Shows
The CJN Daily with Ellin BessnerThe CJN Daily's political panel weighs in on the 2025 federal electionWith just a week left in the 2025 federal election, it remains unclear which way Jewish voters will lean. Will they give stock to the parties’ promises on the economy, housing and sovereignty? Or will they be single-issue voters and focus on security within their own community? And how will they decide which party’s stance is more aligned with their views on Israel and the ongoing conflict with Hamas?
Although Canadian Jews make up just one percent of the population, surprisingly, all the main federal party leaders have made promises about these very issues, including during both of last week...2025-04-2134 minThe CJN Daily with Ellin BessnerCanada's kosher meat packers won in federal court. How will this affect the Jewish community?Last week, the Federal Court of Canada sided with Jewish communities in Montreal and Toronto in their dispute with the federal government over new biological guidelines covering how cows are slaughtered. On July 24, the judge granted kosher meat producers a temporary injunction, effectively pausing the enforcement of new guidelines that are aimed at ensuring animals don’t feel undue pain when they’re killed.
Jewish groups such as Montreal Kosher and the Kashruth Council of Canada argued in court that the guidelines not only were bad science, but were not in keeping with ritual practice, and were too costly. Whic...2024-07-2924 minThe CJN Daily with Ellin BessnerThis CUPE member is suing one of Canada’s biggest unions over systemic antisemitismOn Oct. 8, 2023, one day after the Hamas terror attack on Israel, Fred Hahn—the president of Ontario’s chapter of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE)—wrote a tweet on his social media account: “I’m thankful for the power of workers, the power of resistance around the globe. Because #Resistance is fruitful and no matter what some might say, #Resistance brings progress, and for that, I’m thankful.”
It was a controversial post, due to the timing, though Hahn denies he was referring to Oct. 7—even though the longtime labour leader has a history of pro-Palestinian activism, and CUPE Ontario...2024-07-2522 minThe CJN Daily with Ellin BessnerAfter Fredericton's pride parade was led by pro-Palestinian activists, local Jews worry about their place in the cityFredericton's annual LGBTQ pride parade wound its way through the New Brunswick capital on July 21—with the Fredericton Palestine Solidarity group leading the event as grand marshals. The march went ahead despite the mayor and provincial lieutenant-governor pulling out due to the event's distinctly political tone.
Local Jewish leaders and groups, meanwhile, tried to keep the parade apolitical and convince sponsors to boycott it. The parade has become the latest anti-Zionist flashpoint in Fredericton since Oct. 7, after at least three hate crimes against Jews have occurred in the past few months. A synagogue was vandalized before a Ho...2024-07-2225 minThe CJN Daily with Ellin BessnerWhen a craft market in Saskatoon banned Zionists, these Jewish parents decided to fight backAt the end of June, a queer artist group's craft market was scheduled to celebrate Pride Month in Saskatoon with an event called Cheers for Queers. The organizers declared support for Palestine, later laying down an umbrella ban on Zionists. Jews could come, they said—just not Zionist ones.
That's when a local parent recalled an interview they'd heard on this very podcast stream, aired exclusively to subscribers of The CJN Daily, in which a Montreal-based lawyer discussed ways to combat antisemitism. Now other parents have joined her to form a new grassroots organization to draw newfound at...2024-07-1124 minThe CJN Daily with Ellin BessnerWill UofT’s encampment be allowed to stay up? An Ontario court is ruling soon—here’s what you should knowAn Ontario court judge is expected to rule as early as this week on whether the seven-week-old pro-Palestinian tent city at the University of Toronto will be allowed to remain, or whether it must be dismantled immediately—with police help, if necessary. Lawyers for the university were in court last week arguing the encampment is illegal and has done irreparable harm to UofT’s international reputation, while also violating the rights of Jewish and pro-Israel students and staff. Lawyers for the student protestors countered in court that their right to free speech and free assembly trumps any concerns the scho...2024-06-2425 minThe CJN Daily with Ellin Bessner‘My legs are tired but my heart is full’: Hear the sounds of Toronto’s historic Walk with IsraelEllin Bessner, host of The CJN Daily _podcast, was admittedly nervous ahead of Sunday’s 55th annual Walk with Israel, held by UJA Federation of Greater Toronto. For weeks, pro-Palestinian protest groups in the city had been threatening to disrupt the important Jewish solidarity march—the first one since the deadly Hamas attack on Oct. 7.
It was stunning watching the record turnout of an estimated 50,000 people—and also seeing the massive police presence that kept a lid on trouble.
But by the time Bessner and her family completed the nearly five-kilometre walk on June 9, her anxiety over the Middle Eastern...2024-06-1023 minThe CJN Daily with Ellin BessnerFormer Israeli hostage Hagar Brodutch fears time is running out for the others still held in GazaHagar Brodutch, her husband Avichai and their three children are settling into their temporary home in Toronto for an extended vacation after a horrific ordeal. Hagar and the kids were among the most high-profile hostages kidnapped on Oct. 7 by Hamas and released after 51 days, during a ceasefire deal in November 2023.
Many Canadians followed the Brodutch case closely because they have family living in Toronto who advocated tirelessly on their behalf with Canadian and Israeli authorities.
The Brodutches lived in Kfar Aza until their kibbutz near the Gaza border was attacked by Hamas terrorists who broke into the family’s sa...2024-06-0522 minThe CJN Daily with Ellin BessnerThe CJN’s Honourable Menschen: Remembering the politically embattled Patti Starr, referee Harry Davis and other late influential Canadian JewsThe CJN Daily‘s Honourable Menschen is back, just ahead of Lag b’Omer on June 11, when tens of thousands of observant Jews traditionally make a pilgrimage to Israel’s Mt. Meron to visit the tomb of Rabbi Simeon Bar Yochai, the author of the Zohar.
Ahead of the calendar anniversary, it felt important to shine a spotlight on the legacies left by these recently departed Canadian Jewish figures: Patricia “Patti” Starr, who rose to notoriety at the centre of one of Ontario’s biggest political scandals; Harry Davis, a boxer turned legendary boxing referee; Jack Prince, who caught the last boa...2024-05-2228 minThe CJN Daily with Ellin BessnerAn Israeli high schooler was beaten up in Fredericton. Her family believes it was a hate crimeOn April 30, Shaked Tsurkan, a 14-year-old Israeli girl attending high school in New Brunswick, was followed and beaten up by an older student. It happened off school grounds during the lunch hour and other classmates gathered to watch—someone even filmed the whole thing on their phone, later posted to social media, where you can see Tsurkan getting jumped from behind, thrown to the ground and punched repeatedly.
According to Shaked, her assailant is an older female Muslim student who also attends her school, Leo Hayes High School, in Fredericton. It appears the physical assault came after months of be...2024-05-1520 minThe CJN Daily with Ellin BessnerPro-Palestinian tent protests have spilled onto Canadian campuses. What happens next?Show notes:
At least five Canadian university campuses are now home to temporary tent cities erected by pro-Palestinian students protesting Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza. The U of T, McGill, Western, the University of Ottawa and the University of British Columbia have all become focal points for protestors insisting they won’t leave until their schools divest of financial ties to Israel, among other demands. Other schools like TMU are coping with sit-in protests.
So far, local police departments have not forcibly cleared out the compounds, as happened earlier this week at Columbia University in New...2024-05-0229 minThe CJN Daily with Ellin BessnerWhat’s making the kosher meat at the Passover seder different this year?The week before Passover is always a busy time for supermarkets’ kosher meat sections. But this year, the meat you’ll find is likely different, because of a change in how kosher cows are being slaughtered in Canada.
As The CJN Daily reported on earlier this year, the country’s two main kosher certifying bodies, the Kashruth Council of Canada and the Jewish Community Council in Montreal, which runs MK Kosher, have launched a high-profile legal dispute against the Canadian government. At issue are newly enforced regulations designed to make the killing process more humane for animals—but Jewish groups say th...2024-04-1532 minThe CJN Daily with Ellin BessnerA lawsuit prompted the dramatic overhaul of the Toronto Zionist Council, owners of Camp ShalomShow notes
Two Toronto community leaders have gone public about a legal fight involving one of Canada’s oldest Zionist organizations, which also runs Camp Shalom, a 75-year-old Jewish summer camp in Ontario.
