North Star with Ellin Bessner

With students returning to classrooms next week, Ontario will become the first Canadian province to mandate Holocaust education starting in Grade 6. The process began last fall, after a number of high-profile American celebrities—including Kanye West and Kyrie Irving—brought antisemitism centre stage, especially online. Ontario Education Minister Stephen Lecce announced a series of reforms to combat the rising trend of antisemitism across Ontario schools, as The CJN Daily has previously covered. Earlier this summer, The CJN Daily's Ellin Bessner and CJN news editor Lila Sarick spoke to Lecce about the new material, how it’s being introduced, what parents can expect and why the changes are so important to the minister on a personal level. Credits The CJN Daily is written and hosted by Ellin Bessner (@ebessner on Twitter). Zachary Kauffman is the producer. Michael Fraiman is the executive producer. Our intern is Ashok Lamichhane, and our theme music by Dov Beck-Levine. Our title sponsor is Metropia. We’re a member of The CJN Podcast Network. To subscribe to this podcast, please watch this video. Donate to The CJN and receive a charitable tax receipt by clicking here.

This interview originally aired on Bonjour Chai_, The CJN's weekly current affairs podcast. Hear the full episode and subscribe at thecjn.ca/bonjour._ With back-to-school prep in full swing and another semester around the corner, we wanted to ask: what is the Jewish community really getting out of Jewish day schools? What’s their long term effectiveness in terms of building Jewish identity? And, knowing the extreme costs, how do these effects stack up against other, potentially cheaper, forms of Jewish education, including after-school programs, summer camps and Birthright trips? As Canadian Jewish parents are collectively paying out tens of millions of dollars for a product, we're asking: is it working? With those questions in mind, we're revisiting a conversation Bonjour Chai host Avi Finegold had with Dr. Yehudah Kurtzer last year. Back then, Rabbi Kurtzer was the president of the North American wing of the Shalom Hartman Institute; this summer, after Rabbi Donniel Hartman of Montreal announced he was retiring as the president of entire international organization, Rabbi Kurtzer filled his seat.

This interview originally aired on Rivkush_, The CJN's podcast interviewing incredible Jews of colour. Hear the full episode and subscribe at thecjn.ca/rivkush._ Charly Wai Feldman is a woman of the world. Born in Montreal to a Jewish father and mother from Hong Kong, she lived in Jamaica and Vietnam before settling in the United Kingdom with her husband, himself of Indian descent (but grew up in Germany and Singapore). But while her nationality is an evolution, a central underpinning has always been her Jewish faith. As she puts it in this episode of Rivkush, “The whole principle of learning how to exist as a diaspora and being able to exist as a diaspora really hit home for me, at a time when I was looking for that sense of belonging.” Today, Wai Feldman is a documentary filmmaker whose most recent work, Long Distance Swimmer: Sara Mardini, profiles the prominent Syrian refugee as found herself propelled to international stardom as an Olympic athlete and global ambassador for refugees. It's a story that was later made into the hit Netflix film, The Swimmers. She spoke to Rivkush shortly after her film debuted at the Hot Docs film festival in Toronto.

This interview originally aired on Culturally Jewish_, The CJN's podcast covering Canadian Jewish arts and culture. Hear the full episode and subscribe at thecjn.ca/culture._ There’s a certain type of Jew, usually Ashkenazi, sometimes Israeli, with a mop of curly hair, an acousitc guitar and an affinity for marijuana, who will inevitably love bands like The Grateful Dead and Phish. Those groups are collectively known as “jam bands”, which play lengthy, musically complex songs, often in concert, always with a hefty reliance on improvisation. Once synonymous with psychedelic drugs, the jam band scene has gone mainstream in recent decades—and for a myriad reasons we’ll dissect on today’s episode of Culturally Jewish, Jews are buying front-row tickets. This summer, the Ashkenaz Festival and Magen Boys Entertainment are putting on their first-ever summer jam concert series. Producer Michael Fraiman visited the first show to ask concert-goers why they felt Jews loved jam bands; after that, Ashkenaz artistic director Eric Stein joins Ilana and David for a discussion about the surprisingly deep connections between Deadheads and Yiddishkeit.

