North Star with Ellin Bessner

Four years ago, Harley Finkelstein, the president of Canadian e-commerce giant Shopify, along with his wife, Lindsay Taub, donated half a million dollars to help open a Chabad student centre in downtown Ottawa. The gift was in thanks to an energetic rabbi who helped Finkelstein when he was a poor law student studying at the University of Ottawa. Since then, Finkelstein and his family have decided to up their pledge, adding another $1.5 million to expand and renovate the building—which now bears his name. The Finkelstein Chabad Jewish Centre is on Friel Street, just three minutes from where the city's old Jewish community centre stood for 50 years. That building closed in 1998, following the community's migration to the suburbs and away from the historic downtown. Finkelstein joins The CJN Daily to explain why he believes it's important to bring a visible Jewish presence back downtown, where tourists and locals can see it nearby Parliament Hill, the ByWard Market and the popular university campus. What we talked about: Read about Finkelstein's initial donation in 2018 Credits The CJN Daily is written and hosted by Ellin Bessner (@ebessner on Twitter). Victoria Redden 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.

For the past 20 years, Ari Sitnik has taken small acting gigs on the side in Toronto. But nothing compared to two weeks ago, when he got a call to show up at the Royal York Hotel for the top-secret filming of Drake’s new music video, “Falling Back”. The video shows a lavish wedding featuring Drake getting married to 23 Instagram models. Sitnik, as the officiant, appears right at the beginning, clad in his ultra-Orthodox outfit, asking the betrothed if they will act "according to our values and traditions." He then pronounces them "man and wives." Today on The CJN Daily, you'll meet the real Sitnik, the father of four who works as a computer specialist, who doesn't call himself "Rabbi Sitnik," who was born in Brazil before moving to Canada—and who isn't too worried about Jews criticizing his portrayal of our religion for what is currently the most popular (and controversial) music video on the internet. What we talked about: Watch the video for "Falling Back" Watch Sitnik in the "Slammin for Shabbos" video Credits The CJN Daily is written and hosted by Ellin Bessner (@ebessner on Twitter). Victoria Redden 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.

Until July 3, a new exhibit is running in Calgary's Glenbow Museum featuring intimate black-and-white portraits and cross-generational shots of 161 Holocaust survivors who have ties to the city. The project took years to make, shooting during the pandemic and resulting in an accompanying coffee table book and documentary film. The project is the brainchild of Marnie Bondar and Dahlia Libin, whose grandparents were all Holocaust survivors, and who co-chair the Calgary Jewish Federation's Holocaust programming. They say this art project was born out of love and awe of what their relatives went on to do after the war, and how they built new lives in Canada. On today's episode of The CJN Daily, you’ll meet one of the survivors profiled in the show—she’s 94 now—as well as Bondar and Libin, who will share stories of the behind-the-scenes process and what they hope visitors will take away. What we talked about: Learn about "Here to Tell" at heretotell.com Watch Ira Gluskin’s speech to U of T graduates Credits The CJN Daily is written and hosted by Ellin Bessner (@ebessner on Twitter). Victoria Redden 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.

There's one movie theatre in the city of Val-d'Or, Quebec—a city of about 32,000, about a five-hour drive north of Ottawa. The Capitol Theatre opened in 1937 with more than 600 seats, an orchestra pit and a snack bar. Its founder, Abe Kaplan, was one of the pioneering Jewish residents who set up businesses in the region to capitalize on the burgeoning gold rush of the time. Kaplan and his wife raised two daughters and a son in an apartment right above the Capitol, and—despite being one of a handful of Jewish families in the mining town—managed to lead an observant Jewish life. Now, 85 years after the theatre first opened its doors—and a few decades since the Kaplans sold it in 1986—the city of Val-d'Or held a commemorative ceremony to honour the multicultural families that helped build it, including the Kaplans. On today's episode of The CJN Daily, the Kaplan kids will explain what the honour means to them, and why they wanted to make sure their family’s contribution to Val-d'Or's history is not forgotten. What we talked about: Learn more about the history of Val d'Or Visit the "I grew up in Val d'Or" Facebook page Credits The CJN Daily is written and hosted by Ellin Bessner (@ebessner on Twitter). Victoria Redden 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.

Zane and Baden Colt got engaged in 2018, with a wedding planned for June 2020. But the world had other plans in 2020. So what was meant to be a two-year wait to get married turned into three, then four. With each passing trip around the sun, they optimistically scheduled another date, only to have to cancel yet again. Now on their fifth try, the Colts—who got legally married in a civil ceremony while waiting to hold a party—are finally going to tie the knot on June 30, 2022. Unless something else comes up, of course. The Colts are just one of many Jewish couples who've had to postpone or outright cancel their weddings in the last two years. The CJN's news editor, Lila Sarick, has been speaking to many for a feature story on this belated season of love. Sarick and the Colts all join The CJN Daily to talk about the extra layers of stress couples are facing for their big days, and how weddings are changing in a post-pandemic era. What we talked about: Read about the Colts' journey to finding a surrogate in The CJN in 2021 Buy tickets to the Chai Folk Ensemble's 50th anniversary concert at chai.ca Credits The CJN Daily is written and hosted by Ellin Bessner (@ebessner on Twitter). Victoria Redden 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.

