North Star with Ellin Bessner

The small Jewish community in St. Catharines, Ont., is marking a significant milestone this week. Exactly 100 years ago, on Sept. 14, 1924, two cornerstones were laid for the foundation of what would become the current building housing Congregation B'nai Israel synagogue. The event was front-page news at the time. No one could have predicted that, a century later, city council would vote to designate the synagogue building an important heritage property, proving the contribution of the city's Jewish community to civic life. Getting that heritage label has been a key part of Howard Slepkov's plan to secure the future of the house of worship where he is president, and which has been the spiritual home to his family dating back three generations. Slepkov, an author and professor, was also over the moon when more than 300 people filled St. Catharines' performing arts centre on Aug. 25 for the synagogue's centennial concert, with performances by renowned cantors and a local klezmer band. And there's more to come, as efforts are underway to raise enough money to keep the shul's lights on—even if it turns into a museum some day. On today's episode of The CJN Daily, we're joined by Slepkov, whose grandparents were among the community's founding Jewish families, and also by Bernice Caplan, 92, who has lived in St. Catharines since she arrived as a teenager 74 years ago. What we talked about Learn more about the Congregation B'nai Israel synagogue in St. Catharines Read more about the St. Catharines’ Jewish community in The CJN archives from 2016,  2018 and 2021 Breathing new life into a small community, in The CJN Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner (@ebessner) Production team: Zachary Kauffman (producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer) Music: Dov Beck-Levine Support our show Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to The CJN Daily (Not sure how? Click here)

Shortly after attending last week’s funerals for some of the six hostages executed by Hamas, Israel’s antisemitism special envoy, Michal Cotler-Wunsh, flew to Canada for a speaking engagement. And while she was here, she made a point to attend the pro-Palestinian protesters’ return to the University of Toronto campus for their first fall rally and march. Cotler-Wunsh was appalled by what she saw on Sept. 6—both because the university once again allowed protesters to intimidate Jewish students, and because there were only a handful of people from the local Jewish community to stand up and support the students. Cotler-Wunsh sat down with The CJN Daily‘s host Ellin Bessner to reflect on her tumultuous year since being appointed to the post right before Oct. 7, and why she feels Canadians need to show more courage and leadership—especially to support their students on the front lines. What we talked about Learn what the judge ruled about antisemitism and hate speech when he granted U of T’s injunction to dismantle the encampment by July 2, in The CJN Read the U of T policy on protests, including what is and what is not permitted, dated from Aug. 29, 2024 See the new Canary Mission report on more than 100 U of T professors who participated in the encampment and protests Listen to our first interview with Michal Cotler-Wunsh after her appointment, in November 2023, during a Hamas rocket attack over her home, on The CJN Daily Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner (@ebessner) info@thecjn.ca Production team: Zachary Kauffman (producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer) Music: Dov Beck-Levine Support our show Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to The CJN Daily (Not sure how? Click here)

Maj. (Ret.) John Spencer is an American army veteran who heads the Modern War Institute at the U.S. Military’s prestigious West Point Academy in New York State. His books and courses about fighting historic urban and tunnel wars have been widely quoted–he’s even interviewed Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu-who name dropped the former combat officer’s research during his speech to Congress in July. The Israel Defence Forces like his work so much, they’ve brought Spencer with them three times inside some of the captured Hamas tunnels under Gaza. Although Spencer wasn’t present last weekend when the IDF discovered the bodies of six executed hostages under Rafah, he understands why the IDF is now claiming the entrance to that tunnel was hidden in the bedroom of a Palestinian child’s room. Despite the heinous war crime that has rocked Israel and people around the world, Spence feels Israel is actually winning the war against Hamas. He’ll be speaking next week in Winnipeg (on Sept. 11) and in Toronto (on Sept. 12) at events sponsored by Tafsik and other pro-Israel groups. His topic? “The Myth of Genocide in Gaza”. John Spencer joins The CJN Daily to share his eyewitness accounts the terrorists’ tunnels, and why tunnels between Egypt and Gaza are what’s holding up a cease-fire deal that some believe could free the hostages. What we talked about Learn more about Maj. (ret.) John Spencer and buy tickets to his speaking tour in Toronto on Sept. 12 and on Sept. 11 in Winnipeg. Watch the IDF spokesman video filmed outside a children’s bedroom leading to the Hamas tunnel where the six executed hostages’ bodies were found. Hear the advice for IDF troops going into the Gaza tunnels, from veterans of the 1973 Yom Kippur War, on The CJN Daily. Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner (@ebessner) info@thecjn.ca Production team: Zachary Kauffman (producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer) Music: Dov Beck-Levine Support our show Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to The CJN Daily (Not sure how? Click here)