This interview originally aired on Menschwarmers_, The CJN's podcast about Jews and sports. Hear the full episode and subscribe at thecjn.ca/menschwarmers_ On July 19, Josh Sokol, a 29-year-old Scrabble influencer from Montreal, won the top prize of US$10,000 at the 2023 North American Scrabble Players Association championship in Las Vegas. But, as Sokol explains on this episode of Menschwarmers, he isn’t even the first Jewish Montrealer to win this competition—one of his local club colleagues took home the top prize last year. What is it about Montreal that’s producing such high-quality gamers with encyclopedic memories of the dictionary? And why are so many of them Jewish? To give answers and insight into the world of professional word gaming, Sokol joins our podcast about Jews and sports—because, you know what, it’s summer, and board games are competitive enough that we consider them a sport. Subscribe to Sokol’s channels on YouTube or Twitch to watch him play.

As some of you may already know, last week, Evan Friedlan passed away at 23—the youngest son of The CJN Daily host Ellin Bessner. For now, our show will be taking some time off. We at The CJN are extending our deepest condolences to Ellin; her husband, John Friedlan; and Evan’s brother, Alex. Ellin has invited anyone who wishes to share messages of condolence to email her at ebessner@thecjn.ca. You can also read Evan's obituary on the Steeles Memorial Chapel website.

There 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 forces who searched them for religious items, and they also had to endure noisy insults and even physical attacks from Haredi men and women who oppose the women’s non-Orthodox methods of praying at the Kotel. Red juice was thrown at the women’s prayer shawls. The Israeli courts have just handed a legal victory of sorts to the women, thanks to a ruling by a Jerusalem judge that they can no longer be subjected to invasive special searches of their bags and purses for religious articles. However, the ruling stopped short of legalizing their requests to use Torahs. On this Tisha b’Av episode of The CJN Daily, producer Zac Kauffman took his recording gear into the crowd to bring us this special on-the-ground report. He talks to the women involved in the service, and to some protesters, including one with Canadian roots, who came to drown them out. What we talked about Learn more about the Canadian woman with the Women of the Wall, Rachel Cohen Yeshurun,_ _working to expand egalitarian prayer services at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, on The CJN Daily. Read when Israel’s government proposed to expand prayers for non-Orthodox at the Kotel, in 2017, in The CJN. Anat Hoffman, founder of Women of the Wall, bringing social change to Israel, in The CJN. Credits The CJN Daily is written and hosted by Ellin Bessner (@ebessner on Twitter). Zachary Kauffman is the producer. Michael Fraiman is the executive producer. Our intern is Ashok Lamichhane (@jesterschest on Twitter).Our theme music is by Dov Beck-Levine. Our title sponsor is Metropia. We’re a member of The CJN Podcast Network. To subscribe to this podcast, please watch this video. Donate to The CJN and receive a charitable tax receipt by clicking here.

Funeral services will be held Tuesday, July 25, for Monte Kwinter, the long-serving Toronto politician who set the record as the oldest sitting MPP in Ontario’s legislature. Kwinter, who came from a family of Polish immigrant butchers in Kensington Market, was re-elected nine times for the Liberals in the heavily Jewish riding of York Centre—and, before that, Wilson Heights, as it was previously named. Kwinter held five cabinet posts in his 33-year career. A proud Jew, he brought Holocaust remembrance and Jewish observance into Ontario’s parliament, and fought for extending government funding for Jewish private schools, although it was a fight he would ultimately lose. On today’s The CJN Daily, we look at Kwinter’s legacy with journalist Steve Paikin, host of TVO’s The Agenda; lawyer Alf Kwinter, Monte’s cousin; and Peter Shurman, a former Conservative MPP who served with Kwinter for years. What we talked about Learn more about Monte Kwinter in the archives of The CJN from 2013 and 2017, when he became the oldest sitting MPP in Ontario. Monte Kwinter was one of the Jewish politicians who shaped Canada, in The CJN. Watch Monte Winter’s funeral on Tuesday July 25, 2023 on YouTube at 10 a.m. Credits The CJN Daily is written and hosted by Ellin Bessner (@ebessner on Twitter). Zachary Kauffman is the producer. Michael Fraiman is the executive producer. Our intern is Ashok Lamichhane (@jesterschest on Twitter).Our theme music is by Dov Beck-Levine. Our title sponsor is Metropia. We’re a member of The CJN Podcast Network. To subscribe to this podcast, please watch this video. Donate to The CJN and receive a charitable tax receipt by clicking here

