North Star with Ellin Bessner

When 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, Goldstein joins The CJN Daily to reflect on why reviving the paper was personal, how far it’s come, and to announce some exciting developments for 2023—and where you come in. What we talked about: How to donate to The CJN and receive a charitable tax receipt—for more information email support@thecjn.ca Donate any amount via our page at CanadaHelps 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 learn how to support the show by subscribing to this podcast, please watch this video.

Marie Levine started creating fused glass menorahs in Ottawa after discovering her synagogue’s gift shop stocked only the traditional pressed-metal designs that were made in China, or Pakistan and had been on the shelves for thirty years. Now her menorah designs, with bright colours and shapes, are on display at museums and gift shops around North America – including the Gardiner Museum in Toronto, and the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg. Levine is inspired by storied artists including Kadinsky and Monet, and even by Bible stories such as Joseph’s coat of many colours. She’s featured in The CJN’s magazine this winter, and sits down with The CJN Daily to explain why people should show off their Hanukkah menorahs not just during the festival of lights. What we talked about: Marie Levine's studio and website See The CJN Magazine feature about Marie Levine Follow the Edmonton scavenger hunt for Hanukkah 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 learn how to support the show by subscribing to this podcast, please watch this video.

After an unsettling encounter with a Holocaust denier in 2021, the small, energetic Jewish community of Bowen Island, BC, decided they needed to become more visible. That meant, among other things, showcasing their culture and traditions to the rest of the island. Matthew van der Giessen had an idea. Though he isn't an artist—he's a massage therapist—he began collecting pieces of driftwood off the beach to create a six-foot-tall hanukkiah. The makeshift menorah, completed in 2021, now stands among the island's annual display of Christmas trees and has received a lot of media coverage. This week, despite needing a few touch-ups, the sculpture is back—and van der Giessen joins The CJN Daily to describe his creative process, his own journey to Judaism and how his piece speaks volumes about the unique spirit of his tight-knit island's community. What we talked about: Hear more about Jewish life on Bowen Island on Yehupetzville (Dec 2021) Read more about the driftwood menorah at Neighbourhood Small Grants 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 learn how to support the show by subscribing to this podcast, please watch this video.

If you follow The CJN on social media, or have our coffee table book, or are subscribed to our current magazine, you've probably seen this iconic blue moose menorah. Its antlers are candle holders and a little red bird sits on its back. What you may not know is that the quirky design turned 20 this year—and in all that time, the artist who makes them has never lit a Hanukkah candle. While Hanukkiahs are a big part of Nancy Clarke's business—she also makes them in the shapes of elephants, alligators, cats, whales and giraffes, and sells them to Judaica stores across North America—Clarke herself is not Jewish. Clarke joins The CJN Daily from London, Ont., to explain why it makes her happy that her art forms part of Jewish family traditions, and why she's carrying on a tradition of her own by making them in the first place. What we talked about: See all of Clarke's work at acmeanimal.com Watch Hanukkah greetings from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre 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 learn how to support the show by subscribing to this podcast, please watch this video.

This week, Israel’s incoming prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, will announce the country’s cabinet ministers. It’s all but certain that this will comprise his coalition partners, including Bezalel Smotrich, an extreme right-wing politician who wants to take control of the entire West Bank and Gaza and opposes rights for LGBTQ people; Itamar Ben-Gvir, infamous for his anti-Arab political stances; and Aryeh Deri, who’s been convicted on separate counts of tax evasion and bribery—and spent almost two years in jail. Netanyahu insists these men will have to walk back some of their more extreme plans. But one law that could change is the Law of Return, restricting aliyah to only those born to a Jewish mother, in accordance with the Orthodox viewpoint. And how they handle the ongoing crisis with Palestinians is also up for debate—whether new laws will incite more violence and terror. To discuss all these issues and more, The CJN Daily assembled a panel of three Canadian Jewish leaders to share their concerns and make some predictions about what Israel will look like in the near future. Ben Murane is the executive director of the New Israel Fund of Canada; Miriam Pearlman is a past president of the Association of Reform Zionists of America Canada; and Shimon Koffler Fogel is the CEO of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs. What we talked about: Read the NIFC's open letter warning about Israel new government See the reaction from the Reform Jewish Community of 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 learn how to support the show by subscribing to this podcast, please watch this video.

