcasts on YouTube. Help others find this podcast by leaving us a review for "North Star" on Apple Podcasts via your iPhone or iPad device, or with your Android. (Spotify allows only starred ratings but you can do that, too!) https://www.youtube.com/@TheCJN

In 2024, the image of Jake Retzlaff—the only Jewish quarterback ever to play for Brigham Young University's football team—adorned special editions of Manischewitz matzah boxes. That brand deal, to showcase a promising Jewish pro-football prospect, was the inspiration for a company co-founded by former Montrealer Jeremy Moses. His sports-marketing company is called Tribe NIL. (NIL stands for Name, Image and Likeness, a new monetization route for college athletes to make money off their work.) The company aims to boost the careers of hundreds of talented Jewish college athletes, including more than a half-dozen Canadians playing for U.S. college football, baseball, hockey, basketball and swim teams, among others. Moses was raised in Montreal. He's the middle son of retired Montreal Rabbi Lionel Moses and Yiddish scholar and editor Joyce Rappaport. His brother, Zev Moses, is the founder and executive director of the Museum of Jewish Montreal. Jeremy Moses moved to Brooklyn where he's worked in the sports and entertainment field. He and business partner, the comedian Eitan Levine, founded Tribe NIL last spring. This year, they're doubling down on the Manischewitz campaign, looking for one male and one female Jewish athlete to reward with $10,000 in prize money each, a “L'Cheisman Trophy” and international fame as this year's faces of Manischewitz matzah. On today's episode of The CJN's flagship podcast North Star, Jeremy Moses joins host Ellin Bessner to share more about his campaign—plus they get into the myriad Jewish sporting news of the week, including Jewish Olympians and Robert Kraft's controversial Super Bowl antisemitism ad. Related links Learn more about co-founder Jeremy Moses's company, Tribe NIL and see some of the 250 Jewish NCAA college athletes they represent (including some Canadians). Follow Manischewitz's contest with TribeNIL for Jewish male and female college athlete of the year, with winners to be announced in March. Listen to The CJN's Not in Heaven podcast discuss whether parents want their kids to be professional athletes. Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner ( @ebessner ) Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer), Alicia Richler (editorial director) Music: Bret Higgins Support our show Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to North Star (Not sure how? Click here ) Watch our podcasts on YouTube.

This cold week in February has been dominated by two major sporting events: the 2026 Winter Olympics and the Super Bowl. Jews played roles in both; the Olympics regularly see a handful of Jewish athletes competing on the world stage, including nine Israeli delegates and a smattering of Americans in mainstream sports like curling and hockey. While no Jewish football players played in the Super Bowl, Robert Kraft's anti-antisemitism organization did run a pricey anti-hate commercial. With sports on the brain, our three rabbi podcasters wanted to look at their own community values. There's no doubt that Jews can excel in sports—so why isn't it more common? Jewish parents often put their kids in active extracurriculars—but when it comes to post-secondary education, academics trump athletics. Case in point: note how many pro sports teams are owned by Jews, versus how many have Jewish players on their rosters. Rabbis Avi Finegold, Yedida Eisenstat and Matthew Leibl dig into all this and more on this week's episode of Not in Heaven. Credits Hosts: Avi Finegold, Yedida Eisenstat, Matthew Leibl Production team: Zachary Judah Kauffman (editor), Michael Fraiman (executive producer) Music: Socalled Support The CJN Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to Not in Heaven (Not sure how? Click here )

France's administrative court has thrown out a lawsuit launched by Montreal's Lawee family, who allege the French embassy in Baghdad has been occupying their family's ancestral home, rent-free, for more than fifty years. The Paris-based body ruled against the Jewish family on Feb. 2. in a printed decision, after an in-person hearing last month, The court said it's denying the Canadian family's case because France has immunity for acts done on foreign soil–and because the old lease was signed in the 1960s in the city of Baghdad, so local Iraqi laws apply. The case has garnered international headlines because it involves a much wider story: the historic injustice done to nearly a million Jews from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) who were forced to flee their regimes' growing anti-Israel sentiment after 1948. They were stripped of their citizenship and their assets were seized. The CJN's flagship podcast "North Star" has been following the story since last year, and on today's episode, host Ellin Bessner sits down with Philip Khazzam, the Montreal businessman on a mission to seek justice for what happened to his grandfather's beloved mansion. Related stories Read the French administrative court's Feb. 2 decision in The CJN. Learn why Philip Khazzam launched his $30 million legal challenge against France for unpaid rent and damages last year, in The CJN . Hear the survival stories of Canadians of Iraqi descent who survived the “Fraud” pogrom against Baghdad Jews in 1941, in The CJN. Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner ( @ebessner ) Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer), Alicia Richler (editorial director) Music: Bret Higgins Support our show Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to North Star (Not sure how? Click here ) Watch our podcasts on YouTube.

The first Jewish aid mission from Canada since 2019 arrived in Havana, Cuba on Feb. 3, loaded with seven extra suitcases full of batteries, pills, and hundreds of pieces of donated baseball equipment. The delegation from Toronto's Beth Sholom synagogue spent the past week delivering pharmacy supplies and other necessities–which they donated to Jewish seniors, Cuban synagogues, and even to a pharmacy housed inside the Jewish community centre in Havana, which supplies Jewish Cubans and also nearby hospitals. Local Jewish leaders say this group is the first Canadian Jewish mission to come to Cuba in nearly seven years, since before the pandemic in 2019. And officials worry there might be fewer going forward. The Canadian government raised its travel warnings for Cuba on Feb. 4, citing widespread economic problems impacting tourists, including more frequent power outages, lack of food and fresh water, and fuel shortages. The island, a popular destination for Canadians, was hit in October 2025 by a damaging monster hurricane. But the country's difficulties worsened noticeably in the last month, after the U.S. president ordered all shipments of Venezuelan oil to Cuba be halted, as part of the capture of Venezuela's former dictator Nicolas Maduro on Jan. 3. On today's episode of The CJN's flagship podcast “North Star”, host Ellin Bessner speaks with Beth Sholom's Cantor Eric Moses, who organized the trip, and with William Miller, a Jewish community leader in Havana; plus we hear from Benji Tock of Toronto. The teenager didn't make the trip, but his bar mitzvah project–collecting eight duffle bags full of donated baseball bats, cleats, gloves and other gear–arrived safely in Cuba, too, destined for local Jewish players bound for this coming summer's Maccabiah Games in Israel. Related stories To donate to the Cuban Jewish community, contact Toronto-based Cantor Eric Moses cantor@bethsholom.net Donate to the Global Seder initiative of UJA Federation of Greater Toronto. https://www.jewishtoronto.com/donate Learn more about Canadian efforts over the decades to help the small Jewish community of Cuba with kosher food and basic daily supplies, in The CJN archives. In 2014, four Toronto bar mitzvah boys raised thousands to help Cuba's Jewish community purchase medical supplies, in The CJN. Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner ( @ebessner ) Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer), Alicia Richler (editorial director) Music: Bret Higgins Support our show Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to North Star (Not sure how? Click here ) Watch our podcasts on YouTube.

One day before Prime Minister Mark Carney's government announced it will scrap the role of the Special Envoy on Preserving Holocaust Remembrance and Combatting Antisemitism, a group of senior Canadian bureaucrats and policing experts attended a roundtable in Ottawa where they heard advice from some of the world's top antisemitism experts. The guest list of the four-hour meeting included government advisors and scholars on antisemitism and the Holocaust from France, Germany, the U.K. and Israel. The closed-door discussions strove to understand what tactics to tackle anti-Jewish hatred are working worldwide, which Canada might try; Norway, for example, has found success bringing young Jewish “pathfinders” into schools to meet their peers. The international experts also told the government what Canada doesn't need: more laws. On today's episode of The CJN's flagship North Star podcast, host Ellin Bessner sits down with two of those experts. Sally Sealey runs the U.K. envoy's office for post-Holocaust issues and chairs the Holocaust memorial foundation, which is building the country's new education centre in London; Carl Yonker, meanwhile, is the senior researcher at the Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry at Tel Aviv University, which also publishes an annual global antisemitism monitoring report. Related stories: Read Irwin Cotler's column about Canada scrapping its special envoy office, a role which he first held from 2020-2023, in The CJN . Reaction was swift to Canada's surprise announcement Wednesday that the government is ending its Special Envoy position for Holocaust Remembrance and Combatting Antisemitism, (and the other one for Islamophobia) in favour of a single advisory council on rights, equity, inclusion, in The CJN. Read the latest global antisemitism report from Tel Aviv University published in April 2025 , and the Israeli Diaspora ministry's newest interim report on international antisemitism, from January 2026. Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner ( @ebessner ) info@thecjn.ca Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer), Alicia Richler (editorial director) Music: Bret Higgins Support our show Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to North Star (Not sure how? Click here) Watch our interviews on our YouTube Channel