David Matlow, a CJN columnist who also lectures widely about Theodore Herzl, has taken the little-known Toronto Zionist Council to court over allegedly restricting who can be a member, claiming the organization only allows Jews who hold right-wing political views on Israel and Zionism. His legal case also alleges years of financial mismanagement by the organization’s former (and one current) directors, negatively impacting the...2024-04-1034 minThe CJN Daily with Ellin BessnerAnthony Housefather explains why he didn’t quit the Liberals—and what he’ll do nextShow notes
Mount Royal’s Member of Parliament, Anthony Housefather, has made headlines for the past three weeks for publicly mulling over whether to quit the governing Liberal party. He found himself torn after being one of just three members of his own party to reject an anti-Israel motion held in Parliament on March 18.
But late on Friday, April 5, Housefather announced he will be staying a Liberal after all. Why? It’s partly because he says Prime Minister Justin Trudeau committed to doing even more to fight the rampant antisemitism in Canada since Oct. 7—and expects Housefather to pla...2024-04-0918 minThe CJN Daily with Ellin BessnerHow Pierre Poilievre spent the weekend courting Toronto’s Jewish communityFor the second time in less than two weeks, Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre is promising Canadian Jews that he has their backs after Oct. 7 in a way that, he says, Canada’s current prime minister no longer does.
Poilievre told a crowd of 600 people at Toronto’s Beth Tikvah synagogue on April 7 that he wants more done to protect Canadian Jews’ rights to live and worship in the country. He called for a crackdown on campus antisemitism, pushed for expanded funding for security around Jewish buildings, and slammed Canadian lawmakers who recently voted in Parliament on March 18 to block arms s...2024-04-0822 minThe CJN Daily with Ellin BessnerVancouver rabbis privately met with Justin Trudeau to tell him 'Jewish Canadians are not safe'Just two months after Justin Trudeau held a closed-door meeting with Toronto’s Jewish leaders, the Canadian prime minister spent an hour last week doing the same thing at a Vancouver synagogue, Temple Sholom. Trudeau met privately with four leading community rabbis and the local Federation’s chair of the community security committee. Sources tell The CJN the meeting was arranged in advance by the Liberal MP for Vancouver Granville, Taleeb Noormohamed.
While there are 10 members of the Rabbinical Association of Vancouver, the meeting was kept small. Several told The CJN they received criticism from their community for attending, beca...2024-04-0115 minThe CJN Daily with Ellin BessnerSunday bonus: Ellin on 'Bonjour Chai': How bad are things for Canadian Jews now?I got to be a guest on The CJN's 'Bonjour Chai' this week, and actually gave my personal opinions about the past 6 months of being a Jewish journalist in Canada. On The CJN Daily, I don't usually state my opinions, so this is a big debut for me! Here's the show as a special bonus Sunday episode.
A slew of headlines came out this week, within Canada and beyond, warning of a rising tide of antisemitism within Canada. It’s not just Fox News and the National Post—_when the Times of Israel is reporting on Canadian Jews w...2024-03-3143 minThe CJN Daily with Ellin BessnerMeet the Canadians knitting for IDF soldiers and running for hostagesIn the early days after the shock of Oct. 7, many Diaspora Jewish communities including Canada swung into action to send military equipment, clothing and medical supplies to Israel–along with emergency financial help. But with the conflict in its sixth month and over 130 Israeli hostages still being held in captivity, grass roots groups have sprung up from coast to coast to coast, as Canadians take their all their grief and worry from the past few months and try to do something positive with it: some with their hands, some with their feet, and some with light.
They are getting ou...2024-03-2822 minThe CJN Daily with Ellin BessnerIsrael ‘weighing its options’ on retaliation for Canada’s weapon sales ban, says ambassador Iddo MoedJust days after Canadian lawmakers voted to stop further export permits of arms sales to Israel, the Israeli ambassador to Ottawa, Iddo Moed, hinted the move would not go unanswered. He told The CJN that Canada’s decision to halt weapons sales—even though the motion was non-binding on the government—sent “the wrong message at the wrong time.”
However, Moed denied that Canada’s new policy would make it harder for Israel to defend itself in its current war against Hamas. This is a walk back from comments the ambassador made earlier last week to other media organizations.
So how does...2024-03-2621 minThe CJN Daily with Ellin BessnerWill Anthony Housefather quit the Liberals? Hear what he has to sayCanadian Liberal MP Anthony Housefather is clear about one thing: he will run for office again in the riding of Mount Royal—and he expects to win. But he’s undecided about whether he’ll stick with the federal Liberals, or choose instead to cross the aisle or even sit as an independent. The 51-year-old, who has represented his riding since 2015, says has been “reflecting” on his political future since Monday, after he found himself one of only three Members of Parliament from the governing party who voted against a motion outlining Canada’s official stance on the Israel-Hamas war.
Housefa...2024-03-2524 minThe CJN Daily with Ellin BessnerYa’ara Saks explains the photo with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas—and her ‘yes’ voteEmbattled cabinet minister Ya’ara Saks says it was her “choice” to meet with the leader of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas last week in Ramallah, and that includes posing for photos that show him holding her arm and hand.
The Liberal MP for a heavily Jewish Toronto riding, the Canadian-Israeli has been heavily criticized by community members since those photos were posted March 14 on the official social media account of Canada’s foreign minister Mélanie Joly. (They were not posted on any of the accounts belonging to Saks herself.)
Saks says she “was asked to go” with Joly on a dip...2024-03-2121 minThe CJN Daily with Ellin BessnerWhat’s the deal with that photo showing Ya’ara Saks holding hands with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas?The photo has caused outrage in Canada’s Jewish community. Last week, the government released an image of the minister of foreign affairs, Melanie Joly, and Ya’ara Saks—her Israeli-Canadian cabinet colleague and Toronto area MP—smiling and holding hands in Ramallah with the leader of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas. The grip and grin photo was taken on March 12, while the two Canadian politicians were on a diplomatic swing through the region, pledging aid to both sides while the war between Israel and Hamas enters its 24th week.
The furor over the photo comes just as Canadian lawmaker...2024-03-1839 minThe CJN Daily with Ellin BessnerWhy did Israeli real estate shows become such a flashpoint for protests in Canada?For decades, Israeli entrepreneurs have been mounting traveling real estate trade shows here in Canada, to encourage Diaspora Jews to buy property in Israel.
But in the wake of Oct. 7, there has been renewed attention paid to anything having to do with Israel and Palestinians, meaning several of these annual real estate events in Montreal and Toronto last week touched off large, aggressive anti-Israel street protests. Critics accuse the promoters (and buyers) of stealing Palestinian land, especially because some of the apartments for sale are located in disputed areas of the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The UN and...2024-03-1125 minThe CJN Daily with Ellin BessnerWhat’s so important about the UN’s new report confirming Oct. 7 rapes, torture of Israeli women?Warning: This episode contains descriptions of sexual violence against women, and may be disturbing to some listeners.
On March 4, days before International Women’s Day, the office of the UN’s Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict released their long-awaited report on what happened to Israeli women near Gaza on Oct. 7. The report paints a gruesome picture of what happened to some of the 300 Israeli women who were attacked and killed by Hamas—and also warns that hostages still being held in Gaza are likely still being rape and tortured.
The UN’s fact-find...2024-03-0721 minThe CJN Daily with Ellin BessnerThis Canadian lone IDF soldier describes life fighting on Israel's wartime frontIt’s been more than 150 days since Hamas captured Israeli hostages on Oct. 7 and took them into Gaza. Hamas leaders claim they don’t know where all the hostages are, or even if they are all still alive. But Nir Maman, a security expert who lives in Toronto, has his theories—including his take on why the Israel Defense Forces haven’t been able to rescue them.