Dozens of Jewish students at Concordia University joined the Montreal Jewish community Tuesday night Sept. 3, 2024, for a vigil in memory of the six Israeli hostages whose bodies were discovered after they had been executed. The event—held on campus right outside the Concordia student centre—came just a few days after four Jewish students and two pro-Israel clubs officially sued Concordia and its president, demanding better protection as the new academic year gets underway. The lawsuit, filed Aug. 30 in Quebec’s Superior Court, details 10 months of antisemitic and anti-Israel harassment, intimidation and both physical and psychological violence, which the students have been subjected to on campus ever since Oct. 7. They are demanding the school enforce its own codes of conduct policies fairly, kick out the protesters who violate them, and stop ignoring the toxic situation for Jews on campus. On today’s episode of The CJN Daily, we’re joined by two guests. Neil Oberman is a Montreal-based lawyer (and federal Conservative candidate) who is representing the four Concordia students, and Mitch Consky is The CJN’s new campus reporter; the two share their views on how Jewish university students are better prepared this fall to face a rough reception. Read the new lawsuit filed by four Jewish students and two Jewish clubs against Concordia University and its president Learn more about the original letter sent to Concordia nine months ago, the riot in November 2023, and the blockade outside Federation CJA HQ in March, in The CJN archives Read Mitch Consky’s stories about how Jewish students are prepared for the new year, and about McGill’s president’s recent webinar with Anthony Housefather, special advisor to the Prime Minister on Jewish issues and antisemitism, in The CJN What we talked about Read the new lawsuit filed by four Jewish students at Concordia University plus two Jewish clubs against their school and its president Learn more about the original letter sent to Concordia nine months ago, the riot in November 2023, and the blockade outside Federation CJA HQ in March, in The CJN archives. Read Mitch Consky’s stories about how Jewish students are prepared for the new year, and about McGill’s president’s recent webinar with Anthony Housefather, special advisor to the Prime Minister on Jewish issues and antisemitism, in The CJN. Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner (@ebessner). info@thecjn.ca Production team: Zachary Kauffman (producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer) Music: Dov Beck-Levine Support our show Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to The CJN Daily (Not sure how? Click here)

Toronto resident Maayan Shavit is set to fly to Israel on Monday to attend the funeral of her cousin Carmel Gat, one of the six Israeli hostages found executed two days ago in a Hamas tunnel under Rafah. Carmel, an occupational therapist and yoga instructor, was kidnapped while visiting her parents’ home in Kibbutz Be’eri. Terrorists also took Carmel’s brother, sister-in-law and their young daughter hostage. They then tied up their mother, 67-year-old Kinneret Gat—a teacher and tour guide—and paraded her through the kibbutz before killing her. Although the Gats are not Canadian, their fate has resonated strongly with Toronto’s Jewish community, thanks to the tireless advocacy of their cousin, who has lobbied Canadian politicians and spoken at countless rallies and public events here since Oct. 7. On this episode of The CJN Daily, we speak with Maayan Shavit just hours after she learned the tragic news about her cousin. Shavit opens up about who she feels is to blame for what she called “a loss that could have been prevented,” and why she won’t stop fighting for the others who are still being held in Gaza. What we talked about Watch the vigil which was live-streamed by UJA Federation of Greater Toronto at 8 p.m. Sunday Sept. 1, 2024. Read more about the efforts of Maayan Shavit to keep her cousin Carmel Gat’s plight on the front pages, in The CJN. How Canadians with families hostage in Gaza reacted to the release of 105 hostages in November, in The CJN. Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner (@ebessner) info@thecjn.ca Production team: Zachary Kauffman (producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer) Music: Dov Beck-Levine Support our show Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to The CJN Daily (Not sure how? Click here)

