North Star with Ellin Bessner

While summertime is usually quiet for news, The CJN's obit department (which is mostly veteran reporter Ron Csillag) has been busy at work covering some of the biggest losses in the Canadian Jewish community. In the third part of our recurring segment, The CJN Daily Dead Beat, Ellin and Ron sit down to discuss the lives of six prominent Canadian Jews: Max Eisen, one of the country's most famous Holocaust survivors and educators; historian Irving Abella, whose seminal work, None is Too Many, defined Canada's disgraceful past attitudes towards Jews; Rabbi Dow Marmur, who spent 17 years as spiritual leader of Toronto’s Holy Blossom Temple; memoirist and survivor Leslie Vertes; Clayton Ruby, a lawyer who dedicated his career to social justice; and Mel Hoppenheim, known as "Mr. Hollywood North". Read and listen to The CJN's original obituaries and tributes: ‘I must tell the world what happened’: Max Eisen, in his own words ‘A better Canada because of him’: Tributes pour in at the funeral for renowned historian Irving Abella Obituary: Rabbi Dow Marmur, 87, led Toronto’s Holy Blossom Temple—and described himself as having lived six lives Obituary: Mel Hoppenheim, 84, was a Canadian film industry pioneer known as ‘Mr. Hollywood North’ Eulogy: Clayton Ruby, 80, a lawyer who led a half-century battle for justice and equality 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 World Zionist Congress turns 125 this week. The international organization bills itself as a kind of global Jewish parliament, setting policies for major Israeli institutions and allocating more than a billion dollars a year to support them. Usually, the delegates meet every five years in Israel; this Sunday, August 28, however, they'll be meeting in Basel, Switzerland, where Theodor Herzl convened the very first iteration of the congress in 1897. The World Zionist Organization is holding two days of events in Basel to mark what's being called the most significant Zionist gathering this decade, featuring leading speakers such as Israel's president and Canadians Gil Troy, Sylvan Adams and Danna Azrieli. Given the weight of the event, it's no surprise that David Matlow, the world's leading collector of Herzl memorabilia and a regular CJN contributor, is heading to Basel to attend. Matlow joins the show to give a taste of what the first Congress was like and what challenges still face Zionists today. What we talked about: Learn about the 125th anniversary See David Matlow's collection from the 1897 Zionist Congress Monday's episode on the Laith Marouf scandal How to subscribe to our podcast 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 year, Laith Marouf is touring Canada, instructing broadcasters on how to build anti-racism strategies. His organization received more than $130,000 from the federal government for this work. The problem? Marouf has a lengthy track record of virulent antisemitic and anti-Israel commentary, to the point that his previous Twitter account was suspended—and his new one has been blocked for promoting violence. That violence tends to be directed at people he disregards as "Jewish white supremacists." In some of his most egregious tweets, he's written that "Jewish white supremacists" should have a "bullet to the head" and calls them "loud mouthed [sic] bags of human feces". These tweets, among more than a hundred others, have been screenshotted and compiled by Mark Goldberg, a media consultant in Toronto. Goldberg has been following Marouf since 2016, and he joins The CJN Daily today to discuss his findings. What we talked about: Read Mark Goldbergs's blog post on the subject Learn about the Community Media Advocacy Centre's anti-racism program Learn how to subscribe to The CJN Daily on your device 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 CJN Daily is on vacation this week, so we're rerunning some of our favourite episodes. This one originally aired Mar. 8, 2022. On March 19, 2022, 12-year-old Naomi Hochman celebrated her bat mitzvah at Winnipeg's Shaarey Zedek synagogue. And while she was the first girl in her family to have a bat mitzvah—her older brothers had theirs, and she just took for granted she would enjoy one too—bat mitzvahs are in fact a relatively new phenomenon. Naomi's bat mitzvah actually took place on the 100-year anniversary of the very first bat mitzvah in North America. The daughter of an American reconstructionist rabbi, Judith Kaplan, earned that distinction on March 18, 1922. In Canada, what is believed to be the first bat mitzvah wouldn't take place until decades later, in 1949. Miriam Lieff led a Friday night service at Agudath Israel Synagogue in Ottawa, paving the way for generations of Canadian girls to take a more egalitarian role in Jewish religious life. Now 86, Lieff joins to recall her experience during a time when girls weren't even allowed to stand on the bimah—and Naomi will talk about how she feels carrying that torch so many years later. 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 CJN Daily is on vacation this week, so we're rerunning some of our favourite episodes. This one originally aired Feb. 17, 2022. In March 2020, magicians Ben Train and Jonah Babins, like so many other performers, found their livelihoods put on indefinite pause. So they did what any young entrepreneurs would: they pivoted by taking their show to the Zoom circuit. Two years in, it's gotten them noticed by the likes of Seth Rogan. They've recently returned from Las Vegas, where they met with some of their magician idols, David Copperfield and Mac King. And with COVID restrictions easing up, they're finally preparing for their first in-person show of 2022, held at Yuk Yuk's in downtown Toronto. Train and Babins join The CJN Daily to discuss their Jewish roots and how they transformed their pandemic problems into a booming business model. What we talked about: Learn about the The Toronto Magic Company at torontomagiccompany.com Get tickets for their Yuk Yuk's show, Hocus Jokus, at yukyuks.com 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 CJN Daily is on vacation this week, so we're rerunning some of our favourite episodes. This one originally aired Aug. 23, 2021. KlezKanada and the Ashkenaz Festival are some of the largest Jewish and Yiddish arts celebrations in North America, and both are being held mostly virtually this year because of COVID-19. As the pandemic has upended cultural events around the country, so too has it forced these two renowned annual celebrations to figure out new ways to reach fans of Yiddish and Jewish culture. Despite the hurdles, both events are gearing up for innovative programs this year, and organizers from KlezKanada have even said their audiences have grown in 2021, because technology has swung open their doors beyond geography. On today's episode, we’ll hear from the artistic director of Ashkenaz and the executive director of KlezKanada about what to expect this year from both festivals. Plus, the host of Winnipeg’s Jewish radio hour joins to explain why she feels the pandemic may have actually saved Yiddish music. What we talked about: Learn more about KlezKanada at klezkanada.org Learn more about the Ashkenaz Festival at ashkenaz.ca Listen to the Jewish Radio Hour at podomatic.com/podcasts/jewishradiohour 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; find more great Jewish podcasts at thecjn.ca.