Maman, 47, is one of the older volunteers who’ve flocked to the Jewish State to help his native country respond to the worst attack on Jews since the Holocaust. But despite his age, Maman...2024-03-0634 minThe CJN Daily with Ellin Bessner18 things worth remembering about Brian Mulroney’s support for Canadian Jews and IsraelBrian Mulroney didn’t meet a Jew until he left his home in Quebec to go to boarding school. Yet despite this, the Canadian prime minister, who died on Feb. 29, made fighting antisemitism and supporting Jews—and Israel—priorities during his lengthy political career.
Mulroney, 84, died after a fall in the bathroom of his home in Palm Beach, Florida, friends say. He had recently been treated for prostate cancer. Mulroney served as prime minister for nine years, from 1984 to 1993. He resigned due to growing separatist sentiments in Quebec, a recession and record-low popular support.
However, Jewish leaders and experts say Mu...2024-03-0435 minThe CJN Daily with Ellin BessnerWill Canada's proposed new law regulating online hate speech be derailed by politics?On Feb. 26, Canada signalled it is done waiting for internet giants and social media companies to protect children from consuming or being victims of harmful online content. Justice minister Arif Virani introduced Bill C-63, which sets up a new Digital Safety Commission to handle these cases and impose multimillion-dollar fines on social media sites for not complying.
For the Jewish community, the new law would also toughen penalties for those who incite hatred, including antisemitism, and promote genocide or Holocaust denial.
It’s a long-awaited piece of legislation for Jewish advocacy groups like CIJA, Friends of Simon Wiesenthal and B’...2024-02-2923 minThe CJN Daily with Ellin BessnerWhy these are the most unsafe campuses for Jews in Canada: York, UofT, Concordia, UVic, Queen’s, UBC, TMU and LethbridgeLast Thursday, Feb. 22, the school of business at McGill University in Montreal had to quickly cancel its in-person classes and switch to online learning, because anti-Israel protesters blocked access to the department’s Bronfman building, off Sherbrooke St. W. The protest was called by a campus Palestinian club and was the latest incident in an escalation of what the authors of a new study have found was an alarming rise of antisemitism on Canadian university campuses, especially after Oct. 7.
Researchers at the Abraham Global Peace Initiative (AGPI) released their 2023 campus antisemitism report on Feb. 16. It documents the “intimidation, harassment, and...2024-02-2725 minThe CJN Daily with Ellin BessnerTwo Toronto Raptors fans think their ‘Free Our Hostages’ hoodie should be exempt from political messages banGary Grill and Leora Shemesh want an apology from the owners of the Toronto Raptors basketball team, Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment. On Feb. 22, security at Scotiabank Arena asked Grill to remove his black-and-white “Free Our Hostages” sweatshirt while the two were watching the Raptors play the Brooklyn Nets at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto. The reason given? Because it was “political”.
On principle, Grill chose to leave, rather than remove his hoodie–a gift from Shemesh. Now the friends, who are both criminal defence lawyers, are calling the act discrimination—even though MLSE’s website clearly prohibits fans having “signs, symbols o...2024-02-2626 minThe CJN Daily with Ellin BessnerAs anti-Israel protests spread, the Canadian Civil Liberties Association warns about the dangers of banning them outrightAs hospitals in Toronto announce they are beefing up their security procedures following Monday's anti-Israel protest outside Mount Sinai Hospital, on Feb. 14 police were called to the Thornhill constituency office of Canada's deputy Conservative party leader, Melissa Lantsman. Her staff arrived to work Wednesday to find anti-Israel posters plastering her office's front windows.
After more than four months of anti-Israel protests popping up seemingly everywhere in major cities, calls are getting louder for police to start cracking down on intimidation and harassment of Canadian Jews.
But Noa Mendelsohn Aviv, the executive director of the Canadian...2024-02-1524 minThe CJN Daily with Ellin BessnerWe asked Canada's antisemitism special envoy what she's doing to stop 'despicable' protests targeting JewsCanada’s century-old Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto was founded in 1923 by Jewish doctors who couldn’t find work elsewhere due to antisemitic hiring policies of the day. Now, the hospital which treats patients of all faiths and employs staff from all walks of life, has become the latest flashpoint for anti-Israel protesters and their campaign of intimidation and targeting of Jewish-affiliated institutions across Canada–in the wake of the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack on Israel, and the Israeli government’s declaration of war in Gaza four months ago.
It’s exactly the kind of thing that’s been keeping Debo...2024-02-1429 minThe CJN Daily with Ellin BessnerWhy UNWRA should be dismantled: Canadian UN watchdog Hillel Neuer weighs inTwo weeks ago, Canada joined the United States and other top Western donors in announcing they will suspend further funding to UNWRA, the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees. The move comes after intelligence from Israel and other sources proved the extent to which thousands of UNWRA employees and their family members have ties to Hamas—in some cases, even being full Hamas members and taking part directly in the Oct. 7 terrorist attack, kidnapping and hiding hostages.
Canadian lawyer Hillel Neuer runs the Geneva-based UN Watch, which helped reveal some of that damning evidence. He brought to light a 3,000-m...2024-02-0825 minThe CJN Daily with Ellin BessnerThese Israeli hockey teens came to Canada for a sport break from the warOne of the lesser-known consequences of the horrific Hamas terrorist attack on Israel on Oct. 7, has been the shutdown of normal life for Israelis living in northern Israel: hundreds of families who live near the border with Lebanon had to be evacuated from their homes to escape the barrage of rockets fired by Hezbollah forces, which continues to this day. And that has meant the suspension of hockey games and practise for the small coterie of Israeli players in the country’s hockey program housed at the Canadian-founded arena in Metulla.
But thanks to Canadian supporters of the Israeli ho...2024-02-0727 minThe CJN Daily with Ellin BessnerA rabbi and a surgeon explain why they support MAiD and discuss whether to include those suffering from mental illnessOn Feb. 1, the Canadian government announced it wants to postpone until 2027 the commitment to expand medical assistance in dying (MAiD), which currently does not allow patients with mental illness to end their lives with a physician’s or nurse practitioner’s help.
MAiD has been legal for terminally ill patients since 2016, and since 2021, for those with chronic illness, allowing nearly 45,000 Canadians to subsequently legally end their lives with the program. That number is growing every year.
The new mental health provision was actually supposed to come into effect this March, already a year later than originally planned. But the Libe...2024-02-0539 minThe CJN Daily with Ellin BessnerWhy trustee Nili Kaplan-Myrth is fighting back against the Ottawa school board that sanctioned herWhen the trustees of the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board convene their monthly public meeting on Tuesday Jan. 30, the trustee for Zone 9, Dr. Nili Kaplan-Myrth, will not be permitted to participate. It’s a result of the sanctions imposed on the high-profile physician, back in December, for what the board voted were breaches of their trustees’ code of conduct. In effect, the sanctions bar her from fully carrying out her elected role, which also means keeping her off five school board committees for the next three months.
Kaplan-Myrth maintains she did nothing to justify the punishments in what she calls an “...2024-01-3023 minThe CJN Daily with Ellin BessnerInternational Court of Justice: Who won and who lost?What did Friday’s International Court of Justice ruling mean? Did Israel actually get convicted of carrying out genocide on the Palestinian people in Gaza during its three-month military campaign that began when Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7? Why did Israel’s own judge on the panel, Aharon Barak, vote against his country in some rulings? And what happens now?
While the ICJ didn’t tell Israel to stop the war, it also didn’t throw out South Africa’s genocide charges altogether: they could be something the court looks into down the road.
The ruling worries Canadian human rights law...2024-01-2928 minThe CJN Daily with Ellin BessnerPaying tribute to Harry Rosen, George Cohon and other high-profile Canadian leaders we lost in 2023: The CJN Daily’s ‘Honourable Menschen’ returnsDid you know the late Toronto men’s fashion retailer Harry Rosen actually paid for his first store with a bag of quarters? Or that George Cohon, the lawyer who founded McDonald’s restaurants in Central and Eastern Canada, later brought Big Macs and fries to the USSR?