When news broke of the Jewish National Fund of Canada losing its charitable status on Aug. 10, the move meant the Canada Revenue Agency also stripped the venerable Jewish charity of its ability to issue tax receipts to donors. This poses a serious challenge to the historic Zionist fundraising organization–which received $20.2 million in donations in 2023: will supporters still want to give money to JNF Canada for environmental and resilience projects in Israel if they can no longer write the philanthropy off on their Canadian income tax forms? Some donors are taking a wait and see approach, but want answers as to why JNF Canada admits it kept quiet for years about its problems with the federal tax auditors who warned them about "repeated and serious non-compliance" with Canadian tax rules dating back to at least 2014, and earlier. But other philanthropists say the bureaucrats didn't treate JNF Canada fairly, and they expect the charity will win both of its appeals in court: to block the suspension, and to eventually overturn it. On today's episode of The CJN Daily, we're joined by two prominent JNF Canada donors: Jonathan Goodman of Montreal, who is raising $10 million for JNF Canada's new Climate Solutions Prize to boost "green technology", and also by Mary Ellen Herman of Toronto, who donated half the cost of an accessible playground built in southern Israel. What we talked about Learn more about the accessible playground JNF Canada helped build in Kiryat Malachi with the donation by philanthropist Mary Ellen Herman and family Read The CJN’s previous coverage of JNF Canada’s Climate Solutions Prize launched by Montrealers Jonathan Goodman and Jeff Hart, in thecjn.ca Read why JNF Canada has known for nearly a decade it was at risk of losing its charitable status, in thecjn.ca. Why JNF Canada hasn’t yet wound down its Canadian charitable operations just yet, in thecjn.ca. Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner (@ebessner) Production team: Zachary Kauffman (producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer) Music: Dov Beck-Levine Support our show Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to The CJN Daily (Not sure how? Click here)

The CEO of the embattled Jewish National Fund of Canada, Lance Davis, insists he is now “running a very tight ship” in the wake of the Canada Revenue Agency’s recent decision to strip the historic Zionist fundraising organization of its charitable status. Davis, who became JNF Canada’s CEO in 2017, maintains that many of the government's longstanding concerns had already been addressed in years past. In an interview with The CJN Daily, Davis blasted the CRA for deliberately choosing the harshest punishment for the venerated Zionist charity, which has sent more than $200 million to beautify Israel and help vulnerable people there. He also argues the CRA rushed to pull the trigger on its status too early, given how JNF's legal dispute is still before the courts. However, documents obtained by The Canadian Jewish News paint a more nuanced picture of why the CRA lost its patience after a decade of "major concerns" about "repeated and serious non-compliance” with Canada’s Income Tax Act rules. As reported in The CJN's print feature that digs into the paperwork, the auditors quietly told the Jewish charity several times that it needed to clean up its act, and by 2019, JNF Canada knew Ottawa was moving to revoke. Yet the charity still got five more years to comply. Lance Davis joins The CJN Daily to explain JNF Canada's point of view, then we're joined once again by charity law expert Mark Blumberg who helps explain how the charity got to this point, what could have prevented this scenario and why the government stopped waiting. What we talked about Read why JNF Canada has known for a decade it was at risk of losing its charitable status, in TheCJN.ca Read the CRA's documents for yourselves outlining its case vs. JNF Canada since 2014 JNF Canada said it was 'blindsided", on The CJN Daily back on Aug. 13 Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner (@ebessner) info@thecjn.ca Production team: Zachary Kauffman (producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer) Music: Dov Beck-Levine Support our show Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to The CJN Daily (Not sure how? Click here)