With the return of Ran Gvili's body, many Jewish leaders are publicly inviting community members to stand up from their proverbial shivas and re-engage with normal life. Federations across North America are welcoming—even memorializing—the return of ceremonial dog tags and yellow pins. But it's been two and a half years of incorporating these thoughts into Jewish ritual life, adding prayers for the hostages at High Holidays and the Shabbat table. What happens now? Can we ever truly go "back to normal"? Our three rabbinic podcasters discuss on this week's episode of Not in Heaven. Later in the episode, they look at the Jewish response to the ICE raids in the United States. Some Jews are offering to hide their Haitian caregivers as President Donald Trump's administration cracks down on deportations; some rabbis are mobilizing in Minnesota after immigration officers murdered a number of civilian protesters. Where is the Jewish community standing during this fraught time in American political life? Credits Hosts: Avi Finegold, Yedida Eisenstat, Matthew Leibl Production team: Zachary Judah Kauffman (editor), Michael Fraiman (executive producer) Music: Socalled Support The CJN Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to Not in Heaven (Not sure how? Click here )

Eight decades ago, Andrew Cassel's father was bundled aboard a prison ship in England and sent to Canada as an “enemy alien”, where he was held behind barbed wire for two years. The elder Cassel was part of a little-known operation that in 1940 targeted about 2,300 Jewish Europeans whom the British feared were spies for Adolf Hitler. Now, Cassel—along with other descendants and some historians—are raising awareness about what he calls “Canada's dirty little secret”. They want an apology from Canada and educational programming. The prisoners lived in harsh conditions at nine prisoner-of-war camps in Quebec, Ontario and New Brunswick. In some cases, they were locked up together with groups of real Nazi soldiers and German U-boat crews who'd been captured by the Allies during the Second World War. But they weren't spies—they were doctors, professors, Yeshiva students and bankers who fled to England to escape the Holocaust. The British government soon realized their mistake, but Canada took until 1943 to release all the prisoners. Some experts blame widespread antisemitism in the Canadian government for the undue delay. Many of those former internees later became prominent community leaders in Canada, including the late Rabbi Erwin Schild, who died in 2024 at age 103; Justice Fred Kaufman, the first Jewish judge on Quebec's Appeal court; Alfred Bader, a chemist and philanthropist to Queen's University; businessman Eric Exton; printer Leo Klag; philosopher Rabbi Emil Fackenheim; and two Nobel Prize winners. On today's episode of The CJN's flagship North Star podcast, host Ellin Bessner is joined by Andrew Cassel; Jewish historians Paula Draper, and Jennifer Cousineau of Parks Canada, who collaborated to release a new podcast spotlighting the story of one of the POW camps south of Montreal; and Blatant Injustice author Ian Darragh, who is spearheading the apology petition. Related stories Learn more about the new Parks Canada podcast  spotlighting European Jews deported from Britain to Canada in 1940 as enemy aliens and held in POW camps in Quebec, Ontario and New Brunswick.  Read the petition , initiated by author Ian Darragh , sponsored by Liberal MP Anthony Housefather, asking the House of Commons for an apology and educational programming and commemorative plaques at the sites of the former POW camps. Read more about the Andrew Cassel's father, Henry Cassel , and also about the late Toronto Rabbi Erwin Schild  and Dr. Walter W. Igersheimer , all former internees. Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner ( @ebessner ) info@thecjn.ca Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer), Alicia Richler (editorial director) Music: Bret Higgins Support our show Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to North Star (Not sure how? Click here ) Watch our podcasts on YouTube.

As Canada's ambassador to the United Nations for the last five years, Bob Rae helped shaped how the international community has responded to the most pressing global human rights issues of our time: the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Iran's nuclear threats, the collapse of Haiti, genocides against the Rohingyas and the Uyghurs, the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, and more. But no issue has been as polarizing as the Israel-Palestine crisis, especially after Oct. 7, 2023—which also marked when Canada's long-standing support for Israeli government policies began to change. Canada abstained or voted yes to motions and resolutions that were critical of Israel's treatment of Palestinians and military campaign against Hamas. Canada called for a ceasefire and condemned, with other nations, Israel's settlement-building in the occupied West Bank and the Golan. (Canada also did try, early on, to get the U.N. to censure Hamas for its massacre of Israelis, but the motion failed.) Last fall, at the 80th U.N. General Assembly, Canada unilaterally recognized the State of Palestine—which Rae says he fully supports. He also supports funding UNRWA, the U.N. aid agency for Palestinians, where some employees were fired for being linked to the violence of Oct. 7. But while Israel and many Canadian Jews feel the U.N. and its leadership are obsessed with demonizing Israel, the outgoing ambassador disagrees. Rae's term as Canada's envoy to the U.N. started during the height of the pandemic in 2020 and ended in November 2025. Since then, he's joined two universities and a think tank, and has been a regular commentator in the Canadian media. Rae joins The CJN's flagship North Star podcast host Ellin Bessner to unpack what's behind his support for Canada's tougher stance on Israel—and what that's cost him. Related stories Hear former Ambassador Bob Rae discuss the whether the Russian invasion of Ukraine unleashed genocide, in a 2022 interview on  The CJN's Bonjour Chai podcast. Rae spoke to broadcaster Ralph Benmergui last year about how his spiritual side mixes with his political career, on The CJN's “ Not That Kind of Rabbi” show.  When Bob Rae was a Liberal MP from Toronto, in 2010, he told a Haifa University fundraising event in his honour that co-existence between Israelis and Palestinian is the only way forward, in  The CJN. Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner (@ebessner) info@thecjn.ca Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer), Alicia Richler (editorial director) Music: Bret Higgins (https://www.brethiggins.com/) Support our show Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to North Star (Not sure how? Click here) Watch our podcasts on YouTube.

The Jewish festival of Tu b'Shevat begins this Sunday. The new year for trees. Some people feel it's the Jewish version of Earth Day: a day to care for the environment. While much of Canada is still in the deep freeze of winter, the people who run Vancouver's Jewish Community Garden are itching to get their rubber boots on soon, and go up to the rooftop of the two-storey parking structure located between Congregation Beth Israel synagogue and the VTT, The Vancouver Talmud Torah, where the garden is located.. This spring, the garden will begin its third season of growing food and flowers for programs at the shul, and school, as well as for clients of Vancouver's Jewish Family Services, and hosting dozens of volunteers–all the while teaching environmentalism and food security through a Jewish lens. When the garden was officially opened in the spring of 2023, we interviewed the team behind the idea, likely the highest Jewish community garden in Canada. The episode originally aired May 31, 2023. The Vancouver Jewish Community Garden had its official ribbon-cutting ceremony on May 28, 2023, a fitting debut for the $200,000 initiative. On North Star (formerly The CJN Daily), we're joined by the organizers: Congregation Beth Israel's Rabbi Jonathan Infeld; Emily Greenberg, head of school at VTT; and Tanja Demajo, executive director of Jewish Family Services in Vancouver. Related links Watch a video of the construction of the Vancouver Jewish Community Garden  on You Tube https://youtu.be/oUQJ9yKCd_o In Toronto, the Shoresh farming agency ran a community garden in peoples' backyards, in  The CJN Read more about environmental programming gaining popularity in B.C. in  The CJN Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner info@thecjn.ca Production team: Zachary Judah Kauffman (senior producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer) Alicia Richler (editorial director) Music: Bret Higgins Support our show Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Subscribe to North Star https://thecjn.ca/arts/podcast-how-to/ Watch our podcasts on YouTube Donate to The CJN + get a charitable receipt

OneTable is a non-profit organization with two goals: make Shabbat a regular part of young people's Jewish lives, and combat the epidemic of loneliness among that same demographic. Hosts can receive a small stipend for every guest who attends their Friday night dinner, and the broader Jewish community benefits from higher levels of Shabbat engagement. But despite hundreds of thousands of young Jews being interested, OneTable laid off a quarter of its staff in December 2025, struggling to find financial support while realizing their repeat users were often accepting money for hosting dinners with friends that they would have hosted regardless. And on an even deeper level: is there even a viable business model for a one-note non-profit like this? Our rabbinic podcasters discuss. After that, they look at how the Art Gallery of Ontario came under fire when they decided not to acquire work by acclaimed photographer Nan Goldin because of alleged antisemitic comments, and finish off with some Textual Healing. Credits Hosts: Avi Finegold, Yedida Eisenstat, Matthew Leibl Production team: Zachary Judah Kauffman (editor), Michael Fraiman (executive producer) Music: Socalled Support The CJN Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to Not in Heaven (Not sure how? Click here )

This episode originally aired on March 15, 2023. Montreal filmmaker Ezra Soiferman loves the winters in his native city so much, he's made a new film about them, called Montreal, Snowbec. It's a love letter to the season where the city is covered by nearly six feet of white stuff each year. In the film, Soiferman showcases the beauty of Place Ville Marie's searchlight, plus many Jewish winter scenes, including two Hasidic men walking through a snow covered lane, and the famous St. Viateur bagel bakery, in the snow. Soiferman feels Montrealers who spend winters in Florida or Arizona are missing out on the joys of the season, from watching snowplows clean the streets to driving by the white-capped iconic Orange Julep restaurant. Ezra Soiferman's film was released two weeks ago and is already getting people smiling, which was his aim. He joins North Star host Ellin Bessner—a former Montrealer—to compare notes and memories of potholes, driveway plastic car protectors and sledding on Mount Royal. What we talked about Watch  Montreal, Snowbec for free on Ezra Soiferman's YouTube channel Read more about the filmmaker on his website Learn about Ezra Soiferman's previous films, in The CJN Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner Production team: Zachary Judah Kauffman (senior producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer), Alicia Richler (editorial director) Music: Bret Higgins