Phyllis Taylor credits Oprah Winfrey with sending her to prison—in a manner of speaking. After 30 years working at a law firm in Toronto, Taylor, then in her early 60s, was let go. But she wasn't ready to retire. Her friends brought her to hear Oprah speak in Toronto in 2012; the show featured six female inmates. Taylor was inspired—and she hasn't looked back. Since then, she's taught life skills to hundreds of Canadian prisoners, including drug dealers, prostitutes, rapists and pedophiles. Despite the risks, Taylor discovered a way to make a difference, combining her training as a teacher and motivational speaker with her ability to shower students with kindness. Now she’s sharing her experiences in a new book called The Prison Lady, which recounts not just her years helping inmates, but also her life's journey: as a twice-divorced survivor of child abuse who grew up Jewish in postwar Toronto. Taylor gives a glimpse into her life and writing process on today's show. What we talked about: Learn more about The Prison Lady Read about the Sar-El case 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 learn how to support the show by subscribing to this podcast, please watch this video.

This 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 Cunningham is a trustee with the Durham District School Board and a former Ontario NDP riding president; and Stephen Adler is a former Conservative strategist and currently is senior director of corporate and public affairs at National Public Relations. So settle in, think back to the biggest news stories of the year (Jewish and not) and get ready to buzz in your answers—and let's see if you know the news as well as the pros. What we talked about: Read about David Birnbaum's decision not to run for re-election in The CJN (Apr 2022) Listen to Emma Cunningham explain her confrontation with the Ontario NDP over antisemitism in The CJN Daily (Jan 2022) Hear Stephen Adler on The CJN Daily round up the stakes for Jewish Ontarians during ahead of this past fall's election 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 learn how to support the show by subscribing to this podcast, please watch this video.

It's the fifth edition of Honourable Menschen, The CJN Daily's recurring segment reflecting on some of the noteworthy Jewish Canadians who've passed away in recent months. As always, retired CJN reporter Ron Csillag joins the program to walk us through their accomplishments and legacies. Today, we're commemorating five remarkable lives: Cynthia Gasner, a community activist and longtime writer for The CJN; Mark Mendelson, one of Canada's most successful fundraisers for Israel-based institutions; John Daniels and Jack Diamond, a pair of architects who changed the landscape of Toronto; and Murray Waxman, an acclaimed basketball player who represented Canada on the global stage. What we talked about: Read the obituaries for John Daniels and Jack Diamond Read Cynthia Gasner's obituary Read Mark Mendelson's obituary Read Jim Carr's obituary 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 learn how to support the show by subscribing to this podcast, please watch this video.

"What Jews call antisemitism isn’t real." "Any Jew who calls them out [for antisemitism] is just racist and is lying in order to oppress Palestinians." "Anyone at the Temerty Faculty of Medicine who angers the Jews will have their career destroyed by the Jews.” These are just some examples from the litany of antisemitic comments and insults which Dr. Ayelet Kuper has encountered during her time as a professor at the University of Toronto's medical school. She has now documented and published these and more, as a paper in the Canadian Medical Education Journal. In it, she lays out how the school’s Jewish faculty and students are once again dealing with clear-cut antisemitism—the way their predecessors did during the decades of the Second World War and beyond—but now, they’re facing it particularly if they publicly support Israel. While she doesn’t name names, she writes that some of those behind it include Jewish faculty members themselves In September, the faculty of medicine held an event to apologize for years of discrimination against Jewish students dating back to the postwar era, where quotas existed limiting Jewish enrolment and advancement. Kuper isn't doing interviews right now, due to the volume of requests she's received since her paper came out last week. But, on today's The CJN Daily, we're joined by two of her colleagues with extensive knowledge of the situation, Dr. Philip Berger and Dr. Steve Samuel. Both are members of the group Doctors Against Racism and Antisemtism, a.k.a. DARA, and they issued a statement on Dec. 9 demanding UofT's medical school protect Jewish staff and students. What we talked about: Read Ayelet Kuper's paper Read "U of T professors unhappy with president’s response to anti-Semitism on campus" in The CJN archives (Feb 2020) Visit the DARA website at daradocs.org 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 learn how to support the show by subscribing to this podcast, please watch this video.

Irwin Cotler, the renowned human rights lawyer who is now Canada's special envoy on antisemitism, has appeared on The CJN Daily more than once. But this time, he's not commenting on the news—he is the news. A new documentary about his life and work, First to Stand: The Cases and Causes of Irwin Cotler, is making its world debut this weekend in Montreal. It's not a biography—the film instead traces his four-decade career representing with the likes of the late Nelson Mandela, Natan Sharansky and Raif Badawi, a Saudi blogger sentenced to a thousand lashes and 10 years in prison. Audiences will catch a glimpse of what it's like travelling the world to stand up to oppressive regimes as he collaborates with allies including the acclaimed human rights lawyer Amal Clooney in the United Kingdom. Ellin speaks with one of the filmmakers, Irene Angelico (who produced and directed along with partner Abbey Neidik) to discuss the four years they spent following Cotler around with their cameras—and then Cotler himself joins Ellin to describe what it was like being in a big-screen spotlight. What we talked about: Buy tickets to the world premiere in Montreal Learn more about the film 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 learn how to support the show by subscribing to this podcast, please watch this video.