In the last few months, Canada’s Jewish community said goodbye to Rosen, Cohon and many other esteemed community builders. And on today’s episode of The CJN Daily’s Honourable Menschen, we pay tribute to these honourable men and women. You’ll hear about Zelda Young, who hosted a daily Jewish radio...2024-01-1829 minThe CJN Daily with Ellin BessnerProminent Canadians in Israeli hockey speak out after the IIHF abruptly banned Israel from competitionLast week, the International Ice Hockey Federation—the sport's governing body—announced they were barring Israeli national teams from competing in crucial championship matches this winter. The move is seen by many as an unfair penalty against the Jewish State in the wake of the war with Hamas, in which an estimated 25,000 Palestinians have been killed, resulting from Hamas's terrorist attack on Oct. 7, 2023.
IIHF officials insist their decision was not political, but instead made purely for security reasons: they couldn’t guarantee Israeli athletes' safety from protestors during upcoming matches in Bulgaria, Serbia and Estonia. Nontheless, Israel’s hockey...2024-01-1527 minThe CJN Daily with Ellin Bessner‘It was like standing in a shtetl right after a pogrom’: Why solidarity missions are the only tourism to Israel right nowVancouver rabbis Dan Moskovitz and Carey Brown spent four days in Israel in December 2023 as part of a delegation of eight spiritual leaders from the city. They carried 21 duffel bags full of supplies, toured Kibbutz Be’eri and heard from survivors, met with mourners and visited the grave of Vancouver’s Ben Mizrachi, who was murdered at the Supernova music festival on Oct. 7, 2023.
Three months after the Hamas attack that killed 1,200 residents–sparking a war that shows no end in sight–tourism in the Holy Land has stalled. Many airlines have yet to resume full service to Israel...2024-01-1028 minThe CJN Daily with Ellin BessnerToronto police chief apologizes after officer carries Tim Hortons coffee for anti-Israel protestersAfter weeks of Palestinians staging anti-Israel protests on Canadian streets—even going so far as to take over highway overpasses in the Toronto area—on Jan. 6, uniformed Toronto police officers were filmed handing over a large Tim Hortons coffee container and cups and snacks to some protesters blockading a Jewish neighbourhood at Avenue Rd. and Wilson Ave.
After the video went viral, the Toronto police later explained they did not provide the coffee to the protesters themselves, but were rather “managing a dynamic situation” by handing it over on behalf of some other protesters who had brought it but weren’t...2024-01-0829 minThe CJN Daily with Ellin BessnerThese Canadians are still writing letters to Israeli hostages—even while the Red Cross isn’t delivering themCanada’s Jewish community wants the 119 remaining Israeli hostages to know that they are not forgotten—even though the letters they’re writing to them most likely will never arrive.
For nearly three months now, in schools and synagogues and kitchen tables across Toronto, more than 1,000 volunteers have been penning letters to the hostages, filling care packages and mailing them—or, in some cases, delivering them in person—to the offices of the Canadian Red Cross.
The letter-writing campaign, called “You Are Not Forgotten”, is supported by Toronto’s UJA Federation, which provides a suggested script and the address of the Canadian...2024-01-0417 minThe CJN Daily with Ellin BessnerThis 96-year-old Canadian is moving to Israel in the middle of the war, as have hundreds of JewsIsrael’s government says 45,000 new immigrants came to live in the Holy Land in 2023, including over 720 alone who landed since Oct. 7–when Hamas terrorists attacked and slaughtered 1,200 Israeli residents and took 240 others hostage. Among the newcomers is Irving Matlow, 96, a well-known member of Toronto’s Jewish community, who may be among the oldest people ever to make Aliyah.
Matlow has been deeply attached to the State of Israel since he grew up in a Zionist home in Toronto, the son of Jewish immigrants from Belarus. In 1948, while studying for his business degree at the University of Toronto, he left Canada...2024-01-0233 minThe CJN Daily with Ellin BessnerShai DeLuca hopes to have set an example for fighting antisemitism in Canada with his legal victory over FoodbendersNearly three-and-a-half years after Shai DeLuca felt he had been defamed by the owner of the now-closed Foodbenders restaurant—who suggested on social media that the Toronto interior designer was a “racist” Israeli “terrorist” who had killed Palestinian babies—an Ontario court has found in his favour.
The Superior Court of Justice judgement, which was released on Dec. 22, said DeLuca was entitled to $85,000 in damages because he was defamed by Kimberly Hawkins back in the summer of 2020. The judge found Hawkins acted with malice, was irresponsible, and had tried to not only ruin DeLuca’s public reputation but his professional c...2023-12-2800 minThe CJN Daily with Ellin BessnerCanadian designer Shai DeLuca hopes his legal win over antisemitic defamation by Foodbenders’ owner sets an exampleNearly three-and-a-half years after a Toronto-based interior designer, Shai DeLuca, felt he had been defamed by the owner of a now-closed Foodbenders restaurant–who suggested on social media that DeLuca was a “racist” Israeli “terrorist” who had killed Palestinian babies–an Ontario court has found in his favour.
The Ontario Court of Justice judgement, which was released on Dec. 22, said DeLuca was entitled to $85,000 in damages because he was defamed by Kimberly Hawkins back in the summer of 2020. The judge found Hawkins acted with malice, was irresponsible, and had tried to not only ruin DeLuca’s public reputation but his profession...2023-12-2822 minThe CJN Daily with Ellin BessnerThe CJN Daily panel talks about the year in politics: Canada on Israel, predicting Trudeau’s future, the Nazi standing ovation—and what to watch for in 2024As 2023 comes to a close, the prime minister, Justin Trudeau, has sat down for a lot of year-end interviews with major Canadian journalists, and The CJN Daily has been asking for one with him, too–for months. But to no avail (we will keep trying).
Canada’s Jewish community (and The CJN) have a lot of questions to ask about this government’s stance on the Israel-Hamas war since Oct. 7, including why it continues funding for UNRWA, why Canada’s initial strong support for Israel has now changed with a recent UN vote calling for a ceasefire, why it took Canad...2023-12-2650 minThe CJN Daily with Ellin BessnerJew hatred in Canada is scary now—but it’s not 1939, say Holocaust educatorsThe latest hate crime figures released by the Toronto police show they are at their highest level in a decade–with 147 reported hate crimes targeting Jews in Canada’s largest city to date in 2023. That’s more than double 2022’s total. Most of these have occurred since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, prompting Israel’s retaliation.
Nearly 50 people have been arrested, and charged with everything from mischief to assault. There have been 111 cases of verified antisemitic graffiti this fall, compared with 27 anti-Muslim cases. Meanwhile Toronto police are coping with what the chief described as a “staggering” number of 248 protests in the past 10...2023-12-2021 minThe CJN Daily with Ellin BessnerEvan Kosiner told the CBC to call Hamas ‘terrorists’; CBC's ombudsman agrees they couldToronto businessman Evan Kosiner lodged a complaint with the CBC’s ombudsman last month concerning why the news organization won’t let its journalists describe the Oct. 7 Hamas attack by using the word “terrorism”.
Kosiner felt that CBC News—in choosing to refer to Hamas as militants, despite the Canadian government’s own official designation—is biased against Israel. He also accused the CBC of publishing misinformation, particularly for how some journalists initially portrayed the controversial bombing of a Gaza hospital.
The CBC received more than 300 complaints, but Kosiner’s was singled out publicly on Friday Nov 24. when the CBC ombudsman, J...2023-11-3017 minThe CJN Daily with Ellin BessnerJust freed by Hamas, 10-year-old Ofri Brodutch wants to come to Canada, her uncle saysThis past weekend, Canadian physicist Aharon Brodutch enjoyed an emotional reunion in an Israeli hospital with his kidnapped sister-in-law, Hagar, and her three children, all of whom were taken by Hamas on Oct. 7.
The Israelis from Kibbutz Aza were set free on Sunday, Nov. 26 as part of the ongoing hostage deal reached between Israel and Hamas. They'd been held for more than seven weeks since the attack that killed 1,200 Israelis and saw 240 people taken hostage.