On July 24, Chief Rabbi Haim Korsia of France wraps up his hectic weeklong tour of Ontario and Quebec. But it wasn't his first time in the country, or specifically Montreal—he came over 30 years ago for a family wedding. In an interview with The CJN Daily, Rabbi Korsia downplayed the impression that France's Jewish community faces an increasingly difficult future in the wake of terrorist attacks and physical violence in the past decade. Tens of thousands of French Jews have moved to Israel, while about 700 French Jewish families are now living in Montreal. The rabbi also supported Quebec's controversial new law, Bill 21, banning the display of religious headgear and other items for people who work for the provincial government. A similar veto has long existed under France's embrace of "secularism". He returns to France Monday night, after visiting a myriad of Jewish organizations, Sephardic synagogues and communal agencies operating in Montreal—a network that left him deeply impressed by what he views as a strong, unified sense of community, which he said does not exist for Jews in his native country. What we talked about Learn more about immigration of French Jews to Canada, in The CJN from 2014 and 2017. When Quebec Jews pressured a p_romoter to cancel show by French rapper Freeze Corleone, on antisemitism lyrics, in The CJN._ Discover the Initiative France Montreal run by Feder_ation CJA to absorb French Jewish immigrants including those from Belgium and Switzerland._ Credits The CJN Daily is written and hosted by Ellin Bessner (@ebessner on Twitter). Zachary Kauffman is the producer. Michael Fraiman is the executive producer. Our intern is Ashok Lamichhane (@jesterschest on Twitter).Our theme music is by Dov Beck-Levine. Our title sponsor is Metropia. We’re a member of The CJN Podcast Network. To subscribe to this podcast, please watch this video. Donate to The CJN and receive a charitable tax receipt by clicking here.

Rosalie Mednick Nepom and her brother Sol Mednick were born in the mining town of Rouyn-Noranda, Que., and grew up there–the children of a local grocer. Meanwhile, Dr. Issac Katz is the son of the community’s first permanent rabbi. Now, these former Rouyn-Noranda residents have collected memories and stories of growing up in the once-vibrant pioneering Jewish community, and published them in a new book so their grandchildren will know where they came from. Rouyn-Noranda sprung up in the bush in the 1920s after prospectors discovered gold and copper deposits. It was so far north, it took 10 hours by bus on gravel roads to get there from Montreal. But at its peak, Rouyn-Noranda’s 45 Jewish families enjoyed a vibrant community life. That ended in the 1970s, as young people left to go to university and never returned. Their parents soon followed. The once-busy synagogue closed in 1972. Today, as the authors explain on The CJN Daily, the facade is a historic site, but the buiding is now apartments—and Jewish life there is hard to find. What we talked about Learn more about Rouyn-Noranda and Northern Quebec’s vanished Jewish community in The CJN Buy the book, The Jewish Community of Rouyn-Noranda How a Jewish dad brought a taste of Tinseltown to Val D’Or, Quebec, in The CJN Credits The CJN Daily is written and hosted by Ellin Bessner (@ebessner on Twitter). Zachary Kauffman is the producer. Michael Fraiman is the executive producer. Our intern is Ashok Lamichhane (@jesterschest on Twitter).Our theme music is by Dov Beck-Levine. Our title sponsor is Metropia. We’re a member of The CJN Podcast Network. To subscribe to this podcast, please watch this video. Donate to The CJN and receive a charitable tax receipt by clicking here.