Rabbi Shlomo Leib Mund, formerly of Montreal, was arrested on April 13 at Toronto's Pearson airport while flying in from Israel to visit family for Passover. He was promptly charged with sexual assault, sexual interference with a victim under 16 years of age, and incest. The reason behind the arrest was a warrant issued by Montreal's police force. The accusations against Mund, now 79, date back 25 years, to when he was a well-known rabbi and teacher in Montreal's ultra-Orthodox community. In the early 2000s, after Montreal's rabbinical court investigated him for a sex crime complaint—not the same one that would ultimately lead to his arrest, however—he was effectively exiled from the community and moved to Israel. That case never went to the police. The identity of the individual whose complaint led to Rabbi Mund's arrest is under a court-ordered publication ban, since they were a minor when the crimes were committed. They spoke to The CJN Daily, but we've had to disguise their voice. You'll also hear from Rabbi Saul Emanuel, the executive director of Montreal's Jewish Community Council, about how the earlier complaints against Rabbi Mund were dealt with at the time. What we talked about: Listen to The CJN Daily episode about Lorie Wolf's sexual assault in the community Listen to The CJN Daily episode about why so many sex crimes go unpunished Credits The CJN Daily is written and hosted by Ellin Bessner (@ebessner on Twitter). Victoria Redden 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.

One year ago, on June 13, 2021, a new Israeli government was sworn in, ushering a new era of Israeli politics after more than a decade of Benjamin Netanyahu's rule, which culminated in four elections in three years. The new prime minister, Naftali Bennett, promised stability and change. But he's presiding over a fragile coalition government comprising eight different parties—and cracks are beginning to show. This week, the coalition began facing its biggest crisis yet, as it struggled to corral votes on raising the minimum wage, extending Israeli law into the West Bank and other hot-button subjects. Some political observers fear the Israel government may not survive long past its one-year anniversary. To discuss these issues, and to hear some predictions about the future of this Knesset, Ellin Bessner sat down with acclaimed veteran Israeli journalist Yaron Deckel, who was recently appointed to represent the Jewish Agency for Israel in Canada, as part of the first-ever live taping of The CJN Daily. What we talked about: Hear Irwin Cotler discuss the outlook for Israel’s new government on The CJN Daily Read about Naftali Bennett’s Canadian roots in The CJN Register for the Anne Frank Writers Conference Credits The CJN Daily is written and hosted by Ellin Bessner (@ebessner on Twitter). Victoria Redden 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.

Many Jewish immigrants, when arriving in Canada, choose to settle in the Toronto area. But Toronto is prohibitively expensive for many people, and newcomers face even more hurdles involving work visas, new schools and social connections on top of the financial stress. That's where the Welcome Home project comes in. The brainchild of three mid-sized Jewish communities in Ontario—Hamilton, London and Windsor—the project aims to lure immigrant Jewish families, or long-time Torontonians priced out of the housing market, to join their relatively-small-but-mighty communities down the Highway 401. Local federations are pitching in, promising to make connections and help cover some of the moving costs. It's in their interest to see local numbers grow, since all three communities have been in decline for some time. To discuss the context and how Welcome Home could be the solution, we're joined by all three Federation CEOs: Gustavo Rymberg of Hamilton, Rob Nagus of London and Dan Brotman of Windsor. What we talked about: Learn about Welcome Home at jwelcomehome.com Watch Jewish London's welcome video Learn about Jordan Berg at youvegottamakethis.com Credits The CJN Daily is written and hosted by Ellin Bessner (@ebessner on Twitter). Victoria Redden 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.

Just before Passover, Dori Ekstein was taking part in a webinar held by the March of the Living program. She heard a speech by a British/Israeli aid worker about the work his group is doing in Ukraine, helping the roughly 18 Righteous Among the Nations who were still alive. That news prompted Ekstein to bring up that her mother and grandparents had been hidden by a Ukrainian family in their barn in Dolyna for two years, and she had been searching for that barn for years. What Ekstein didn't know was that a Ukrainian woman had been searching for her, too. Danute Protc's grandparents owned that farm in Ukraine, and she, too, had spent years trying to connect with descendants of the Jewish couple her own grandparents saved. It was fate that the two should finally meet, albeit over Zoom. On today's episode of The CJN Daily, you’ll hear from both Protc and Ekstein, who was finally able to say thank you to the family that saved hers during the Holocaust—a family that is now, themselves, trapped in in a bloody war as well. What we talked about: Read about Dori Ekstein’s mother’s experience Learn about From the Depths, an organization that helps Righteous Among the Nations in Ukraine and Poland Credits The CJN Daily is written and hosted by Ellin Bessner (@ebessner on Twitter). Victoria Redden 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.

On Wednesday, a plane carrying 180 eager Ethiopian Jews arrived at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion airport. For many, their immigration to the Holy Land has been a long time coming—some have been waiting decades to join their families, who already made aliyah. The flight is part of Operation Tzur Israel, and marks a restart for the long-running operations that have already brought thousands of Ethiopian Jews into Israel since the 1980s. Those missions stopped over a year ago—partly because of COVID, and partly because of court challenges by domestic right-wing groups that questioned the legitimacy of the Africans' law of return. Nonetheless, the planes are flying again, and Israel is once again accepting Jews in need. And because North American Jewish Federations contribute to the payment the these operations, a handful of Canadian Jewish leaders flew to Ethiopia this week to bear witness to the migration and meet the people whose lives they helped change. On today's episode, you'll hear from Ariella Rohringer and Sara Gottlieb of Toronto, who work with Federation and the United Israel Appeal; Candace Kwinter, chair of the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver; and Bruce Leboff, who was waiting at Ben Gurion airport to greet the newcomers. What we talked about: Listen to The CJN Daily episode about the rarely told story of how a handful of Montreal Jews covertly rescued 300 Ethiopian refugees Watch the live stream of Joe Segal's funeral Credits The CJN Daily is written and hosted by Ellin Bessner (@ebessner on Twitter). Victoria Redden 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.