Brodutch said the four freed hostages have lost a lot of weight and were not ready to leave the hospital...2023-11-2920 minThe CJN Daily with Ellin BessnerEllin Bessner explains why you should consider donating to The CJN Daily on #GivingTuesdayNearly 500 episodes. Nearly 10,000 hours of programming. It's "what Jewish Canada sounds like." For more than two and a half years, Ellin Bessner and The CJN Daily podcast have been bringing the voices and sounds of Canadian Jewish newsmakers to listeners from coast to coast—and around the world.
And since Oct. 7, it's never been more important to provide you with authoritative, trustworthy, accurate and balanced reporting on the Israel-Hamas conflict, including updates on the hostage situation, the massacre of 1,200 Israeli residents and a new wave of antisemitism within Canada and beyond. It's coverage you won't find anywhere el...2023-11-2813 minThe CJN Daily with Ellin BessnerCanada’s new antisemitism envoy Deborah Lyons urges tripling office staff to handle ‘moment of crisis’On Oct. 16, 2023, Deborah Lyons was officially named Canada’s new special envoy on Holocaust remembrance and combating antisemitism. She takes over from the inaugural envoy, Irwin Cotler, at a time when Jews in Canada are facing frightening waves of antisemitism on the streets of this country, stemming from Hamas’s attack on Israel on Oct. 7 and the subsequent war.
Lyons, 73, is not Jewish herself but has deep ties to Israel, and to the Canadian Jewish community, having served as Canada’s ambassador to Israel from 2016–2020.
She calls what is happening in this country “a moment of crisis” that calls for numerous...2023-11-2123 minThe CJN Daily with Ellin BessnerWhy aren’t police doing more to stop antisemitic speech in Canada?Show notes
Police in Montreal are redeploying their squad cars in different locations this week in an effort to better protect the city’s Jewish community. The move comes a week after bullets were fired through the doors of two Jewish schools; Molotov cocktails were thrown at a synagogue and a Jewish office; and three people were injured in a fracas over the Israel-Hamas war at Concordia University. Despite all this, however, there have been no reports of anyone being charged in Montreal over antisemitism. Local Jewish community leaders point to the incitement actually starting on Oct. 28, after a hi...2023-11-1322 minThe CJN Daily with Ellin BessnerMeet the Canadian teenagers choosing to stay in Israel during the warMaya Winkler, 19, was supposed to be taking classes at Reichman University in Herzliya this year—but is instead spending her days collecting supplies for Israeli soldiers and babysitting their kids.
Leora Prutschi, 18, was supposed to be on a reverse Shinshinim project—a year of service for Diaspora teens in Israel—but is instead commuting from Eilat to Timna, 30 km north, to teach English to displaced Israeli kids whose homes were destroyed.
Meanwhile, Joey Lipetz, 18, studies at a yeshiva in Mevaseret Zion, near Jerusalem, where he also assembles piles of ritual green prayer shawls for soldiers and re...2023-11-0619 minThe CJN Daily with Ellin BessnerIsrael’s new envoy on antisemitism has harsh words for Canada after its abstention in a UN vote on the war with HamasJust ahead of her first visit to Canada as Israel’s newly-appointed Special Envoy on Combatting Antisemitism, Michal Cotler-Wunsh had strong criticism of the Trudeau government’s decision to abstain last week on a vote at the United Nations’ General Assembly about the Israel Hamas war.
Cotler-Wunsh calls the decision by Canada to abstain, rather than vote “No”: “worse than silence”.
The new special envoy arrives in Canada today for talks in Ottawa on Parliament Hill, and then speaks in Toronto at a fundraiser for a Jewish group. Cotler-Wunsh is Israeli, but grew up in Canada, the daughter of pr...2023-11-0131 minThe CJN Daily with Ellin BessnerThe consequences of Parliament’s ‘mind-boggling’ ovation for former NaziArtur Wilczynski has choice words to describe what happened in the Canadian House of Commons on Sept. 22, when lawmakers gave two standing ovations to a 98-year-old former Ukrainian solider who served with a Nazi unit during the Second World War. Wilczynski, a former diplomat and senior civil servant in Ottawa—and the grandson of a Holocaust survivor—calls the scandal an “absolute public relations disaster for Canada.”
Wilczynski was stunned as he watched the incident unfold during Friday’s official ceremony in the House to welcome Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to Canada. After the leader of the war-torn country made his f...2023-09-2724 minThe CJN Daily with Ellin BessnerWe asked a 104-year-old 'super senior' the secret to living a long life. Here's what she saidSeptember 10 was a milestone day at the Donald Berman Jewish Eldercare Centre in Montreal: the staff threw the organization's annual group birthday party for a record number of residents over 100 years old. This year’s 22 “super seniors” include a Second World War veteran, David Kucer, who worked forging metal miniature weapons as collectors items, and also Bella Bernstein, the oldest of the group. At 104, she is a renowned former soprano who performed opera and Jewish music across the community.
But it wasn't all smiles and birthday cake. Originally, there were supposed to be 23 seniors to celebrate—until, sadly, o...2023-09-1322 minThe CJN Daily with Ellin BessnerDespite a victorious court ruling, women are still second-class citizens at the Western WallThere were whistles and angry shouts of “Go back to New York” and “Get Lost” last Wednesday at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, as a group of observant Jewish women known as Women of the Wall conducted their monthly morning prayer service–complete with a small Torah scroll they’d smuggled in with them. Using the scroll is against the rules set down by the holy site’s authorities, which still only permits men to have the sacred scrolls or to chant prayers out loud.
And as has happened for years, the women had to run a gauntlet of security force...2023-07-2617 minThe CJN Daily with Ellin BessnerA Canadian Anglican archbishop explains his church’s new policy on Israel’s treatment of PalestiniansAs The CJN Daily _reported earlier this week, the Anglican Church of Canada adopted a strongly worded resolution condemning what its members believe are systemic human rights abuses by Israel against Palestinians.
After some Jewish leaders criticized the Church’s statement as “misleading” and “disappointing”, the Anglican Archbishop of Calgary, Gregory Kerr-Wilson—who moved the original resolution—now acknowledges the statement wasn’t perfect. In fact, he said, his church should have spent more time in consultation with Jewish groups to get the wording right. Nevertheless, he remains convinced they must speak out against Israeli government policies, which he says force Palestin...2023-07-1822 minThe CJN Daily with Ellin BessnerMass protests in Israel: Hear from The CJN on the ground for the “Day of Disruption” in JerusalemIt was billed as a “Day of Disruption” in Israel as protesters blockaded the country’s main airport, hundreds of army reservists threatened to refuse to serve, and police arrested at least 77 demonstrators across the country.
Although Israel has seen 27 straight weeks of political turmoil, Israelis have taken to the streets in massive numbers this week in a revitalized round of protests. These were called after the Netanyahu government gave first reading Monday to a law that would curb the power of Israel’s Supreme Court to use the so-called “reasonableness” test to overrule lawmakers’ policies.
Amid all the flag-waving, d...2023-07-1226 minThe CJN Daily with Ellin BessnerMira Koschitzky, Gladys Rose and 3 Holocaust survivors: The CJN Daily’s ‘Honourable Menschen’ returnsOver the past year, The CJN Daily has run a regular tribute to prominent members of Canada’s Jewish community who have passed away. We’ve highlighted more than 50 honourable menschen and women from coast to coast. In this latest episode, we profile two Canadian women who led their communities: Mira Koschitzky of Toronto and Gladys Rose of Saskatoon. Plus, three beloved Holocaust educators have died, including Vancouver’s Alex Buckman, Calgary’s Sidney Cyngiser and Cantor Moshe Kraus of Ottawa.
Meanwhile, the oldest of our honourable menschen, the late Lorne Winer, a Second World War veteran, died in Toronto at...2023-07-1126 minThe CJN Daily with Ellin BessnerAndrew Cristall goes to Washington (Capitals): The only Jew from the 2023 NHL draft is from VancouverOnly one Jewish rookie out of 244 was selected at the NHL 2023 draft, held from June 28-29: Andrew Cristall. If the surname sounds familiar, it’s because the 18-year-old is the son of Alex and Jodi Cristall, leaders and philanthropists who are deeply involved in Vancouver’s Jewish community.