As Gary Kapelus grew up in Canada, his father, Jerry Kapelus, never talked about what it had been like to be forcibly tattooed by Nazis in Auschwitz in 1944. But Kapelus noticed that his dad never tried to hide or remove the tattoo, either; indeed, he often displayed it as he spoke to thousands of school children over the years about his experiences. After Jerry died in 2021, Kapelus took up the mantle as a Holocaust educator, sharing his father's story. Recently, at the age of 70, Kapelus decided to take one extra step: he got that same number, B-7619, tattooed on his own left arm. The act is a growing trend among descendants of Holocaust survivors, known as “re-marking”, taking ownership of something that was done against the will of the Nazi's victims. The tattoos are done for many different reasons: some do it in defiance of their grandparents' persecution, while others see it as a way to honour the six million killed. Kapelus's motivation was to spark conversations. On today's episode of The CJN's flagship North Star podcast, host Ellin Bessner speaks with Gary Kapelus ahead of International Holocaust Remembrance Day on Jan. 27. Related links Read more  about Gary Kapelus's father, Jerry. Why descendants of Auschwitz survivors are tattooing their own arms, in  The CJN  archives (from 2021). Learn more about the  (Re)marked project Stories from the Skin  at the University of Waterloo. Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner info@thecjn.ca Production team: Zachary Judah Kauffman (senior producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer) Alicia Richler (editorial director) Music: Bret Higgins Support our show Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Subscribe to North Star Watch our podcasts on YouTube Donate to The CJN + get a charitable receipt

With the release of Wicked: For Good, Jewish audiences have been asking online: Are the munchkins supposed to be Jews? What about Elphaba—the vilified, bookish, green-skinned witch? Is she Jewish-coded? It's a question asked by some Jewish culture critics seemingly every time a movie with goblins, elves or hook-nosed monsters comes out. Are J.R.R. Tolkien's dwarves Jewish? Is Nosferatu Jewish? Are Star Trek's Ferengi species Jewish? And then, if the answer strikes you in the affirmative, the logical follow-up is: "Is this vaguely antisemitic?" But as our three rabbinic podcasters discuss on this week's episode of Not in Heaven, the question may reveal more about the person asking it than the onscreen goblins themselves. The real question may not be, "What were the filmmakers' intentions when creating these characters," and instead, "What does this negative interpretation say about us as a community?" But before that, Yedida takes a detour down a different cinematic road: a Jewish analysis of the heavily Christian animated film David, which is something of an origin story of the biblical king. Credits Hosts: Avi Finegold, Yedida Eisenstat, Matthew Leibl Production team: Zachary Judah Kauffman (editor), Michael Fraiman (executive producer) Music: Socalled Support The CJN Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to Not in Heaven (Not sure how? Click here )

Just after New Year's Day, an NDP member of Parliament, Heather McPherson, adopted a private citizen's petition calling on the government to scrutinize Canadian citizens and residents who have served in the Israel Defense Forces. The petition is the latest in a series of requests from lawmakers targeting IDF veterans for allegedly violating Canadian war-crime laws and international rules on genocide. This parliamentary effort comes after a Liberal MP from the Montreal area, Sameer Zuberi, asked officials with the Canada Border Services Agency to screen for non-Canadian citizens entering Canada who served in the IDF and may have participated in breaches of international law. Simultaneous to all this, families of Canadian IDF soldiers are still reeling after a Canadian media outlet created a public database of hundreds of former or current soldiers, effectively doxxing private citizens. One young man on that list is Eitan Ellis, 29, the son of Israel Ellis, an author and podcaster who is campaigning to get the website shut down. For reaction to this societal pivot against the IDF Canadians have witnessed over the last several months, Israel Ellis joins today's episode of The CJN's flagship podcast, North Star, along with David Kalman, an entrepreneur in Toronto who served his compulsory military service over thirty years ago. He calls the targeting of people in his situation a “witch hunt”. Lastly, at the end of this episode, hear a clip of host Ellin Bessner's exclusive interview with Israeli comedian Guy Hochman, who was held for nearly six hours by Canadian border agents before a scheduled performance at the Prosserman JCC in Toronto—and found himself greeted with anti-Israel protesters once he arrived at the venue. Related links Read more about the RCMP's structural investigation into possible war crimes by IDF veterans in The CJN from June 2025 , and in Jan. 2026 . Learn more about Israel Ellis' new book “10.7 The Wake Up Call” and his “The Unfiltered View” podcasts via his website . Follow Israeli comedian Guy Hochman . Learn more about David Kalman's pest control business Good Riddance Critters . Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner info@thecjn.ca Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer) Alicia Richler (editorial director) Music: Bret Higgins Support our show Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Subscribe to North Star Watch our podcasts on YouTube Donate to The CJN + get a charitable receipt

It's Monday. That means hundreds—maybe thousands—of employees around the world, including some in Canada, will start a shortened work week. It's part of a growing trend towards a new way of working—the same pay in fewer days. It's been a trend since the pandemic. Companies such as Microsoft and Lamborghini, along with small towns in Ontario, British Columbia and elsewhere, have turned their workplaces into more productive environments, getting tasks done more efficiently by using technology—especially AI—while avoiding in-person “busy work” during the traditional five eight-hour days spent in an office. Toronto business journalist Jared Lindzon, also the host of The CJN's Geltwise podcast, has a new book out digging deep into this concept. His book is called Do More in Four: Why It's Time for a Shorter Workweek, published by the Harvard Business Review. He co-authored it with an Irish-Canadian academic, Joe O'Connor, who has been helping corporations around the world try out this new way of working. The results have helped companies' financial bottom lines and the mental health of their employees, who report less burnout, more equal opportunities for women, and a greater environmental impact. On today's episode of The CJN's North Star podcast, Jared Lindzon sits down with host Ellin Bessner to share why his new book reveals a work-life recipe worth trying. And check out the giveaway contest at the end of the episode to win our one free copy of Do More in Four. Related links Follow Jared Lindzon at his  website and learn more about how to buy  his new book Listen to The CJN's  Geltwise podcast. Why Canadian cabinet minister Evan Solomon is funding so many applications of artificial intelligence, on  The CJN's “North Star” podcast . Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner info@thecjn.ca Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer),Michael Fraiman (executive producer) Alicia Richler: The CJN's Editorial Director Music: Bret Higgins Support our show Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Subscribe to North Star https://thecjn.ca/arts/podcast-how-to/ Watch our podcasts on  YouTube Donate to The CJN + get a charitable receipt

The Senate didn't attract much attention last month, when, on Dec. 8, the Standing Committee on Human Rights wrapped up its public hearings about antisemitism. Over the course of a full year they held eight meetings, heard from over 40 witnesses and received about 37 briefs. Now the senators and staffers are drafting their report. But while communal Jewish leaders welcome the Senate's attention to antisemitism, they maintain they don't need another study that gathers dust on the shelves. Lawmakers have a mandated deadline of the end of 2026 to release the report—but one committee member, Senator Leo Housakos, the leader of the Conservative party in the Senate, wants the final document of non-binding recommendations to come out much sooner. He believes it is urgent to convince the Carney government to tackle “a terrible crisis, and we need action quickly to start protecting our Jewish community.” Housakos feels he represents the voice of Canada's mainstream Jewish community on the nine-member permanent committee, which currently lacks any Jewish senators. Four of those committee members, including the chair, have either signed open letters critical of Israel's conduct in Gaza, or spoken about it in the Senate. Housakos wasn't thrilled by some of the anti-Zionist witnesses nvited to testify. He clashed with one witness, who said any groups that support the State of Israel should be destroyed. He also frowned on those who urged Canada to scrap the current IHRA definition of antisemitism, which the government adopted in 2019. The committee also heard that antisemitism is being exaggerated and in some cases, carried out by Jews on themselves. On today's episode of The CJN's North Star podcast, Senator Leo Housakos joins host Ellin Bessner to explain his urgent priorities for the expected antisemitism report. Related links Take a deep dive into the  Senate's hearings on antisemitism , which wrapped up Dec. 9, 2025. Why U of T professor Robert Brym told the Senate committee studying antisemitism they had been given “weaponized” information from some anti-Zionist witnesses, on  North Star . Read what the House of Commons committee studying antisemitism recommended in its report on antisemitism in Canada, published in Dec. 2024, in  The CJN . Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner info@thecjn.ca Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer) Music: Bret Higgins Support our show Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Subscribe to North Star https://thecjn.ca/arts/podcast-how-to/ Watch our podcasts on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/user/CanadianJewishNews Donate to The CJN + get a charitable receipt https://www.youtube.com/user/CanadianJewishNews