The CJN Daily is on vacation this week, so we're rerunning some of our favourite episodes. This one originally aired July 28, 2022. Update: Averbach has since finished his journey, arriving in Vancouver having trekked 1,000 kilometres across Western Canada. Gary Averbach left Calgary on a mission. The 79-year-old real estate mogul, based in Vancouver, is currently trekking through 40-degree heat waves across the Rockies from Calgary to his home city to raise money for cancer research. He's about three-quarters of the way there—his goal is to arrive home by mid-August, just shy of his 80th birthday, and to have raised $500,000 in the process. The project stemmed from a promise Averbach made last summer to his late cousin and business partner, Robert Golden, who passed away from bone cancer. After Averbach lost two more cousins and his housekeeper to cancer this spring, he decided to embark on the journey to raise money for a good cause, while also ticking off a bucket-list adventure. Averbach spoke to The CJN Daily from Boston Bar, B.C., around 45 kilometres south of Lytton, where he stopped after completing another daily 24-km hike. What we talked about: Follow Averbach's journey 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 CJN Daily is on vacation this week, so we're rerunning some of our favourite episodes. This one originally aired Jan. 6, 2022. One of the most common new year's resolutions is losing weight. But it's also one of the most difficult—and the reason has less to do with willpower than with neurology. Canadian journalist Mark Schatzker is the author of a new book, The End of Craving: Recovering the Lost Wisdom of Eating Well. Schatzker travelled the world, talking to experts and reading scientific studies, to find out why people have a hard time with food cravings and keeping pounds off. The reason, he found, has to do with the way modern food is manufactured, packed with so many added sweeteners, vitamins and additives that our brains don't believe we're getting enough real calories and urge us to eat more. Schatzker joins today to discuss his book and the important takeaways for anyone hoping to eat healthier in 2022. What we talked about: Find the book at markschatzker.com Read "The list of Jewish community members named to the Order of Canada at the end of 2021" at thecjn.ca Read "Simkin Centre nursing home in Winnipeg slammed by COVID outbreak among staff" at thecjn.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.

The CJN Daily is on vacation this week, so we're rerunning our favourite episodes. This one originally aired Dec. 14, 2021. This year, an unlikely Hanukkah party was held at the Canada Pavillion of Expo 2020 in Dubai. The emcee for the candlelighting and kosher dinner was Canada's ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, Marcy Grossman, a Montrealer who's spent the last three years in the Gulf state. Grossman has found herself at the centre of Jewish life in the Arab country, embedding herself within a community of about 3,500 Jews—some of whom have literally come out of hiding, as the UAE fleshes out its new formal relationship with Israel, following the signing of the Abraham Accords. Before she retires from her post in 2022, Grossman joins to discuss life in Dubai and how she feels feels more comfortable as a Jewish woman in the UAE than in many other parts of the world. What we talked about: Read Marcy Grossman's bio at international.gc.ca Read her article, "Canada wishes the UAE well on its 50th anniversary", at thenationalnews.com Watch videos from the candlelighting ceremony on Instagram from @avivachernick and @marcygrossman 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 CJN Daily is on vacation this week, so we're rerunning our favourite episodes. This one originally aired Oct. 13, 2021. With the Apple Watch, you can monitor your blood oxygen levels, send emails, wear it while swimming—and, thanks to a high school student in Toronto, you can also use it to help recite your daily Jewish prayers. The new free app, called WatchSiddur, shows you which prayers to read each day and at what times, so you don't have to carry around a physical book all day. It was created by Eitan Steinfeld, a 14-year-old student at CHAT in Thornhill, Ont., who taught himself how to code during the pandemic. Inspired by the Apple Watch his grandmother gave him for his bar mitzvah, Steinfeld set out to create the world's first free daily siddur app for the platform. Steinfeld joins today to discuss his project and what it took to build. What we talked about: Download WatchSiddur from the Apple App Store 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.