Toronto police have arrested and charged three people—including two pro-Israel protesters—in connection with a violent incident at a weekly community rally in Toronto that saw an 88-year-old Jewish volunteer beaten and thrown to the ground. It happened on Sunday, Aug. 18, at the event held on Bathurst Street at Sheppard Avenue West. Video from the attack shows a car come to a stop beside the crowd of approximately 100 people waving Israeli flags. A young passenger exits the car, scuffles with the senior citizen, beats him, then picks him up and slams him into the street. He fell centimetres away from the wheels of a Toronto city transit bus that happened to be stopped at a red light. The senior was badly cut and bruised, and had to be taken to hospital with what police have called "non-life-threatening injuries". Police have charged three people, but will not be releasing more details while the investigation is underway. However, the organizer of the pro-Israel rally tells The CJN Daily that, aside from the attacker, police charged two members of his group, too, after some people reacted violently when they saw what had been done to the elderly gentleman. Guidy Mamann joins the show to explain what exactly happened—and why he won't cancel the weekly rallies he helps organize. What we talked about Read the Toronto Police Service social media post about the arrests and charges Learn more about pro-Israel rallies that popped up across Canada after Oct. 7, in The CJN Meet the Canadians knitting for IDF soldiers and running for the hostages, on The CJN Daily Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner (@ebessner) Production team: Zachary Kauffman (producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer) Music: Dov Beck-Levine Support our show Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to The CJN Daily (Not sure how? Click here)

As Jewish overnight camps' summer 2024 sessions come to a close this week across most of Canada, several camp communities in Ontario have had to deal with sudden tragedies: the unexpected death of a councillor at one camp, and an accident at a different camp that took the lives of several cleaning employees. In each case, camp directors quickly called for outside help, which included bringing in alumni to offer support, inviting in a therapy dog, holding yoga sessions and even arranging candlelight memorial prayers at the waterfront. How well are Jewish summer camps prepared to deal with these crises? Did they give the support that was needed? Should parents race to bring their children back home when something tragic happens, or leave them up at camp, where they're among friends? The CJN will not be naming the victims out of respect for their families, but Toronto grief counsellor Lynda Fishman has some advice about the important role that summer camps can play in developing a child's resilience in the face of hardship. She spoke to The CJN Daily a year ago, in July 2023, to explain why so many Jewish summer camps began adding mental health experts last year; today, we're re-airing that episode today to help families navigate these tragedies. What we talked about Therapist Lynda Fishman’s advice on how summer camps can actually help campers and staff deal with tragedies, on Everything Jewish Toronto’s Facebook page How Jewish summer camps in 2024 prepared to face the topic of Oct. 7 and antisemitism at home, in The CJN After nine months of war, some Israeli kids are finding respite at Jewish summer camps in Canada, in The CJN Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner (@ebessner) Production team: Zachary Kauffman (producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer) Music: Dov Beck-Levine Support our show Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to The CJN Daily (Not sure how? Click here)

The official revocation notice of the Jewish National Fund of Canada’s charity status, published in the Canada Gazette on Aug. 10, caught many by surprise—especially JNF officials themselves. Lance Davis, CEO of JNF Canada, says the venerable Jewish charity was “blindsided” by the Canada Revenue Agency’s move because it came so quickly, despite efforts to negotiate a solution. It also came only two weeks after JNF Canada said that, if no deal was reached, it would appeal the government’s “biased” findings to the Federal Court of Appeal. Experts say losing the charitable status means JNF Canada can no longer issue tax receipts for donations; it has one year to wind down business, dispose of all its financial assets or pay 100 percent tax on the millions in its accounts, and go out of business. JNF Canada says it is now going to apply for an immediate judicial review to stop the clock on what its spokespeople call Ottawa’s “draconian” approach. Meanwhile opponents of the six-decade-old pro-Israel charity—including the NDP, the Green Party, Independent Jewish Voices and Just Peace Advocates—have been loudly proclaiming victory after years of complaints that the charity’s Canadian donors have been funding projects in the West Bank and directly helping the IDF. (JNF Canada says they stopped doing this in 2016.) On today’s episode of The CJN Daily, we ask if JNF Canada was a victim of politics—or the author of its own misfortune. Our guest is charity law expert Mark Blumberg. What we talked about Read why the CRA revoked the charitable status of the Jewish National Fund of Canada on Aug. 10, 2024. Read why the CRA revoked the charitable status of the Ne’eman Foundation of Canada on Aug. 10, 2024 Learn more about the start of JNF’s battle with the Canada Revenue Agency, from 2014 to today, in The CJN Read about JNF’s financial reports on Mark Blumberg’s charity watchdog portal charitydata.ca. Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner (@ebessner). info@thecjn.ca Production team: Zachary Kauffman (producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer) Music: Dov Beck-Levine Support our show Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to The CJN Daily (Not sure how? Click here)