North Star with Ellin Bessner

Demographer Charles Shahar has been digging into the latest Canadian census data, from 2021, to paint a fuller picture of what Canada’s Jewish community looks like. He says while cities from coast to coast have seen their Jewish populations grow significantly—especially Victoria, Vancouver, Calgary, Winnipeg, Ottawa, Montreal and Halifax—the Toronto area has plateaued. Whether it is because of the city’s infamously unaffordable housing prices or COVID sparking an exodus to smaller towns, he suggests his new census findings should be a concern for planners and Jewish community officials in the GTA. Which should they prioritize: building more schools or seniors’ homes? Shahar says one of the most surprising changes is that Montreal’s Jewish population is now on an upswing, with more than 90,000 people again, after a steep decline that started in the 1970s. Same goes for Winnipeg, reversing 40 years of declines. Shahar joins The CJN Daily to break down the numbers and what the community looks like. What we talked about Read more about the 2021 Census data’s preliminary findings from last fall in The CJN Hear Professor Morton Weinfeld on why Canada’s Jewish population is still growing on_ The CJN Daily_ Learn more about the_ 2011 results _in Charles Shahar’s report here 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 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.

Ben 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 creative Canadians in the arts and entertainment world: Ontario painter and singer Mendelson Joe, who went public with his decision to use medical assistance in dying after struggling with Parkinson’s disease; composer Ben Steinberg from Temple Sinai in Toronto; Eleanor Koldofsky, who helped build Sam the Record Man into a retail success before branching out to form her own record company; Montreal painter Roslyn Swartzman; and Lanny Poffo, a professional wrestler whose accomplishments were overshadowed by his older brother, “Macho Man” Randy Savage. What we talked about Learn more about Ben Ben Chimol and donate in his memory Read about artist and teacher Roslyn Swartzman in The CJN Check out Mendelson Joe’s canvases and songs on his website 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 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.

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

Rabbi 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 decided to speak out publicly against Israel’s vocal critics here at home. He says the country will sort itself out in due course and do the right thing, as healthy democracies do. But all the protests and negativity from the Diaspora just helps those who wish to delegitimize the State of Israel. He joins The CJN Daily ahead of Tuesday's special meeting called by UJA Federation of Greater Toronto to seek the advice of prominent rabbis and Jewish schools on forming a community strategy in response to events in Israel. What we talked about Read about the NIF and JSpace poll in The CJN Watch Rabbi Daniel Korobkin's sermon on the BAYT YouTube channel What Montreal-born Likud MK Dan Illouz thinks about his government’s agenda: ’Not an attack on democracy’ on The CJN Daily. What we talked about Read about the NIF and JSpace poll in The CJN Watch Rabbi Daniel Korobkin’s sermon on the BAYT YouTube channel What Montreal-born Likud MK Dan Illouz thinks about his goverenment’s agenda: ‘Not an attack on democracy’ on The CJN Daily. 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 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.

It might be the first time that Holocaust poems have made it to the top of Canada’s most famous music award, the Junos. The poems were written in 1942 and 1943 by the grandmother of Toronto singer Lenka Lichtenberg, who found them only recently—by accident. She turned these haunting wartime verses into an album called Thieves of Dreams. On March 11, the Junos—considered the Canadian version of the Grammys—announced that Lichtenberg’s album won best Global Music Album of the year. The ceremony was held in Edmonton, as part of a star-studded week that saw superstars The Weeknd, Michael Bublé and the Arkells also pick up statues. Lichtenberg learned she was Jewish at age nine, and has recently begun resurrecting the stories of Holocaust survivors, including those who did not survive—such as her Czech grandparents and great-grandparents. You’ll be able to watch the full awards ceremony on Monday night, March 13, at 8 p.m. on CBC TV, but Lichtenberg joined The CJN Daily right before she headed to Edmonton for the excitement. What we talked about Learn more about Thieves of Dreams and Lenka Lichtenberg from her website Download the song lyrics and booket from Thieves of Dreams for free Read about Lenka Lichtenberg’s career in the The CJN from 2018 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 theme music is by Dov Beck-Levine. Our title sponsor is Metropia. We're a member of The CJN Podcast Network. Support the show by subscribing to this podcast or donating to The CJN.