Antisemitic acts don't all mean the same thing, even if they provoke the same fear. A swastika sprayed on a synagogue door in Winnipeg is not the same as a fire set at a synagogue in Mississippi. And while community members understand this, when violence and intimidation come to their own neighbourhood, it's easy to fall into a maximalist trap that treats all threats as equal. On this week's episode of Not in Heaven, our rabbinic hosts hone in on Rabbi Matthew Leibl's hometown of Winnipeg, where local police swiftly tracked down the vandal who went on a hateful graffiti spree, laying down charges of mischief and breaking and entering. They dig into the communal response and ask if anything needed to be handled differently. And before that, the hosts look at a new initiative that aims to repurpose religious real estate to help combat homelessness. Credits Hosts: Avi Finegold, Yedida Eisenstat, Matthew Leibl Production team: Zachary Judah Kauffman (editor), Michael Fraiman (executive producer) Music: Socalled Support The CJN Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to Not in Heaven (Not sure how? Click here )

It's been just over a week since U.S. President Donald Trump ordered the military capture and trial of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro and his wife. The stunning late-night operation on Jan. 3 was welcome news to millions of Venezuelans who have fled their home country over the last two decades, leaving it to descend into corruption and impoverishment, despite controlling the biggest oil reserves on the planet. Among the estimated eight million Venezeulans who left, tens of thousands are Jewish. They faced additional pressure to escape: the regime was strongly anti-Israel, supporting Iran and Hezbollah, which led to the harassment of the local Jewish community. It's a stance first adopted by Maduro's predecessor, the late former president Hugo Chavez, in 2006. While Maduro now faces drug and racketeering charges in New York City, the uncertainty about what happens next has kept Venezuelans confined to their homes, with schools temporarily closed and paramilitary forces patrolling the streets. Some political prisoners are being released, in a gesture of goodwill by Maduro's replacement, while President Trump is vowing to bring billions in investment to revamp Venezuela's oil production. While some Venezuelans say they have great hope now that Maduro is gone, others think restoring democracy is still a long way off. On today's episode of The CJN's flagship _North Sta_r podcast, we hear reaction and analysis from three Venezuelan Jews who have made their homes in Canada. Jonathan Rosemberg Kort and Rebecca Sarfatti join from Toronto, while Daniel Topel joins from Ladner, B.C., south of Vancouver. Related links Read what Irwin Cotler and two other experts concluded in 2018 that Venezuela was committing crimes against humanity, in The CJN archives . Why Maduro's predecessor, president Hugo Chavez, embraced Jew-hatred and hatred for Israel, in The CJN archives . Montreal Rabbi Adam Scheier feared for the safety of Caracas' Jews after a visit to the country in 2009, in The CJN . Learn more about Jonathan Rosenberg Kort's new book on corporate change, published in Nov. 2025. Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner info@thecjn.ca Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer) Music: Bret Higgins Support our show Subscribe to The CJN newsletter https://thecjn.ca/newsletters/ https://thecjn.ca/donate/ Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to North Star (Not sure how? Click here ) Watch our podcasts on YouTube

Cindy Schwartz started her life in dance when she was barely out of first grade, when her parents arranged for her to perform for patients at the Donald Berman Maimonides long-term care hospital in Montreal. At the time, they felt her passion for dancing should stay just a hobby—but Schwartz believes her late parents would be proud that she's transformed her passion into a decades-long project that culminated in her being named to the Order of Canada on Dec. 31, 2025. Schwartz founded Les Muses, Canada's first full-time performing arts training program for neurodivergent adults, over three decades ago in Montreal. Since then, she has landed her students roles in movies, television and onstage; one even won best Actress at the Canadian Screen Awards in 2014. The Order of Canada recognition came, coincidentally, just days before Schwartz officially retired on Jan. 5, 2026, at the age of 65. She joins North Star host Ellin Bessner to reflect on her achievements and explain how the Canadian entertainment business still has a long way to go to create space for actors, dancers and singers who are persons with disabilities—which includes increased government funding. Related links Learn more about the latest 2025 Order of Canada winners of Jewish faith, in  The CJN. Read more about Les Muses, t he training school  founded in Montreal by Cindy Schwartz. When autistic artist Adam Wolfond's poetry, and his mother's creations, were on display at the Koffler Centre for the Arts in 2025, in  The CJN . Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner info@thecjn.ca Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer) Music: Bret Higgins Support our show Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to North Star (Not sure how? Click here ) Watch our podcasts on YouTube

The red swastikas and hateful tags that were spray painted on the front doors of Winnipeg's Shaarey Zedek synagogue early on Jan. 2, 2026 have been mostly cleaned off the building's front doors, less than a week later. But Winnipeg police say the suspected hate crime is affecting not only the Jewish community, but the city as a whole. And it's prompted them to call on residents to take a stand against hate, report suspicious activity, and refrain from acting as vigilantes. Meanwhile, the Shaarey Zedek congregation has welcomed the outpouring of support in the last few days, which it received from Manitoba's premier, Winnipeg's mayor, the Lieutenant Governor, federal members of Parliament, and religious leaders of other faiths. But despite the solidarity, some Jewish leaders say what's really needed is for existing hate laws to be enforced, and for Canada to quickly appoint a new special envoy on antisemitism—a post that's been vacant since July 2025. On today's episode of The CJN's North Star podcast, you'll hear first from Inspector Jennifer McKinnon of Winnipeg's Major Crimes Unit, then Rabbi Carnie Rose of Shaarey Zedek congregation and Belle Jarniewski, a Holocaust educator and director of Manitoba's new Institute to Combat Antisemitism, which recently launched. Related links Why Winnipeg police retrieved a suspicious item from the Shaarey Zedek property on Sunday Jan 4, 2026, in The CJN . Rabbi Carnie Rose returned to Winnipeg in the summer of 2025 to lead the city's Shaarey Zedek congregation where he grew up, and be close to his brother Rabbi Kliel Rose who leads Congregation Etz Chayim in the same city. Then their parents moved back too. On The CJN's North Star podcast. Under Belle Jarniewski's guidance, Winnipeg's Holocaust education centre got a redesign in 2023 aimed at accommodating more visits. Hear the story in The CJN. Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner ( @ebessner ) Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer Music: Bret Higgins Support our show Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to North Star (Not sure how? Click here )

While the Canadian Parliament has been on winter break since mid-December, international politics have only heated up so far in 2026. Pro-democracy protests have rocked Iran; Russia's war against Ukraine remains unresolved; and the United States stunningly bombed oil-rich Venezuela and captured its dictator, Nicolas Maduro. It's all likely to overshadow domestic policy issues once Canadian federal politicians come back to work. But Canadian Jews have their own concerns at home, worrying about whether lawmakers will keep last year's promises to fight antisemitism and remain proactive about hate-fuelled terrorism. And some federal policy is less clear: how will Canada change its relationship with Israel in the wake of recognizing Palestinian statehood? Will the federal New Democratic Party choose former broadcaster and anti-Israel activist Avi Lewis as their new leader? Is Pierre Poilievre, a staunch ally of Israel, going to survive his party's leadership review in January? And what about the economic problems our country continues to face stemming from U.S. President Donald Trump's trade war? On today's episode of North Star, The CJN's political panelists weigh in. Joining host Ellin Bessner today are Dan Mader a Conservative strategist and a founder of Loyalist Public Affairs, who sits on CJPAC's advisory board and volunteers with Friends of JNF Canada; David Birnbaum, a former Liberal member of the Quebec National Assembly for the riding of D'Arcy-McGee in Montreal; and Noah Tepperman, a past president of the Windsor-Tecumseh NDP riding association, who has advised the federal and provincial NDP on Jewish issues. Related links Read more about Canada recognizing the State of Palestine in Sept. 2025, in  The CJN. Hear federal Liberal cabinet minister Evan Solomon on how his government is taking antisemitism seriously, as well as the safety of Jews, in  The CJN. How Toronto's Jewish community gave a warm welcome to Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre at a synagogue in December, in  The CJN. Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner ( @ebessner ) Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer) Music: Bret Higgins Support our show Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to North Star (Not sure how? Click here )

On Dec. 9, 2025, The CJN teamed up with the Shalom Hartman Institute and two synagogues in Toronto—Beth Tzedec and Holy Blossom Temple—to host a live event called Pathways to Hope, a conversation with young Israeli changemakers. The Hartman Institute runs a project called Hazon, which mentors Israeli university students who are also active in their campus's pro-democracy movement, among other social justice issues in Israel.  Two of the students, Yonathan Machlis and Ayala Dahan, along with Hartman's director of the Center for Israeli & Jewish Identity, Ronit Heyd, joined North Star producer Zachary Kauffman for a panel discussion about what gives them hope amid a challenging time for Israeli democracy. The panel also shares their vision for Israel's future and what it means to enact democracy as the Jewish State heads towards an election in October.  Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner ( @ebessner ) Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Andrea Varsany (producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer) Music: Bret Higgins Support our show Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to North Star (Not sure how? Click here )