On July 7, Cristall signed his three-year, $2.85-million (USD) entry-level contract with Washington, after completing development camp and orientation in D.C. While he didn’t get the chance to meet any of the team’s current players—including superstar captain Alexander Ovechkin, who, like Cristall, also plays left wing—he now inten...2023-07-1018 minThe CJN Daily with Ellin BessnerGoogle, Facebook vow to block Canadian news after Bill C-18: What it means for The CJN and youIt’s an uncertain time for the future of journalism in Canada. Bell Media announced layoffs and closed radio stations; Postmedia and the Toronto Star’s parent company are talking about merging; and Google and Meta, the company that owns Facebook and Instagram, threatened to block Canadian news from their platforms because of an ongoing feud with the federal government.
That move leaves Canadians, including The CJN’s audience, in danger of having less access to vital information about our world, and threatens the country’s journalism industry as a whole—which relies heavily on visibility on social platforms and search...2023-07-0529 minThe CJN Daily with Ellin BessnerJewish summer camps are adding mental health support to campers’ daily routinesAs Canadian Jewish kids begin settling into their cabins and tents at overnight camp this month, they’ll find some of the camps are offering something extra: mental health support teams.
Whether an on-site emotional support dog or a nighttime ritual of journaling positive achievements, camps are adding mental health components including 24-hour support professionals. They’re called “camper care directors” or “spiritual coordinators”. With training and degrees in social work and child psychology, they make sure the campers (and also camp counsellors) have the emotional support they need to deal with anxiety, bullying, eating disorders, severe homesickness and other mental...2023-07-0420 minThe CJN Daily with Ellin BessnerHoney and Barry Sherman’s son builds a hockey arena in their memory for Toronto’s Jewish communityConstruction has begun at the site of the Joseph and Wolf Lebovic Jewish Community campus in Vaughan, Ont. for the Honey and Barry Sherman Arena. The $52 million dollar arena–to be attached to the existing JCC complex–is a gift from their son Jonathan Sherman to the Toronto Jewish community.
The late Sherman’s three surviving daughters are not participating.
It would make the UJA Federation of Greater Toronto the only JCC in Canada, and in North America, to own its own indoor ice hockey arena. With two NHL-sized rinks, stands, dressing rooms and a kosher snack bar, the arena...2023-06-2917 minThe CJN Daily with Ellin BessnerThe owners of this Zionist hub in Toronto are facing lawsuits and criticism over its ‘disgusting’ state of disrepairWelcome to one of the most squalid Jewish-owned office buildings in Canada: 788 Marlee Ave. in midtown Toronto. Over the years, it’s been home to countless Zionist organizations and Jewish charities—including Mazon Canada, Canadian Young Judaea, Sar-El Canada, Camp Shalom, Machane Lev summer camp, the Association for Soldiers of Israel, Canadian Friends of Yad Sarah, and more. Some tenants have been complaining for years about the conditions, including a rat infestation; mould on lobby ceilings; extensive water damage from a leaky roof and broken skylights; elevators that haven’t been inspected since at least 2020; bathrooms with no lights and br...2023-06-2616 minThe CJN Daily with Ellin BessnerCan Toronto’s next mayor fix transit and housing—and make the city safer for Jews? The CJN Daily’s expert panel ponders it allTorontonians will elect a new mayor, the city’s 66th, on Monday, June 26, in a byelection made necessary by the surprise resignation of John Tory in February. With 102 names on the ballot—including a pet dog—the choice for voters can be confusing, but The CJN Daily‘s political panel is here to break down the issues and evaluate the frontrunners.
In the days leading up to the vote, it’s Olivia Chow’s election to lose. The former NDP MP and city councillor has previously run unsuccessfully for mayor before, but she holds a significant lead over the man...2023-06-2141 minThe CJN Daily with Ellin BessnerYad Vashem chair Dani Dayan has high praise for Canada’s Holocaust education efforts—and harsh criticism for Ukraine, Poland and RussiaDani Dayan was in Canada last week to honour the outgoing chair of the Canadian Society for Yad Vashem, Fran Sonshine, and to attend the opening of the new Toronto Holocaust Museum.
Dayan, 67, took the job as chair of Yad Vashem in 2021. After enjoying a high-profile political career as a spokesman for Jewish settlers in Israel, and then as Israel’s Consul General in New York City, Dayan made it his goal to revamp the world’s foremost Holocaust museum, in Jerusalem.
Dayan often says he has to be apolitical, but he hasn’t shied away f...2023-06-2023 minThe CJN Daily with Ellin BessnerHow Mitchell Consky found joy amidst the grief of caregiving for his dying father: a special live Father’s Day episode of The CJN DailyThis week, the Consky family of Toronto is marking the third anniversary of Harvey Consky’s death, on June 13, 2020. Consky, 67, was a personal injury lawyer, a husband, and father of two. He was diagnosed with an incurable form of anal cancer during the terrifying first few days of the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Doctors gave him two months to live.
That’s when his adult son Mitchell Consky, a Canadian journalist, decided to move back into the family home and help provide palliative care for his father right until the end. The younger Consky coped with his...2023-06-1520 minThe CJN Daily with Ellin BessnerWar of the words: The CJN Daily goes inside Toronto’s Jewish day school debate tournamentIt may be a tired joke that Jews make great lawyers, but there is some truth to it. And that truth begins at events like the annual Jewish Day School Debate Tournament, which drew dozens of middle school debaters on March 21, 2023.
Grades 6-8 students from Heschel, Netivot, Bialik South, Bialik North and Associated competed in a long-overdue war of words—the ninth time the competition was held, but the first since their pandemic-induced hiatus. The lead organizer, Netivot teacher Eli Savage, feels that the focus on in-person communication is critical for young minds in a post-pandemic world, wh...2023-06-0817 minThe CJN Daily with Ellin BessnerSaul Rubinek talks about returning to his mother tongue of Yiddish for a new roleActor Saul Rubinek was born in a displaced person’s camp in Germany right after the Second World War. His Polish parents survived the Holocaust thanks to Christian farmers who hid them from the Nazis. After the family moved to Canada in 1949, Rubinek’s father Israel used to blame Hitler for curtailing his burgeoning career in Yiddish theatre. That’s why it meant so much to his son, now 74, to play the role of a Holocaust-era rabbi in the new movie Shttl, reciting his lines completely in Yiddish, his mamaloshen.
Acting in a fully Yiddish film was a first...2023-06-0617 minThe CJN Daily with Ellin BessnerIsrael's Diaspora minister visited Canada for the first time to meet lawmakers, Jewish leaders—and evangelical ChristiansAmichai Chikli, Israel's new Minister for Diaspora Affairs and Combatting Antisemitism, just wrapped up a four-day visit to Canada. And while he met Jewish leaders in Montreal, Toronto and Ottawa—briefing them on Israel's new $53-million Alef Bet project to invest in Jewish day school education in North America—his trip also raised some eyebrows because of who else he came to see.
Chikli was the keynote speaker at celebrations for Israel's 75th birthday and Jerusalem Day. Both were arranged by an Israeli-based outfit known as the Israel Allies Foundation, which uses faith-based diplomacy in dozens of coun...2023-06-0522 minThe CJN Daily with Ellin BessnerWhat are the Jewish themes on the ballot in Alberta’s election?On May 29, Albertans will go to the polls in an election that will either return sitting Premier Danielle Smith of the United Conservative Party for a full second term, or turf her in favour of former premier Rachel Notley, who ran Alberta under an NDP government from 2015 to 2019.
Smith was sworn in just seven months ago in October 2022, after the resignation of her predecessor, Jason Kenney.