Adath Israel's emeritus rabbi, Erwin Schild, turns 103 on Mar. 9. Schild, who proudly lives in the same Toronto home he bought soon after he first took the pulpit job in 1947, may be Canada's oldest living Conservative rabbi. He is nearly as old as the large egalitarian congregation itself, which is marking its 120th year. He served for 42 years, retiring in 1989, after which he wrote four books. Schild was a teenage yeshiva student in his native Germany and was captured by the Nazis on Kristallnacht in 1938. He survived the Dachau concentration camp. He was freed thanks to the intervention of a Dominican diplomat, only to be shipped to Canada the next year by the British as an enemy alien. During the pandemic, Adath Israel held drive-by birthday celebrations to mark Schild's 101st and 102nd birthdays. This year, the synagogue created a special fundraising campaign to repair a Torah that was donated to the congregation years ago in Schild's name. The CJN Daily visited Rabbi Schild in his home to talk about his legacy, his 50 great-grandchildren (and even a great-great grandchild), the pending merger between Adath Israel and Beth David, and his favourite chapter of the Torah. What we talked about Contribute to the Rabbi Schild Torah repair fund at Adath Israel Read about Rabbi Schild’s ‘crazy angel’ in The CJN from 2019 Rabbi Schild looks back on 95 years, in The CJN from 2015 Watch the new film about Rabbi Schild’s Holocaust story which premiered at the Holocaust Education Week 2022 in November 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 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.

Dr. Paula Gordon, of Vancouver, is a renowned Canadian radiologist and breast cancer specialist. She also recently became a recipient of the Order of Canada for her pioneering research into using ultrasound to detect hard-to-spot breast cancers. But that was decades ago. Now, Gordon—a professor at the University of British Columbia's medical school—is campaigning for expanded screening for breast cancer, starting much younger and more often. Gordon is calling for mammograms to be offered beginning at age 40. Currently, most provinces offer routine screening only at age 50, due to what Gordon calls outdated federal health guidelines. She's also advocating for mammograms to be done annually, not every couple of years, especially for those women at greater risk of developing breast cancer: Ashkenazi women, and women with so-called "dense breasts". Gordon joins The CJN Daily on International Women's Day to explain why changing these federal breast cancer screening guidelines will save lives. What we talked about: Read more about the risk of dense breasts at densebreastscanada.ca Why Ashkenazi Jewish women (and men) are at higher risk of breast cancer_ _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 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. This podcast is powered by Pinecast.

The 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 Germany party, which espouses what Poilievre has since called “vile” and “racist” views on Muslim immigrants, homosexuality, and Holocaust denial. While the three quickly issued a statement saying they didn’t know about their luncheon guest’s views, this is the first time anyone from the party has spoken in person, publicly, about the controversy. But that’s not good enough for one Oshawa businessman who is calling for his MP to actually do better, not just say he will. Shaun Bernstein joins The CJN Daily to explain why he wants the veteran politician to attend a symposium at a local synagogue to mend fences. What we talked about: Read Josh Lieblein’s take on the Christine Anderson luncheon in The CJN. Why a known Holocaust denier and terrorism advocate got invited to Parliament Hill for a party with MPS, in_ _The CJN. Why Laith Marouf isn’t paying back the money he owes to Ottawa, on The CJN Daily. 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 theme music is by Dov Beck-Levine. Our title sponsor is Metropia. We're a member of The CJN Podcast Network. Support the show by subscribing to this podcast or donating to The CJN. This podcast is powered by Pinecast.Read transcript

My Way Bikery, the only kosher bakery in Victoria, B.C., will of course be selling traditional Purim hamantashen cookies for the rest of March. But Moshe and Leah Appel, the bakery’s new owners, are becoming known for one of Leah’s creative inventions: the “challnut”. It’s a donut made from challah dough, filled with jelly and topped with sugar. They are so in-demand that, last week, someone actually stole a whole tray right out of the bakery’s storefront location inside Victoria’s Public Market. The story of how the Appels opened their new bakery just two months ago is not just a kosher food journey: it’s also a love story that reunited these two ex-Montrealers, who had known each other since elementary school. The Appels join The CJN Daily from their noisy bakery in Victoria to explain why going kosher was more than just a business decision. What we talked about: Learn more about My Way Bikery in Victoria Moshe Appel on_ The CJN Daily _from July 2021 about why gay men should be allowed to donate blood in Canada _ _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 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. This podcast is powered by Pinecast.Read transcript

Dr. Daniel J. Drucker was sitting in his research lab at Toronto’s Mount Sinai Hospital when his name was announced that he’d won Israel’s Wolf Prize, a Nobel-like award given to scientists and artists who help the world. The announcement came Feb. 9. Drucker is only the 11th Canadian to win the prestigious award since its inception in 1978, and some people think it also gives him a good chance to nab the real Nobel. Drucker, the Canadian son of Holocaust survivors, is credited for discovering how certain hormones in the body help stimulate insulin to lower blood sugar. His work prompted a batch of new drugs to treat Type 2 diabetes, the most common form, thus helping millions of patients around the world. Nowadays, these drugs—including the popular Ozempic brand you might have heard of—are also being used for treating obesity, and potentially could work for diseases of the heart and brain, including Alzheimer’s, MS and Parkinson’s. Drucker joins The CJN Daily to explain why. What we talked about: Learn more about Dr. Daniel J. Drucker’s research How diabetics can survive Passover seders, in The CJN. Read Dr. Drucker’s ongoing research on his website 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 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. This podcast is powered by Pinecast.