Fans of the long-running game show Family Feud Canada may have caught the Bernstein family appearing as contestants last week. The five family members—who all live around Richmond Hill and Oshawa—taped their episodes back in August at CBC headquarters in Toronto, but had to keep their appearances a secret until their three episodes aired on Dec. 15-17. In an interview with The CJN's North Star podcast, two of the family members reveal how proud they were to represent Judaism on the small screen—bantering in Yiddish with comic host Gerry Dee—even though their episodes ended up airing during difficult times. The family watched themselves on TV last week, shortly after losing patriarch Nat Bernstein, 101, in Montreal. And while the timing around Hanukkah was convenient for celebration (especially given how much gelt they won), the terror attack at Bondi Beach in Australia cast a pall over their excitement. To find out what the experience was like, why they auditioned, and what the five of them will do with the prize money, siblings Shaun Bernstein and Alexis Orchard join North Star host Ellin Bessner. Related links Watch the Bernstein family's three episodes on Family Feud Canada on CBC Gem , or see clips on YouTube . Read about the Kestelman family including Rabbi Stephen Wise and his wife Cheryl, who runs the synagogue's supplementary school, his sister Renee Cohen of TanenbaumCHAT, and other relatives win on Family Feud Canada back in 2022, in The CJN. Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner ( @ebessner ) Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer) Music: Bret Higgins Support our show Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to North Star (Not sure how? Click here )

Cabinet Minister Evan Solomon tells The CJN in a wide-ranging interview how the government is 'highly engaged' in monitoring terrorist threats against Canada's Jewish community. Solomon spent much of last week carrying out his official role as Canada's first Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Innovation, making funding announcements to support local researchers and entrepreneurs. But on Dec. 14, the rookie politician made a point to tell Canadians about the impact that the Bondi Beach Hanukkah massacre had on Canada's Jewish community—including himself. Having already spoken to his rabbi and congregants at his synagogue, Holy Blossom Temple in midtown Toronto, he quickly headed downtown to City Hall to film a video of support, inviting Mayor Olivia Chow to join. Days later, he took part in a roundtable discussion with RCMP officials and other Canadian law enforcement agencies, where politicians and Jewish community leaders were briefed about the possibility of a domestic copycat attack. Solomon insists his government is “highly engaged” with what he calls the “unacceptable level” of antisemitic attacks and the “threat level” that's causing fear and anxiety for his community. On today's episode of The CJN's North Star podcast, Solomon sits down with host Ellin Bessner to explain what is being done. Related links Evan Solomon was one the two Jewish MPs from Toronto who were appointed to Prime Minister Mark Carney's new government in May 2025, in The CJN . Hear Evan Solomon's (and Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow's_ message to the Jewish community for Hanukkah, after last week's Australian Bondi Beach massacre, on The CJN's North Star podcast. Learn more about Evan Solomon's election campaign for the Liberals in Toronto Centre, one of the key ridings to watch in April 2025, with a tiny Jewish electorate at 1.4% of the population, in The CJN. Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner ( @ebessner ) Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer) Music: Bret Higgins Support our show Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to North Star (Not sure how? Click here )

When sociologist Robert Brym published his research on Canadian Jewry in November 2024, his findings made international headlines. While 94 per cent of the community said they support Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state—and about 84 per cent were strongly or somewhat emotionally attached to Israel—barely half said they called themselves Zionists. The three progressive Jewish organizations that commissioned the survey concluded it proves how nuanced conversations about Israel are within Canada's Jewish community after Oct. 7. It also showed how no one can claim to speak for the majority of Canadian Jews, they added—not the mainstream centre-right organizations, nor the anti-Zionist far-left ones. All the while, the author himself has been quietly fuming, as he believes his original findings have been “weaponized”, deliberately misinterpreted by Jewish groups—mainly Independent Jewish Voices—in order to bolster their own political goals. This came to his attention a few weeks ago in the Senate, where a committee has been studying antisemitism in Canada. Byrm has been sitting on the results of a new study he did earlier this year, which he says proves them wrong. He revisited the same nearly 600 people who answered the first time, and asked why 51 per cent felt they could not call themselves Zionists. Now that his paper has been published in the latest issue of the academic journal Canadian Jewish Studies, Brym is eager to set the record straight: while he found the same overwhelming support for Israel as a Jewish state at 94%, modern interpretations of the word “Zionism” are making many Canadian Jews reject the label. On today's episode of The CJN's North Star podcast, Ellin Bessner sits down with Brym to unpack his latest findings and to hear his advice for people who support Israel but don't want to use the Z-word. Related links Read Brym's new  2025 study just published in the Association of Canadian Jewish Studies' latest journal edition.  Read his first  2024 survey done on behalf of NIFCanada, JSpaceCanada and Canadian Friends of Peace Now Hear how the heads of New Israel Fund of Canada and JSpace Canada broke down the findings of the first 2024 survey, on  The CJN's Bonjour Chai podcast from Dec. 2024. Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner (@ebessner) Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer Music: Bret Higgins Support our show Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to North Star (Not sure how? Click here)

Funerals began Wednesday in Australia for some of the 15 Jewish victims of the Dec. 14 Bondi Beach massacre, including Rabbi Eli Schlanger. The Chabad rabbi was shot at the popular Hanukkah candle-lighting festival near his synagogue during the terrorist attack by an ISIS-affiliated suspect. Among those who will be mourning is a former Ottawan, Michael Gencher, who now runs the Australian arm of the Jewish advocacy organization StandWithUs. Gencher was a close friend of the murdered rabbi and knew others who were killed. Gencher blames what happened squarely on the Australian government. He believes much more could have been done by the federal government over the last two years to crack down on escalating antisemitic hate, which included street protests and firebombings. Meanwhile, Jason Adessky, a former Montrealer, was near Bondi Beach with his children and their Canadian grandmother on Sunday to pick up Hanukkah treats. They nearly brought the family to the beachfront festivities, but decided against it because of the heat. Now Adessky is “trying not to think about the ‘what ifs'”. On today's episode of The CJN's North Star podcast, host Ellin Bessner is joined by Jason Adessky and Michael Gencher to hear how the massacre has affected them personally, along with Australia's 117,000 other Jewish residents. Related links Read about how Canada's Jewish community is responding to the Australian terrorist attack, in The CJN. Watch the broadcast of the funeral for Rabbi Eli Schlanger, the Chabad emissary gunned down at his Hanukkah beach festival by ISIS-influenced terrorists on Bondi Beach on Dec. 14. Hear Canadian political leaders warn that our governments must do more to prevent a similar attack here, on The CJN's North Star podcast . Donate to help the victims' families in Australia with links on the Chabad of Bondi website. Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner ( @ebessner ) Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer) Music: Bret Higgins Support our show Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to North Star (Not sure how? Click here )

In the wake of Sunday's terrorist attack on Australia's Jewish community, Canadian Jews are feeling angry, scared, mournful and defiant, with some seriously considering moving to Israel. As of Sunday night EST, the death toll in New South Whales had risen to 15 victims, including the host of the Bondi Beach candle-lighting event, Chabad Rabbi Eli Schlanger, who has deep ties to Toronto and Ottawa. Meanwhile, officials believe up to 60 other festival-goers were wounded, including the rabbi's wife, a mother of five. One of the two shooters was also killed. In Canada, rabbis and Jewish leaders urged their community to push back against terror, show extra pride and make an effort to attend public candle-lighting ceremonies this Hanukkah. But some fear Canada is equally ripe for an attack like Australia's, due to the failure of public officials to stop hate speech and protests on our streets featuring chants like “Globalize the Intifada”. On today's episode of The CJN's North Star podcast with Ellin Bessner, you'll hear what Jewish Canada sounded like while mourning Jews on the other side of the planet. We're joined by Richard Marceau, a senior official with the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, who just returned from an antisemitism conference in Australia six days prior to the attack; award-winning Canadian author Sidura Ludwig, who lined up early to buy special sufganiyot at a Thornhill bakery; Sara Lefton of UJA Federation of Greater Toronto; Rabbi Levi Gansburg of Chabad on Bayview, who knew the murdered rabbi; and political leaders, including Prime Minister Mark Carney, Toronto mayor Olivia Chow and cabinet minister Evan Solomon. Related links Read more about how Canadian Jewish leaders and politicians have reacted to the mass terrorist shooting in Australia, in The CJN . Why Australia's prime minister accused Iran of trying to destabilize their country, including by masterminding the arson at the Melbourne synagogue in 2024 and firebombing of a kosher deli, in The CJN.   This Australian Jewish leader said his country and community are ignoring online hate, at their peril, during a visit to Winnipeg in February 2025, in The CJN . Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner ( @ebessner ) Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer) Music: Bret Higgins Support our show Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to North Star (Not sure how? Click here )

