North Star with Ellin Bessner

At 74, acclaimed cookbook author Bonnie Stern has just published her first new cookbook in more than a decade. Don't Worry, Just Cook compiles 125 recipes, many Jewish, marking the next step in Stern's nearly 50-year career. Not only is this the first cookbook Stern has co-written with her daughter, Anna Rupert, 37, but it's also the first book published in the social media age. The food industry has changed dramatically, and it wasn't always obvious that Stern would be able to adapt. But with the help of her children—Anna and her brother, Mark Rupert, oversaw photography and social media—the latest edition of Stern's bibliography comes out just in time for the High Holidays and Canadian Thanksgiving. Stern and her daughter join the episode to discuss their process and drive home the theme they learned through the last two years of pandemic life: that, as society re-emerges from pandemic and people can gather again, it's family that matters most—and nothing brings family together quite like a comforting meal. What we talked about: Order the book on Penguin Random House Listen to The CJN Daily episode on JWest in Vancouver Listen to The CJN Daily episode on the Sherman murders 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, about 30 members of the Temple Sons of Israel Synagogue in Sydney, Nova Scotia, gathered for Rosh Hashanah services in a building that was cold, wet and lacked electricity. The building was one of many in the Maritimes battered by a post-tropical storm from Hurricane Fiona, pushing winds of up to 170 km/hr and dumping seven inches of rain across the region. But since a rabbi had already arrived from Halifax and a cantor flown in from Israel, congregants decided to go ahead with the High Holiday services—although not every Atlantic Jewish community did. And while power outages forced at least one community member to throw away kosher food imported from Toronto, and cleaning up the downed power lines and fallen trees will take days, the community is in relatively good spirits, having found ways to celebrate the new year. Shayna Strong, a community member in New Waterford, just northeast of Sydney, joins to discuss how the island's Jews are coping during these difficult times. What we talked about: Read about the Sydney synagogue's centennial in The CJN archives Learn about the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism Watch the press conference where Alberta Premier Jason Kenney discussed his government's actions on combatting antisemitism 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.

The Sons of Jacob Congregation, Belleville's only synagogue, has been servicing the town's tight-knit local Jewish community for nearly a century. During the Second World War, its numbers swelled due to the number of Jewish soliders stationed in the area; today, however, fewer than 30 paying members support the historic institution. They managed to keep things going even during the pandemic, but this week, despite the best efforts of their long-serving president, they announced that they couldn't hold regular High Holiday services for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur—because they couldn't find anyone qualified to lead them. The shul can’t afford to pay what they call "Toronto prices" for someone who will—even if that person isn't a rabbi or a cantor. Norm Weddum, the congregation's president, joins to discuss the situation—and how it's hardly unique in the country. What we talked about: Visit the Sons of Jacob website at sonsofjacobsynagogue.ca 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. Production assistance by Gabrielle Nadler and YuZhu Mou. 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.

Over the last few days, Canadian border officials blocked a shipment of lulavs bound for Montreal. Why? They believed, erroneously, that the Sukkot staple violated the country's agriculture laws, designed to prevent dangerous diseases or invasive bugs from entering the country. The situation caused a panic among religious communities in Ontario and Quebec, as the fate of thousands of lulavs suddenly seemed uncertain. In group chats and across social media, Canadian Jews began freaking out, worried that a longstanding waiver for commercial imports of these products for Sukkot was no longer being granted. To break down how it all happened, and what it was like at the apex of the tension, we're joined by Rabbi Leibele Rodal, an importer of lulavs and etrogs, who drove to New York on Sept. 20, 2022, in hopes of securing 1,000 lulavs. Plus, Shimon Koffler Fogel, head of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, will explain the diplomatic dealings that went on behind the scenes of the lulav limbo. What we talked about: Read Ellin's print story, "How a Canadian rabbi’s shipment of lulavs for Sukkot got blocked at the border and caused a major day-long freak-out for Jews" Read the Canadian agricultural law that sparked the fiasco Visit Esrogino's Facebook page Read "Recycling Sukkot: Don’t wave goodbye to your lulav" from The CJN archives 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. Production assistance by Gabrielle Nadler and YuZhu Mou. 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.

On Sept. 13, 2022, the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board held a special meeting. They were finally set to discuss a brewing fiasco in which the board, last spring, disinvited Irwin Cotler, Canada’s special envoy on combatting antisemitism, from giving a speech to senior staff. In his stead, they invited a professor with a deep background in Palestinian human rights and anti-racism education. The move angered the local Jewish community, sparking a new battleground in the ongoing war between pro- and anti-Israel activists, which is increasingly being played out in government departments, university campuses and public school boards just like this one. Andrea Freedman, the president and CEO of Ottawa's Jewish Federation, sent scathing statements to the board, her community and Steven Lecce, Ontario's minister of education. She joins the show today to discuss the community's reaction and where she feels the board went wrong. After that, you'll hear from the board's director of education, Camille Williams-Taylor, and Deena Friedman, a high school student and young Jewish activist who explains what life is really like in the classrooms and hallways. What we talked about: Watch the OCDSB meeting from Sept. 13, 2022 Read The CJN's coverage of the initial incident 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. Production assistance by Gabrielle Nadler and YuZhu Mou. 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.

