North Star with Ellin Bessner

Premier Doug Ford is widely expected to win a strong minority, if not an outright majority, in Ontario's provincial election tomorrow. The CJN's political columnist, Josh Lieblein, agrees with the consensus—but there are still plenty of Jewish stories to watch. Dianne Saxe, a high-profile Jewish candidate, will try and break ground for the Greens in downdown Toronto; parents of Jewish day school students may punish Ford's government for keeping schools closed for so long; and anyone concerned about the rising wave of antisemitism and Holocaust denial, on the streets and in public schools, must have questions for the government that's been in power over the last four years. Lieblein, who has written more than 20 columns about Ontario's 43rd general election, makes his debut on The CJN Daily to explain what you should know heading into voting day, and what ridings are worth watching through a Jewish lens. What we talked about: Read Lieblein's latest column at thecjn.ca Learn about The Rhapsody—and if you want a chance to win two free tickets to the world premiere on June 15 in Toronto, sign up for The CJN Circle at thecjn.ca/circle 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.

This year, a new coffee table book came out called Sephardi Voices, based on the long-running preservation project that collects stories of Sephardic Jews' accomplishments and survival worldwide. As part of the project, two Canadian researchers have spent the last few years collecting video testimonies from hundreds of survivors of the mass expulsion of nearly a million Jews from Arab lands after 1948. This group, never formally regarded as refugees or given financial help—unlike the Palestinians, as the book frequently notes—struggled with displacement and the destruction of historic synagogues and cemeteries. After the Second World War and the founding of Israel, their homelands' rulers kicked them out or initiated pogroms, despite Sephardic Jews living in Arab countries for 2,000 years. This week, two Canadian men involved in the project—Richard Stursberg and Henry Green, who co-authored the book—are set to donate 80 video testimonies, from survivors who moved to Canada, to Library and Archives Canada in Ottawa, in conjunction with a Canadian book launch for Sephardi Voices happening Thursday night. Stursberg joins The CJN Daily to talk about how the explusion was a catastrophe, but also a story of Jewish resiliance. What we talked about: Listen to The CJN Daily episode "Remembering the Farhud, 80 years later" Learn about Sephardi Voices at sephardivoices.com Learn about Am Shalom Synagogue at amshalom.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.

Last Tuesday, Quebec's legislature passed Bill 96, a new bill that forces small businesses to operate exclusively in French; caps enrollment at English-language CEGEPs; and allows language inspectors to raid businesses, without a warrant, to make sure employees are following the rules. It also compels new immigrants to learn French within six months and introduces other language-enforcement rules. Two days after the bill passed, about 500 people in Montreal protested against the bill at Place du Canada. Montreal's English-language school board has vowed to challenge Bill 96 in court—as have a group of lawyers, including Julius Grey, who belives this case could make it all the way to the United Nations. To explain why the million English-speaking Quebeckers are so anxious, and how this bill will affect minority and Jewish residents, The CJN Daily spoke with several Jewish community leaders in Quebec, including Marvin Rotrand, a former city councillor who now heads the League for Human Rights of B'nai Brith, and Liberal MP Anthony Housefather. What we talked about: Read "Quebec’s Bill 96 with its stricter French-language rules is deeply worrying to the Jewish community" at thecjn.ca Listen to the Bonjour Chai episode, "Quebec’s Bill 96 exposes a critical problem with homegrown Canadian rabbis: we barely have any" at thecjn.ca Listen to The CJN Daily episode about Quebec's Bill 101 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.

Last week, Prince Charles and his wife, Camilla, took a stroll through Ottawa’s Byward Market. They spent the day in the Canadian capital as part of a brief visit to mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. And though Charles has been to Canada nearly 20 times before, this was the first time the future King of England had a Jewish butcher as his tour guide. John Diener’s family has run Saslove’s Meat Market in the historic neighbourhood since 1954, when Charles himself was just a boy prince. Diener’s father worked there before he and his brother stepped in. When organizers from the royal visit mentioned to Diener that Charles wanted to see locals at work, the small-business owner found himself in the unique position of royal tour guide. Diener joins to explain the planning that goes into an international visit like this, and whether he's even a fan of the monarchy in the first place. What we talked about: Visit saslovesmeat.com for info about their store Read "The recent violence in Israel is not a Third Intifada, but it will take determined political attention to prevent it from escalating, says a former UN speechwriter" at thecjn.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.

Today, Canadian politicians, Israeli diplomats and the leaders of Canada's largest Jewish organizations are quietly convening in Ottawa to host an off-the-record conference called the "Canadian Summit of Israeli-Jewish Affairs". Set up by the Israeli embassy to Canada, the conference will include talks on bilateral relations, fostering positive narratives on social media, encouraging Jewish education, diversity within the community, campus anti-Zionism and antisemitism and other subjects pertinent to both countries. Among the attendees are Israeli journalists, like Lahav Harkov of the Jerusalem Post; Canadian leaders, like Adam Minsky and Shimon Koffler-Fogel; and Israeli politicians, like Nachman Shai, the country's Minister of Diaspora Affairs. This is Shai's first visit to Canada as Diaspora minister in the new Bennett goverment. Ahead of the main event, he spent some time with The CJN Daily's Ellin Bessner in an exclusive interview. In their wide-ranging discussion, the two discuss how Israel is handling the fallout from the death of Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, Shai's frustrations with his government's stalling on egalitarianism at the Western Wall, and the possibility of new elections coming soon. What we talked about: Read The CJN's previous coverage of Nachman Shai Follow Shai on Twitter to see his updates from the Ottawa 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.