This weekend, starting on Dec. 12, thousands of Jewish teens from nearly 70 countries, including Canada, will be participating in BBYO's annual #GlobalShabbat weekend, featuring dances, Havdalah services and other meaningful Jewish events in between. These BBYO high schoolers can thank Vancouver student Levi Moskovitz for helping raise a lot of the money to pay for it. Moskovitz, a Grade 12 King David High School student with a passion for finance, is halfway through his term serving as BBYO International's treasurer. Elected in February, he's the sole Canadian teen on the current leadership board of the century-old Jewish youth organization. As treasurer, a title known as Grand Aleph Gizbor, Moskovitz has many duties—among them, overseeing a global fundraising blitz last week, called #GivingBBYODay, where they raised $1.6 million in a single day. But Moskovitz, 17, is equally proud of his success revitalizing BBYO chapters here in Canada and attracting hundreds of new teens to find community and a safe space after Oct. 7. On today's episode of The CJN's North Star podcast, we hear from Levi Moskovitz in Vancouver to hear why BBYO is sort of a family business. His father, Rabbi Dan Moskovitz, himself a former BBYO international leader, also joins, and we'll hear from BBYO's regional director in Winnipeg, Jonah Posner. Related links Read more about why Levi Moskovitz was nominated this fall as one of The CJN's Chai Achievers . Learn more about BBYO's Canadian activities, including in the Vancouver area and Winnipeg's Global Shabbat Dec. 12. Discover when this Ontario teen was elected president of the international B'nai Brith Girls organization, in The CJN, from 2014. Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner (@ebessner) Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Andrea Varsany (producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer) Music: Bret Higgins Support our show Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to North Star (Not sure how? Click here)

Toronto police, investigating the suspected hate-motivated theft of mezuzahs from a seniors apartment complex over the weekend, now tell The CJN they have raised their original count of 20 cases to approximately 30. But community leaders—including rabbis, political offices and some tenants—believe the true number is significantly higher, anywhere from 60 to 110. Police acknowledge their count is probably low, but they need the victims to report the crime before they can confirm it. Beginning Sunday, Toronto police's hate crime unit and other officers combed through the 14-storey West Don Apartment complex in the Jewish area of Bathurst and Steeles. By the following afternoon, volunteers from the Jewish Russian Community Centre and Unapologetically Jewish replaced more than 60 mezuzahs. But the disturbing crime spree has left many residents shaken, including one who reportedly asked if the mezuzah could be installed inside their apartment, not outside, to avoid being targeted. The City of Toronto has stationed personnel from the public housing division's Community Safety Unit at the seniors building for the next couple of weeks “for safety and security support”. On today's episode of The CJN's North Star podcast, host Ellin Bessner brings you her on-the-scene report, where you'll hear from tenants including Lev Zaidel and Shoshana Pellman, and also from some of the volunteers, including local Rabbi Yirmi Cohen, Rabbi Mendel Zaltzman and Rabbi Shmuel Neft, who showed up to help. Related links Read more about how the Jewish community came together to help the seniors who were victims of the mezuzah theft, in The CJN . Learn more about how to donate mezuzahs through the Jewish Russian Community Centre. This Toronto condo complex had 7 mezuzahs stolen in 2017. What did the victims say? In The CJN . Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner ( @ebessner) Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Andrea Varsany (producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer) Music: Bret Higgins Support our show Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to North Star (Not sure how? Click here )

Over the last two weeks, the Polish government has been doubling down on its official narrative that, during the Second World War, its own people were the victims of the Germans—not responsible for collaborating in the murder of millions of Jews during the Holocaust. That policy has been law since 2018, and has led to strained relations with Israel, Holocaust survivors and academic scholars, including award-winning Canadian professor Jan Grabowski. Grabowski, a historian at the University of Ottawa and the child of a Warsaw Holocaust survivor, has spent years researching how ordinary Poles denounced, betrayed and helped carry out the murder of 200,000 Jews—mostly without any prodding from the Nazis. That's why Grabowski, who has been sued by the Polish state over this issue, has been closely monitoring the recent flare-ups involving Poland, Israel, and even Germany, which began at the end of November. It started on Nov. 19, when the new U.S. ambassador to Poland—an observant American Jew who used to run the Jerusalem Post—told a startled Warsaw conference that it was “a grotesque falsehood” and a “historic injustice” to blame Poland for Holocaust crimes committed by others. After that, a popular far-right member of the Polish parliament stood outside the gates of Auschwitz to oppose the country's plan to adopt a new antisemitism strategy. He called for Jews to be kicked out of the country. Then, on Nov. 25, the Israeli ambassador to Poland was summoned over a social media post from Yad Vashem. On today's episode of The CJN's flagship news podcast North Star, Grabowski joins to unpack why his native country continues distorting the truth about its past involvement in the Holocaust, and how Polish officials are dismissing the historical records he's unearthed, which tell a more nuanced story of who killed Poland's Jews. Related links Example Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner ( @ebessner ) Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Andrea Varsany (producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer) Music: Bret Higgins Support our show Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to North Star (Not sure how? Click here )

“We had a beautiful wedding. Wish you could have been there!” That's what Shawna Magence quipped to her new husband, Steven Weiss, about three weeks ago, after a freak accident marred their joyous marriage ceremony in Florida. Magence, 55, from Toronto, had just stood under the chuppah on Nov. 16 with her husband-to-be, an American from the Five Towns area of Long Island, New York, for the traditional breaking of the glass. Suddenly, people noticed puddles of blood on the floor. It turns out, the broken wedding glass had pierced the groom's right foot, causing a deep gash. Paramedics arrived soon after. Weiss, 59, was strapped onto a gurney and wheeled out to a waiting ambulance. But he didn't depart for the hospital right away—the rabbi had the couple complete the next stage of their wedding inside the emergency vehicle. Eventually, the groom got nine stitches, while the bride returned to the reception, alone, to tend to their guests. And the wedding? It took another day to complete. Meanwhile, the couple is taking the accident in stride, considering it just one more memorable challenge they've had to overcome after the pair, both in their 50s, met in 2024 and embarked on their unexpected, late-in-life romance. On today's episode of The CJN's North Star podcast, we hear the whole incredible wedding story with Shawna Magence—while her groom recuperates. Related links Learn more about “After Forever”, the support group and resources for separated, divorced or widowed Jewish people, co-founded by Shawna Magence. Watch the video of the newlyweds' bloody wedding mishap, on The CJN's YouTube channel Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner ( @ebessner ) Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Andrea Varsany (producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer) Music: Bret Higgins Support our show Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to North Star (Not sure how? Click here )

The winter holiday season is upon us, which means binging TV shows and comfort movies is one of the only ways to pass the time while temperatures plummet outside. With this annual tradition, in the Jewish media world, come annual think pieces about Jewish onscreen representation. And while our rabbinic podcasters have delved into this subject already with the ever-popular sitcom Nobody Wants This, there is a better—and much more deeply Jewish—TV show available to stream on Netflix: Long Story Short. The time-travelling show depicts a single family over multiple generations, bouncing between the 1950s and 2020s, showing how generational trauma manifests in parenting styles, psychological effects, and emotional manipulation—all with a uniquely Jewish flair. On today's episode, with Matthew Leibl away, The CJN's director of podcasts, Michael Fraiman, sits in to discuss the show's impact and themes, and where it fits into the long cannon of hyper-Jewish television that sprang up in the 2010s. Before that, Avi Finegold and Yedida Eisenstat dissect the latest controversy swirling up around misinterpreted comments by Sara Hurwitz, and the gang recaps their American Thanksgivings through a Canadian lens. Credits Hosts: Avi Finegold, Yedida Eisenstat, Matthew Leibl Production team: Zachary Judah Kauffman (editor), Michael Fraiman (executive producer) Music: Socalled Support The CJN Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to Not in Heaven (Not sure how? Click here )

Nearly 40 handwritten letters by a group of Ottawa seniors have made their way into a unique new publication documenting the impact of Oct. 7 over the last two years. The project is by a group called “Active Jewish Adults 50+”, and grew out of a call-out by The CJN in mid-October, following the Israel-Hamas ceasefire and subsequent release of the remaining 20 living hostages. The CJN asked readers to send in their reactions—and these seniors took that request to heart. They meet each Tuesday at the Kehillat Beth Israel synagogue in Ottawa for programming and lunch. Upwards of 50 regulars, between the ages of 70 and 100, took part in this special letter-writing project. But they didn't just send their reactions to The CJN—they decided to publish the letters themselves. The result is a new booklet called Reflections on the Release of the Hostages, launching the week of Dec. 1, just as Hamas handed over more unidentified remains to the Red Cross. Israel hasn't confirmed whether they belong to the final two deceased hostages, still considered missing since Oct. 7. On today's episode of The CJN's flagship news podcast North Star, host Ellin Bessner asks some of the creative seniors to read their submissions and share how the war has affected them. Plus, we hear from Sheila Osterer, the group's executive director, who initiated the project. Related links Learn more about  AJA 50+  and their activities in Ottawa. Read  the new booklet containing letters and poems about Oct. 7, written by the Ottawa Jewish seniors “Creative Connections” group. Hear when Ottawa native Jacqui Rivers-Vital and her husband shared the story of their murdered daughter Adi with the AJA 50+ members, in February 2024, on  The CJN Daily . Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner ( @ebessner ) Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Andrea Varsany (producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer) Music: Bret Higgins Support our show Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to North Star (Not sure how? Click here )