Congregation Shaar Hashomayim is older than Canada itself. It was founded by Jews who came from England to what is now Quebec, wanting to create their own space apart from the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue. Decades after the congregation's inception in 1846, a new building was built, in 1922, in Westmount. And in a cornerstone of that building, congregants placed a time capsule—a memento of a bygone era that only now, 100 years later, is being unearthed. The synagogue's archivist, Hannah Srour-Zackon, watched as the capsule re-emerged for the first time in a century during the synagogue's weekend-long 100th-anniversary ceremony. She joins today to describe what they found, how the capsule reminds us of the rich history of the Shaar, and what its role has been in the Canadian Jewish community. What we talked about: Learn about Shaar Hashomayim's archival work Read "Deep diving into Shaar Hashomayim’s hidden history of Montreal with archivist Hannah Srour" 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. Production assistance by Gabrielle Nadler and YuZhu Mou. 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 weekend, after spending 15 years as an arts writer for The Globe and Mail, Marsha Lederman is debuting her new opinion column for the paper. The shift comes just a few months after the debut of her book, Kiss the Red Stairs, which chronicled her parents' experiences in the Holocaust and how intergenerational trauma has affected her life. Those themes have led to her having a strong reaction to Holocaust denial and antisemitism today. And while she won't reveal what she plans to write about in the paper, she knows readers will be anticipating her perspective as a Jewish Canadian with opinions about difficult subjects—including the conflict in the Middle East. Lederman, who recently contributed to The CJN Magazine, joins Ellin for an in-depth discussion about her lengthy career, how her book is educating people about the Holocaust and what her aspirations are for her new national platform. What we talked about: Visit her website at marshalederman.ca Read Lederman's piece in The CJN Magazine Subscribe the The CJN Circle 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. Production assistance by Gabrielle Nadler and YuZhu Mou. 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.

As Canadian Jews debate whether to head back to in-person synagogue services for the High Holidays, and parents may fret about their kids' safety at the onset of back-to-school season, security is top of mind for many. While security is not as big a concern as it is in the United States, where shooting and hostage situations in Jewish spaces have become distressingly common, for Canadian security professionals, the goal is to ensure Canada doesn't get any worse in the face of rising waves of antisemitism. The new head of community security for the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, Gerry Almendrades—who served in the Canadian Armed Forces with time in Afghanistan—has been holding training sessions and conducting site visits of Jewish buildings in some parts of the country. He's teaching a new security protocol, called "Run Hide Defend", which is used by police forces to educate the public about how to act in an active-shooter situation. On today's episode of The CJN Daily, Almendrades joins to discuss his advice for Canadian Jews. After that, you'll hear from Christopher Fernandes, a veteran police officer in the Toronto area: he's now the vice president of community security for the UJA in Toronto. He'll discuss what his reaction was to a protester who disrupted a major UJA fundraising event that featured speakers former U.S. President George W. Bush and former Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper. What we talked about: Book security training for your organization or school Read about CIJA’s security policies Read The CJN’s story: “Public safety minister Marco Mendicino says Ottawa is considering expanded security measures for Jewish buildings” Watch video of the pro-Palestine protester at the UJA fundraiser 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. Production assistance by Gabrielle Nadler and YuZhu Mou. 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.

The late David Shentow once vowed he would "crawl on his hands and knees to Auschwitz" to tell his Holocaust story, as a way to counter those who deny the Nazis murdered six million Jews during the Second World War. Over the years, until his death in 2017, Shentow spoke to hundreds of schoolchildren and adults about his experiences as a teenage slave labourer under the Nazis, and also as a prisoner at both Auschwitz and Dachau concentration camps. His family and supporters with March of the Living Canada hope new generations of young people can learn Shentow's message when they pass through a park in the west end of Ottawa that now bears his name. The rededication ceremony was held on Sept. 11, 2022. On today's episode of The CJN Daily, we hear from three people who knew Shentow best: his daughter Lorie Shentow in Toronto; Eli Rubenstein of Congregation Habonim in Toronto, who accompanied Shentow on multiple March of the Living trips to Poland; and Bram Bregman, an Ottawa Jewish volunteer who shepherded the park renaming campaign through City Hall. What we talked about: Read about David Shentow in The CJN archives and also here Watch David Shentow in this film by Carleton University’s Jewish studies program, meeting with Grade 10 students at Carina Wilson Secondary School 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. Production assistance by Gabrielle Nadler and YuZhu Mou. 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 subscribe to this podcast, please watch this video.

As the official mourning period continues for Queen Elizabeth II – who died on Sept. 8 at the age of 96 – the Jewish community is, mostly, remembering her long reign with fondness and admiration. She supported Holocaust survivors and welcomed Israeli leaders, and connected with the Canadian Jewish community, too: in 1973, she laid a cornerstone for Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto; and in 2010, during her last royal tour of Canada, she met the late Rabbi Reuven Bulka and Rabbi Chaim Mendelsohn in Ottawa. But despite her wide travels, the Queen never visited Israel, an unofficial boycott that still hurts. On today’s show, you’ll hear from Jews—on both sides of the pond—who reflect on their experiences with the late Queen. Brigit Grant, a British journalist with London’s _Jewish News, _discusses the Queen’s impact on her country’s Jewish community and also what kind of friend King Charles will be. Plus, in Halifax, Myra Freeman, who was the lieutenant governor of Nova Scotia from 2000 to 2006, reflects on being the first Jewish woman to act as the Queen’s representative in Canada, and what her interactions with Elizabeth II were like, even mistakenly breaking Royal Protocol at Buckingham Palace. What we talked about: Read "Rabbi Bulka blesses the Queen" in The CJN archives Read "Myra Freeman: the first female, and first Jewish, lieutenant governor of Nova Scotia" in The CJN archives Visit the Jewish News at jewishnews.co.uk 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. Production assistance by Gabrielle Nadler and YuZhu Mou. 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.