She’d already been in politics for years, but even outside of that realm, she has never shied away from voicing her opinions, writing columns for the Calgary Herald before her political career and...2023-05-2423 minThe CJN Daily with Ellin BessnerOntario’s Solicitor General Michael Kerzner says antisemitic rhetoric by an NDP MPP is ‘toxic to our democracy’Michael Kerzner is the highest-ranking Jewish member of Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s government. Kerzner was appointed as solicitor general last June, shortly after being elected in the York Centre riding—his first successful foray into politics—as part of the Progressive Conservatives’ sweep back to power in 2022.
Now Kerzner is taking it upon himself to speak out for the Jewish community. Later today, he is scheduled to speak in the legislature about two hot-button issues: the annual Al-Quds day protest held in downtown Toronto a few weeks ago; and the anti-Israel positions held by a newly elected NDP MPP Sara...2023-05-1014 minThe CJN Daily with Ellin BessnerAntisemitic incidents seem disproportionately high in Canada. How is this possible?When B’nai Brith released its annual antisemitism report on April 17, documenting 2,769 incidents of Jew hatred in Canada last year, we wondered why the numbers were so high. After all, the Canadian government’s own data on police-reported hate crimes against Jews accounted for a fraction of that number. In France, whose Jewish population is bigger than Canada’s, there were just 469 cases in 2022—six times lower than in Canada. And the American numbers are relatively the same as Canada’s although they have 17 times as many Jews as we do.
So The CJN Daily _asked B’nai Brith’s director of th...2023-05-0122 minThe CJN Daily with Ellin BessnerDecorated pilot Dr. Bill Novick fought for Israel in 1948, and other ‘Honourable Menschen’ for Yom Ha-ZikaronAs Israel mourns its 24,213 fallen soldiers (and 4,255 civilians killed by terror) this Yom Hazikaron, Canada’s Jewish community also recently lost a war hero who fought for the State of Israel. Bill Novick of Montreal was the second-last surviving Canadian Machalnik—a nickname for volunteers from abroad—who snuck into Israel in 1948 to help the badly outnumbered Israeli military fight their War of Independence.
Novick, who practised as an ear, nose and throat physician until the middle of the pandemic, died on March 23 after a brief illness. He was 99.
On today’s “Honourable Menschen” epsiode of The CJN Daily, Ellin and Ron...2023-04-2525 minThe CJN Daily with Ellin BessnerIsrael’s rookie Aliyah minister visits Canada to promote immigration—while avoiding protestersOfir Sofer is the first member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to visit Canada since pro-democracy protests began in Israel four months ago. Sofer spent a whirlwind day in Toronto last week, as part of a higher-profile trip to New York’s Jewish community, where his first stop was at the Chabad world headquarters.
The cabinet minister is a member of Netanyahu’s coalition partner, the right-wing Religious Zionist Party, led by extremist leader Bezalel Smotrich, now also Israel’s finance minister. Sofer’s trip was his first-ever to North America, where he toured mainly Orthodox schools and Orthod...2023-04-2418 min
MenschwarmersThe CJN Daily: 'Bittersweet' win as King David Lions become the first Jewish senior boys basketball champions in B.C. historyCraving more Jewish sports stories before Passover? We're pleased to present this recent episode of The CJN Daily about the the King David Lions, a Jewish high school basketball team in B.C. that recently won their first-ever provincial championship, defeating the reigning champs, Christian Unity. Hear more Canadian Jewish stories at thecjn.ca/daily.
Credits
Menschwarmers is hosted by James Hirsh and Gabe Pulver, and produced and edited by Michael Fraiman. Our intro music is by Coby Lipovitch, and our outro music is "Organ Grinder Swing" by chēēZ π. This show is a member of...2023-04-0323 minThe CJN Daily with Ellin BessnerWhy did 300 Canadian Jewish leaders sign their names to an open letter published in newspapers?Three hundred Canadian Jewish leaders have put their names to a full-page letter that appeared in several prominent newspapers to express their concerns about what’s happening in Israel and about the threats to democracy there.
The first ad ran in the Saturday edition of the National Post. A slightly different version—using more conciliatory language and supporting the “aspiration to find a renewed and applicable balance between the rulings of the majority of the Knesset and the rulings of the courts”—ran Sunday in two popular centre-left and left-wing Israeli newspapers, Yedioth Ahronoth and Haaretz.
The organizers adm...2023-04-0317 minThe CJN Daily with Ellin BessnerJewish agencies delivering thousands of Passover food boxes to Canada’s needy amid rising inflationJewish social services agencies across the country say their Passover food boxes are going out to more needy clients this holiday season than ever before—and they’re pointing a finger at inflation. From Ottawa to Toronto to Calgary and beyond, volunteers are seeing significant increases in demand over last year.
On Sunday March 26, the National Council of Jewish Women of Canada’s Toronto branch marked the 40th anniversary of its annual Passover food drive by delivering 3,000 food hampers. That’s in contrast to 2,300 last year—a 30 percent spike. In Ottawa, the kosher food bank began assembling Passover b...2023-03-2716 minThe CJN Daily with Ellin Bessner'Bittersweet' win as King David Lions become the first Jewish senior boys basketball champions in B.C. historyIn the world of British Columbia high school athletics, it was a huge deal on March 11, when the senior boys basketball squad from King David High School—the province's only Jewish high school—came from behind during the last seven minutes of the BC School Sports 1A Boys Basketball Provincial Tournament finals, beating the defending provincial champions from Unity Christian School.
After the Lions were eliminated in the early rounds of last year's provincial playoffs, coming back to capture their league trophy this time capped off a successful five-year run for their star players: point guard Jesse Mill...2023-03-2122 minThe CJN Daily with Ellin BessnerThe CJN’s Honourable Menschen returns to honour Jewish Canadians we recently lost from the world of artsBen Ben Chimol, 17, is the youngest person we have profiled on The CJN Daily‘s Honourable Menschen series, where we pay tribute to prominent members of the Canadian Jewish community who have recently passed away.
The Grade 12 teen, who died of cancer in Winnipeg in early December 2022, was a budding artist and beatboxer. His family and classmates have created a memorial fund through the city’s Jewish high school that will help other students pursue their passions.
In this edition of Honourable Menschen, CJN journalist emeritus Ron Csillag joins to share the stories and accomplishments of a gallery of creat...2023-03-1620 minThe CJN Daily with Ellin BessnerThis Toronto rabbi says Canadian Jews must support Israel and stop criticizing her politics in publicRabbi Daniel Korobkin leads one of Canada's largest Orthodox synagogues: Beth Avraham Yoseph, known as The BAYT, in Thornhill, Ont.
In recent weeks, he has been regularly leading prayers for the victims of the escalating violence and terror attacks between Palestinians and Israelis. They come against the backdrop of growing worldwide condemnation—even by some Canadian Jewish leaders and groups—of the current plans by Israel’s new right-wing government of Benjamin Netanyahu to reform the Supreme Court, possibly roll back civil rights for LGBTQ citizens, the Arab population in the West Bank and non-Orthodox Jewish residents.
Rabbi Korobkin has de...2023-03-1419 minThe CJN Daily with Ellin BessnerWhy this Oshawa man is calling out the three Conservative MPs who met with far-right German politicianThe leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, Pierre Poilievre, will not take further action to sanction three members of parliament who posed for photos recently with a far-right German politician. Poilievre told reporters on Parliament Hill on Monday March 6 that he will also not kick the trio out of caucus.
The three Tory politicians—Dr. Colin Carrie, of Oshawa, Leslyn Lewis of Halidmand-Norfolk, and Dean Allison of Niagara West—posed for photos at a luncheon in mid-February with Christine Anderson, during her cross-Canada tour. Anderson is a member of the European Parliament representing the Alternative for Germ...2023-03-0716 minThe CJN Daily with Ellin Bessner‘The Zionist enterprise is in danger’: Why Charles Bronfman signed an open letter pushing back against NetanyahuCanadian philanthropist Charles Bronfman is one of 15 signatories to an open letter to Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, which sounds the alarm over the new government’s push to reform the judiciary.