Former Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren, a diplomat and former member of the Israeli Knesset, says he has always refused to do public “gladitorial” debates when it comes to representing Israel these last two decades in public life. But the American-born statesman and author changed his long-standing practice to come to Canada this Wednesday Dec. 3 to headline the Munk Debates on stage in Toronto. Organizers are mounting what they admit is their thorniest topic ever: be it resolved that supporting the two-state solution is in Israel's best interests. Oren is on the “no side” together with right-wing former Israeli politician Ayelet Shaked. They'll take on a former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert former cabinet minister Tzipi Livni, who will be arguing for the “yes” side. The debate is already attracting controversy for several reasons: there were no Palestinian voices invited on the program, and organizers are expecting protests, so security has been ramped up. They also had to move from their traditional venue, Roy Thomson Hall, for the first time in 15 years. But despite the side show, Oren believes the Munk Debates are important to reach a massive online audience with reasoned arguments, including why most Israelis oppose the so-called two-state solution in any near future. He calls the proposal “deranged”, especially after Oct. 7, even though most Western countries, including Canada, are doubling down on the idea. And says the two-state solution is a tragedy for Palestinians. So what's in store for Israel, the Palestinians, and the Middle East? Oren joins The CJN‘s “North Star” podcast host Ellin Bessner on today's episode, for his take. Related Links: Learn more about watching the Munk debate on Dec. 3, 2025. Follow Amb. Michael Oren's columns, his Israel 2048 organization and his books, at his website . Read Amb. Michael Oren's praise for former Canadian prime minister, Stephen Harper and foreign minister, John Baird, during a 2013 speech in Montreal, from The CJN archives Credits:https://munkdebates.com/membership/ Host and writer: Ellin Bessner ( @ebessner ) Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Andrea Varsany (producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer) Music: Bret Higgins Support our show Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to North Star (Not sure how? Click here )

After Hamas terrorists gunned down Rabbi Leo Dee's wife Lucy and two of their daughters, Maia and Rina, during a family outing in the West Bank in April 2023, the tragedy made international headlines. Thousands attended the funerals, where the bereaved rabbi and his three surviving children quickly became public figures. The Dees are officially considered by Israel to be the first victims of the Oct. 7 attacks, despite their murders happening six months before. Rabbi Dee, 53, has since become a sought after speaker and an activist on behalf of other grieving families. So when he announced in June that he was getting remarried, to Aliza Teplitsky, a Canadian formerly of Toronto, the news prompted an outpouring of well wishes. Fans rejoiced that Rabbi Dee had found happiness again, two years after his family was shattered. The new couple had intended to spend two weeks in Canada in July. But Iran had other ideas. Israel's brief war with Tehran broke out just before their trip, forcing it to be postponed until after their high profile marriage, which took place in August in their West Bank community of Efrat. Now though, the newlyweds have arrived in Canada, for what they jokingly refer to as their “workingmoon”, because the private visit also includes meetings and speeches to the Jewish community, and others. The Dees hope to inspire people with his story about how he rebuilt his life, and balances his sorrow with his newfound happiness. It's also why he's written a new book entitled “The Seven Facets of Healing.” On today's episode of The CJN's North Star podcast, Rabbi Leo Dee and Aliza (Teplitsky) Dee join host Ellin Bessner to talk about their self-described rom-com, and about healing, but also to share some harsh criticism of Canada's recent declaration to unilaterally recognize unilateral Palestinian State. Related links Hear Rabbi Leo Dee and Aliza Dee in Toronto Nov. 28 and 29 at Shaarei Shomayim synagogue. or in Whitby on Nov. 30 a local church. Learn more about Rabbi Leo Dee's new book “The Seven Facets of Healing” available now on Amazon. Read about the murders of Rabbi Dee's late wife Lucy, and their daughters Maia and Rina, in this tribute by former Montreal Rabbi Mark Fishman, from April 2023, in The CJN.. Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner ( @ebessner ) Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Andrea Varsany (producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer) Music: Bret Higgins Support our show Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to North Star (Not sure how? Click here )

A recent, landmark study of current and future rabbis was met simultaneously with celebration, skepticism, and concern by groups across the Jewish community. The survey by Atra – Center for Rabbinic Innovation, indicated significant upward trends in rabbis choosing community positions rather than leading congregations from the pulpit, rabbinical students who identify as LGBTQ+ (51 percent), and the number of students receiving rabbinic ordination from  nondenominational schools. The statistics have garnered their share of skepticism and criticism, namely that they under represent Modern Orthodox rabbinical students and that they do not include traditional Orthodox and Haredi populations. But even with those caveats, some community leaders worry that these trends indicate a non-Orthodox rabbinate whose demographics are significantly different than the lay populations they hope to serve, and who may have more difficulty than their predecessors in building relationships with mainstream Jewish community organizations. Our hosts - 3 rabbis and not a pulpit between them - discuss how the study matches up with their own observations and what it means for the future of the Jewish community. They also chat about the recent brouhaha within the Jewish community about an upcoming exhibit at Winnipeg's Canadian Museum for Human Rights, and a spate of Jewish Canadian organisations recently losing their charitable status. And of course, some Textual Healing to ease our listeners into Shabbat Parshat Vayetzei. Credits Hosts: Avi Finegold, Yedida Eisenstat, Matthew Leibl Production team: Zachary Judah Kauffman (editor), Michael Fraiman (executive producer) Music: Socalled Support The CJN Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to Not in Heaven (Not sure how? Click here )

Quebec's nationalist government is expected to table yet another bill later this week that will go even further to take religion out of provincial institutions and public life–and which will likely include a few key issues impacting the Jewish community. The new “Secularism 2.0” law, as the minister in charge has dubbed it, will make it illegal to hold public prayers on the streets, although the province will leave it up to municipalities to enforce the ban. Some observers believe it's a response to growing concerns in Quebec since Oct. 7, 2023 over the frequent, intimidating anti-Israel protests where Muslim demonstrators block traffic to hold prayer services. Others say it's a sign the ruling CAQ government is in trouble at the polls, which is why lawmakers are doubling down on Quebec's existing secularism restrictions. Since 2019, many government employees have been banned from covering their faces, and from wearing religious symbols like hijabs and kippahs at work. Then just a few weeks ago, Bill 94 was passed on Oct. 30, that expanded these bans to more people in the Quebec education system. It also revoked the practice of giving public school staff and students accommodation via time off to observe their religious holidays. While there is some fear this coming week's newer proposals could impact provincially-subsidized day schools, and ban kosher meals in public institutions, Jewish leaders say they will wait to comment until the actual bill is tabled. All this comes after recent local elections, which saw Montreal elect a new mayor who is seen as friendlier to the security concerns of the Jewish community, while in the majority-Jewish municipalities of Côte Saint-Luc and Hampstead, two kippah-wearing mayors have now officially been sworn in to office. The CJN's Quebec correspondent Joel Ceausu joins “North Star” host Ellin Bessner–back from vacation–to unpack all these developments. Related links Read about Côte Saint-Luc's newly elected mayor, David Tordjman, in The CJN . Learn more about Montreal's new mayor and some of the key issues impacting Jewish voters, in The CJN . How Quebec moved to tighten secularism laws, bans religious symbols and face coverings for school staff, with more to come, in The CJN . Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner ( @ebessner ) Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Andrea Varsany (producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer) Music: Bret Higgins Support our show Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to North Star (Not sure how? Click here )

While host Ellin Bessner is on vacation, we're bringing you an episode from the archives of our show. This episode originally aired 06/20/2022. For the past 20 years, Ari Sitnik has taken small acting gigs on the side in Toronto. But nothing compared to two weeks ago, when he got a call to show up at the Royal York Hotel for the top-secret filming of Drake's new music video, “Falling Back”. The video shows a lavish wedding featuring Drake getting married to 23 Instagram models. Sitnik, as the officiant, appears right at the beginning, clad in his ultra-Orthodox outfit, asking the betrothed if they will act "according to our values and traditions." He then pronounces them "man and wives." Today on The CJN Daily, you'll meet the real Sitnik, the father of four who works as a computer specialist, who doesn't call himself "Rabbi Sitnik," who was born in Brazil before moving to Canada—and who isn't too worried about Jews criticizing his portrayal of our religion for what is currently the most popular (and controversial) music video on the internet. Related links Watch the video for " Falling Back " Watch Sitnik in the " Slammin for Shabbos " video Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner ( @ebessner ) Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Andrea Varsany (producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer) Music: Bret Higgins Support our show Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to North Star (Not sure how? Click here )