Canada's usually festive long weekend was marred this year by a massive thunderstorm, which left at least 10 people dead, cut power to nearly one million homes and saw gusts of 131 km/h ravage communities across Ontario and Quebec. Still today, days after the storm, more than 120,000 homes in Ottawa remain without power, while officials in Ottawa called the damage worse than during the tornadoes of 2018 or the ice storm of 1998. It's left Jewish facilities and families struggling to recover as whole swaths of Canada continue to deal with power outages, fallen trees and blocked roads. The CJN Daily's Ellin Bessner spoke with multiple people affected by the storm, including Brent Taylor, the co-chair of the Jewish Memorial Gardens in Ottawa, and Sarah Kula and Mathew Mendelsohn, who moved into their new home just a week ago—and now have a maple tree collapsed on their roof. What we talked about: Read Ellin's print story at thecjn.ca Learn about Ottawa's Jewish cemetery at jewishmemorialgardens.org Register for Ohev Yisroel’s 20th anniversary gala 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.

In the weeks since her second thriller novel came out, Samantha Bailey has embarked on a virtual tour to promote her new book, speaking with book clubs and online author events every week. It’s a long way from a decade ago, when she was pitching her debut novel—a chick-lit story—to a small crowd at her father's synagogue. Things changed in 2019, when Simon & Schuster published Bailey's breakout novel, Woman on the Edge, confronting issues of maternal anxiety and postpartum depression. Now, she's following it up with Watch Out for Her, another suspense novel that dives into similar territory, focusing on a mother who fled her home after learning something shocking about her babysitter. The CJN Daily host Ellin Bessner had the chance to sit down with Bailey while emceeing the Virtual JCC's storyteller program. Listen to hear Bailey discuss the anxieties of Jewish motherhood and what it was like writing a novel during the pandemic. What we talked about: Buy Bailey's book at samanthambailey.ca Read about Samantha Bailey's debut thriller in her 2019 interview with The CJN Listen to The CJN Daily episode, "Hidden for 1,000 days: How 8 members of this Canadian family survived the Holocaust" Watch the ceremony awarding Righteous Among the Nations to the rescuers of Toronto’s Veffer family 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.

Za’akah, an organization that helps survivors of childhood sexual abuse in the Orthodox Jewish community, recently posted on social media about the arrest of an elderly Quebec rabbi who was charged with sex crimes against a minor that date back 25 years. With a publication ban on the complainant's name, we can’t reveal too many details at this time, except to confirm that there was an arrest warrant issued two years ago and the man was picked up at around Passover 2022 in Toronto. The announcement came just weeks before The CJN published an essay by Lorie Wolfe, a musician in Toronto who decided to go public accusing a doctor of sexually assaulting her when she was 17. In both cases, the accused men wound up not at a police station, but a beit din—the rabbinical court that handles matters in a quieter fashion. Wolfe's abuser paid a fine and continued to practise medicine for 15 years; the Quebec rabbi, who spent time as an educator in Montreal, was reportedly told to simply leave Canada for Israel—which he did, in fact, do. To dissect the persistent problems facing the Orthodox community, and discuss the aftermath of the now-infamous Chaim Walder case, we're joined by Asher Lovy, the director of Za'akah, and Ariella Kay, a case manager for the organization and one of their social media producers. What we talked about: Learn about Za'akah at zaakah.org Hear Lorie Wolfe on _The CJN Daily_ Buy Sephardi Voices at sephardivoices.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.

Rachel Cohen Yeshurun grew up in Montreal, where she attended an Orthodox girls' school, which taught that women should never actually hold a Torah scroll. These days, however, after she moved to Israel 30 years ago, she's not only breaking that rule regularly, but teaching other women in Israel to read from the Torah as well. Every month, she attends prayer sessions for Women of the Wall, an organization that advocates for women's right to pray at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. She’s been arrested more than once by Israeli police, though the country's Supreme Court has ruled that the women are not breaking any laws or causing any harm. They are making incremental progress, having won the right to wear prayer shawls and tefillin, though the rabbi in charge of the Wall still prohibits them from using Torahs or bringing their own. Still, each month, the Women of the Wall visit the holy site, only to be disrupted by ultra-Orthodox protestors who spit on, shove and whistle at the women. It's a scene that has been playing out for years—and now, after a particularly heated encounter on May 2, inflamed by the World Zionist Organization reportedly bussing in Haredi girls to protest, Cohen Yeshurun joins The CJN Daily to talk about what it's been like to fight for women's rights at one of the most sacred spots in Judaism. What we talked about: Read about the legal struggles of the Women of the Wall Read an essay on the Women of the Wall by Rabbi Elyse Goldstein in The CJN archives Read about Bobbie Rosenfeld in The CJN archives 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.

When Lorie Wolf was a student at TanenbaumCHAT high school, her doctor sexually assaulted her. She was 17; he was in his 50s. She visited his office alone one weekend to inquire about her acne problem, and she left with trauma, pain and a secret she would hold onto for years. Only after her parents read her secret diary, five years after the fact, did the family take action—but instead of going to the police, they went to an Orthodox Jewish rabbinical court. The doctor, Leon Herman, admitted to the crime, but got off with a fine. He kept practising medicine for another 15 years. Only after years of therapy and the #MeToo movement did Wolf decide to speak out. She launched legal proceedings against Herman, but struggled to navigate the court system during a pandemic—and the case ended up withdrawn. She has now decided to go fully public with the story, detailing the case and her experience in a deeply personal essay for The CJN. She joins The CJN Daily today to share her story, express frustration over how the Jewish community reacted and explain how she hopes her story can inspire other survivors of sexual assault to speak out. What we talked about: Her Lorie Wolf's essay at thecjn.ca Read the CPSO's decision against Leon Herman Find details about Wolf's band's upcoming performance 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.