Bronfman, who created the Birthright program that sends young Jews to visit Israel, says he didn’t write the letter himself. But his name tops the list of uber-wealthy North American Jews, which includes Daniel Lubetzky, the founder of the KIND energy bar company; Lester Crown, who owns the Chicago Bulls and Maytag; and Marcia Riklis, heir to the late Faberge and Carnival Cruise fortune of her la...2023-02-2718 minThe CJN Daily with Ellin BessnerThe museum curator behind the new Leonard Cohen exhibit at The AGO gives The CJN a private tourSketches on a restaurant napkin, a notebook draft of “Hallelujah”, black and white Polaroid snapshots of his naked chest: the late Canadian singer and poet Leonard Cohen kept it all for posterity.
Now, a curator with the Art Gallery of Ontario has convinced the Cohen estate to dig into the icon’s personal treasures and stage a never-before-seen exhibit of the very personal collection.
Cohen’s two children did not cooperate—in fact, they are embroiled in legal proceedings with Cohen’s former manager over control of their late father’s $48-million (USD) estate and holdings.
The exhibit’...2023-02-1624 minThe CJN Daily with Ellin BessnerAn insider’s look at Aroma Espresso Bar’s troubles in TorontoPhilip Kuntz considers himself the first-ever customer of Aroma Espresso Bar’s first-ever Canadian coffee outlet. When the Aroma location opened in 2007 at 500 Bloor Street West in Toronto’s Annex neighbourhood, Kuntz drank the very first cuppa.
For a dozen years, the Ontario musician and artist made that Aroma outlet part of his daily routine–– holding court for hours at the now-closed store. (It was shuttered suddenly in October, 2019.)
Kuntz has been watching the Aroma brand’s venture in Canada unfold, including _The CJN’_s recent coverage of the outstanding $10 million dollar legal dispute between the original...2023-02-1416 minThe CJN Daily with Ellin BessnerThe murders of Barry and Honey Sherman get the true crime treatmentMore 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 th...2023-02-1320 minThe CJN Daily with Ellin BessnerYidLife Crisis explain why they translated their very Jewish humour into Chinese (and French, too!)The popular Montreal comedy duo YidLife Crisis is betting that their humour could have even greater worldwide appeal if what they’re saying was more widely understood. That’s why a 2015 episode explaining how some Jews eat Chinese food on Christmas Eve has been translated now... into Mandarin.
The revamped episode was recently released on YouTube, and on a Chinese social media platform Bilibili. The pair is also hoping to expand their reach in Quebec—with French subtitles, via Radio-Canada’s streaming service, Tou.tv.
But does the YidLife Crisis shtick really translate to other languages? Jamie Elman and Eli Bata...2023-01-3123 minThe CJN Daily with Ellin BessnerHear how Ottawa’s public school board decided to finally take formal action against antisemitismLisa Levitan founded the Jewish Educators Group to help Ottawa-Carleton District School Board staffers like herself cope with increasing hatred.
The award-winning elementary school teacher says she receives “two or three calls or emails a day” about antisemitism directed at colleagues or students—which she immediately sends to the appropriate principal and to the school board’s team.
But the responses seemed insufficient until this week, when the trustees passed a motion to hire a Jewish equity coach.
It was partly the result of Levitan’s lobbying, which included collecting over 1,000 signatures on a petition.
The CJN Daily takes you behind...2023-01-1917 minThe CJN Daily with Ellin BessnerA swoosh and a schmear: Nike launches Montreal bagel-inspired sneakersNike may have issued the deciding word in the long standing debate about which city makes the best bagels in the world: the footwear company’s latest sneaker is out, and it’s an ode to the honey-dipped, dense, chewy bagel made in wood-burning ovens.
The beige, low-rise sneaker was released on Jan. 13 in Montreal—before the rest of the world could buy one. As far as we know, this is the first time anyone has immortalized the city’s most Jewish culinary invention in a shoe, right down to the sesame seeds.
The CJN’s resident sneakerhead Avi Finegold...2023-01-1615 minThe CJN Daily with Ellin BessnerThe CJN: Where we’ve been and where we’re heading next—and how you can help in 2023When Canada went into COVID lockdown in March 2020, the weekly newspaper version of The Canadian Jewish News also stopped publishing, shortly afterwards. Advertising dried up, as community events were all cancelled. The CJN offices were shuttered. Staff was laid off—including editor-in-chief Yoni Goldstein.
But within weeks, Goldstein realized he could not let the award-winning institution simply disappear after 60 years. The CJN would have to pivot and modernize. Plus find new and different ways of connecting with loyal readers, while reaching new audiences through social media, email newsletters and podcasts.
Coming up to three years since those dark times, Go...2022-12-2529 minThe CJN Daily with Ellin BessnerHow well do you remember the 2022 news cycle? Take The CJN Daily’s political pop quizThis past year was as politically divisive as any in recent memory, and the Jewish community—both in Canada and internationally—was not exempted from the strife. So to round up the biggest political stories of 2022 and to make their predictions for the coming year, The CJN Daily has assembled its first-ever political panel and quiz game—and you're invited to play along.
Joining us are three guests representing all three major political parties, each of whom has been featured by The CJN before. David Birnbaum is a former Liberal Member of the National Assembly of Quebec; Emma C...2022-12-1445 minThe CJN Daily with Ellin BessnerThis new Canadian podcast examines why Hasidic Jews leave their communities to go 'off the derech'Naomi Seidman's father, Hillel, was a descendant of a Hasidic dynasty. Despite her family heritage and religious schooling in New York, Seidman eventually left her home and community, forging a new relationship with Judaism and enjoying a successful career in academia. She now teaches at the University of Toronto.
She wants you to know that, while not often talked about, there is a sizeable community of people like her in Canada and the United States—formerly ultra-Orthodox Jews who went "off the derech," as they say. To share their stories, she teamed up with the Shalom Hartman In...2022-11-2100 minThe CJN Daily with Ellin BessnerThe CJN Daily Dead Beat is back, with a new name: The Honourable MenschenWelcome to the fourth episode of The CJN Daily Dead Beat—which we're now calling the Honourable Mention, as we pay tribute to honourable menschen and women who passed away in recent months. As always, we're joined by The CJN's reporter emeritus Ron Csillag.
In today's edition, we're focusing on four high-profile Canadian women and their contribution to society: Corinne Bronfman, 74, an artist turned economist and philanthropist; Helen Wolfe, 69, a teacher and advocate for people with disabilities; Sheila Goldbloom, 96, an activist and social worker; and Holocaust survivor Nancy Kleinberg, 95. Plus a profile of Kurt Rothschild, a philanthropist de...2022-11-0217 minThe CJN Daily with Ellin BessnerThe CJN Daily Dead Beat, Part DeuxJoseph Segal, a billionaire businessman and real estate magnate; Louise Glatt, an Ottawa-based musician and entrepreneur; Shirley Granovsky, a philanthropist in Toronto; broadcast veteran Arthur Weinthal; and Yehudi Lindeman, a Holocaust survivor who became a documentarian of his fellow survivors' stories in Montreal.
These are some of the most notable Canadian Jews to pass away in the last few months. And to explain their impact, we're joined by The CJN's reporter emeritus, Ron Csillag, who joins for the second edition of The CJN Daily Dead Beat, a roundup of honourable mentions to some honourable menschen and women...2022-06-2718 minThe CJN Daily with Ellin BessnerIntroducing The CJN Daily Dead Beat, telling real and rare stories of the recently deceasedJulia Koschitzky, Malcolm Lester, Boris Brott, Rabbi Benjamin Friedberg, Alex Eisen, Marcia Koven: these are just some of the many prominent Jewish Canadians who passed away in the first few months of 2022.
As we kick off Jewish Heritage Month, we decided to introduce a new recurring segment: The CJN Daily Dead Beat, featuring CJN reporter emeritus Ron Csillag. Each episode, we'll give honourable mention to honourable menschen and women, many of whom Csillag has met personally long before being tasked with writing their obituaries.
Since it's hard to sum up a person’s life in 700 wo...2022-05-0419 min