While host Ellin Bessner is on vacation, we're bringing you an episode from the archives of our show. This episode originally aired February 13, 2023. More than five years have passed since the still-unsolved murders of philanthropists Barry and Honey Sherman in their Toronto home. Despite a $35-million reward for clues to solve their killing, the case remains a mystery. Conspiracy theories abound over who did it and why, with fingers being pointed at the Clintons, Big Pharma, the Sherman children, a cousin or even the Mossad. Police haven't released any clues in more than a year. But interest is about to heat up again as two major Canadian news outlets give the story the true-crime treatment, each releasing podcasts about the Shermans—this same month. The two shows take very different approaches. One is hosted by Kevin Donovan, the Toronto Star reporter who broke most of the Sherman case and wrote a book about it; the other, produced by the CBC, is hosted by Jewish journalist Kathleen Goldhar. She has produced previous hit shows about a romance scammer and the cult that ensnared two Bronfman sisters. Today, both podcasters join The CJN Daily to explain why they have been pursuing the case for years and whether either of their competing shows actually provide closure to the unsolved mystery. What we talked about:. Learn why the Toronto police  released this video  of a person of interest Hear Kevin Donovan on  The CJN Daily  talk about his book  The Billionaire Murders , which the new podcast is based on Read about  the philanthropic legacy  of the Shermans Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner ( @ebessner ) Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Andrea Varsany (producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer) Music: Bret Higgins Support our show Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to North Star (Not sure how? Click here )

In the lead-up to New York's mayoral election, many prominent Jewish New Yorkers came out against the eventual winner, Zohran Mamdani. Now that Mamdani has won, what do they do? How do they reconcile that a third of the city's Jews voted for someone who has spoken out against Israel? And how can they preach about unity when they already made clear they were taking sides? This is the topic of today's episode of Not in Heaven, inspired by a recent column in the Forward, titled, "I spoke out against Mamdani. Then he won. Here's how we walk forward together," by Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove. In it, the rabbi writes how found it "totally bewildering" that a third of Jewish voters voted for Mamdani. Our rabbinic podcasters dig into what that says about the shifting politics of North American Jews and how, if at all, our communities can stand together and be united. Credits Hosts: Avi Finegold, Yedida Eisenstat, Matthew Leibl Production team: Zachary Judah Kauffman (editor), Michael Fraiman (executive producer) Music: Socalled Support The CJN Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to Not in Heaven (Not sure how? Click here )

This episode originally aired Oct. 15, 2024. On the night of Oct. 16, 2024, Jews around Canada welcomed the holiday of Sukkot, having erected temporary wooden or cloth structures outside their synagogues and homes. While celebrating in their makeshift shacks, many told stories of the huts that ancient Israelites lived in after their exodus from Egypt. Meanwhile, in modern-day Canada, a different kind of exodus is happening across the country: young Jewish families, along with Canadians of all stripes, are finding themselves priced out of the housing market, fleeing their home cities to find affordable houses in ever-farther destinations. While the cost of a sukkah kit may seem steep these days, in the hundreds or low thousands, it pales it comparison to the national average cost of a house: nearly $650,000. As a result, housing organizations are stepping in to find creative solutions. One such company with deep Jewish roots is Ourboro, whose COO, Eyal Rosenblum, is the son of Israeli immigrants. The company essentially buys a stake in your house by lending you up to $250,000 for your down payment. Whatever the percentage of the down payment is, that's what you'll have to pay them back once you sell. The idea has caught on, with real estate developer Miles Nadal having joined Ourboro as a key investor. Eyal Rosenblum joins The CJN Daily to explain how this concept can help some Canadians afford homes, and why his Jewish values align with the idea. Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner ( @ebessner ) Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Andrea Varsany (producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer) Music: Bret Higgins Support our show Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to North Star (Not sure how? Click here )

Mickey Heller wasn't eager to open up about his Second World War military service. But his grandson, Aron Heller, a journalist and contributor to The CJN, was curious about his zayde's wartime past—and so, over the span of a decade, he asked questions durings phone calls, visits and emails. As Heller discovered his grandfather's fascinating untold stories, he decided to expand his scope of inquiry to include his grandfather's circle of Jewish veterans who fought in the Second World War, and also Israel's War of Independence as overseas volunteer fighters called mahal. In one story, Heller discovers previously unpublished details about a long-unsolved plane crash in southern Israel that cost the lives of three Canadian military volunteers in 1948. Heller combined these stories into a new nonfiction book, Zaidy's Band, to be released Nov. 11, 2025, for Remembrance Day. Heller joins North Star host Ellin Bessner to share stories about his late grandfather and the parallels between that elder generation and those who are defending Israel today. Related links Learn more about Aron Heller's new book [Zaidy's Band ](https://aronheller.com/)and see where he's holding book talks across Canada from Nov. 11-19. Read Aron Heller's tribute to his late grandfather Mickey Heller, in [The CJN archives](https://thecjn.ca/opinion/even-as-he-turns-100-rcaf-veteran-mickey-heller-goes-back-to-memories-of-the-second-world-war/). Read Aron Heller's coverage from Israel of Oct. 7 in [[The CJN](https://thecjn.ca/opinion/canadian-dispatches-from-israel-at-wartime-like-father-like-daughter/)] Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner (@ebessner) Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Andrea Varsany (producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer) Music: Bret Higgins Support our show Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN Subscribe to North StarClick here

Twenty years ago, when Ilanit-Michele Woods urged her grandmother Olga Fisch to write down her memoirs of life in Hungary before and after the Holocaust, Woods could never have imagined the journey that manuscript would make. The 75 typed pages, all in Hungarian, sat unread for decades in Montreal, long after Olga died in 2017. The family eventually translated the documents into English at the Montreal Holocaust Museum in the summer of 2023. And because Woods is an award-winning sound editor, with both a BAFTA award and an Emmy nomination on her resume, she turned a microphone toward herself and her mother and recorded hours of tape during trips to Hungary, Poland and Israel, shortly after Oct. 7. The mother-daughter duo explored the places that shaped Olga's remarkable life. As a teenager, Olga had been deported from eastern Hungary to Auschwitz; she was later shipped off to a slave-labour factory, and sent on a death march. They also explored the source of their mother's Holocaust trauma, which they firmly believe has impacted three generations of their family. The long-lost manuscript might eventually become a book. In the meantime, Woods has released a six-part audio podcast entitled Olga, Erika and Me, which launched in Montreal in Sept. 2025. On today's episode of The CJN's North Star podcast, host Ellin Bessner is joined by Woods and her mother, Erika Ciment, to discuss how the audio format will enhance the storytelling. Related links Listen to the six-part podcast Olga, Erika and Me Watch the trailer for the podcast on YouTube Learn more about the podcast via the Montreal Holocaust Museum Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner (@ebessner) Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Andrea Varsany (producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer) Music: Bret Higgins Support our show Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to North Star (Not sure how? Click here)

The hit Netflix rom-com Nobody Wants This is back, and with it are Jewish debates about intermarriage and onscreen representation in mainstream media. The show's first season tells the story of heartthrob Rabbi Noah (Adam Brody) and non-Jewish podcaster Joanne (Kirsten Bell) falling in love. It was an unexpected hit for Netflix last fall, topping its most-watched list for weeks. Some Jewish viewers rejoiced at a popular portrayal of a common reality: families blended with non-Jews, not terribly religiously observant, yet still connected to their Jewish identity. Others bristled at a show that celebrates a Jewish religious leader breaking a deeply held community taboo, and criticized it for it representation of Jewish practice. Regardless of which viewpoint you took, the show was a nearly unavoidable topic at Jewish dinner tables when it first launched—and season two appears to be trending in the same direction. Our three rabbinic podcasters discuss the show, its merits and its pitfalls, including how is ostensibly frames Judaism as an obstacle to be overcome on the road to happily ever after. Credits Hosts: Avi Finegold, Yedida Eisenstat, Matthew Leibl Production team: Zachary Judah Kauffman (editor), Michael Fraiman (executive producer) Music: Socalled Support The CJN Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to Not in Heaven (Not sure how? Click here)

The name Hannah Senesh is a household legend for many Israelis, and also for Diaspora Jews of a certain generation–especially those who attended Jewish school. Over the years, there have been books and films and documentaries about her, and even a recent re-enactment of Senesh's famous 1944 military commando mission when she and dozens of Jewish volunteers parachuted back into Nazi occupied Europe to try to rescue tens of thousands of imperilled Jews and also save downed Allied pilots. But Canadian journalist and author Douglas Century, of Calgary, felt there was more to discover about the brave Hungarian teenager who escaped growing antisemitism in her native Budapest at the start of the Second World War, to pursue her Zionist ideals as an illegal immigrant to British Mandate Palestine in 1939. Senesh was eventually captured by Hungarian collaborators, tortured, and despite an offer of clemency if she confessed, was executed by firing squad eighty-one years ago this week, on Nov. 7, 1944. She was only 23. Her poems and diaries were recovered after her death, and published, like Anne Frank's. One poem, known as “Eli Eli”, is regularly sung at Holocaust remembrance ceremonies. Douglas Century joins host Ellin Bessner on today's episode of The CJN's North Star podcast to explain why his new book about Hannah Senesh aims to challenge the historical record that the wartime mission was a failure. Related links Learn more about Douglas Century's new book about Hannah Senesh at the Canadian book launch on Nov. 19 at Toronto's Holy Blossom Temple.  Order the book “Crash of the Heavens: The Remarkable Story of Hannah Senesh”. Read The CJN's Treasure Trove from 2024 paying tribute on the 80th anniversary of Hannah Senesh's execution. Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner (@ebessner) Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Andrea Varsany (producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer) Music: Bret Higgins Support our show Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to North Star (Not sure how? Click here)