North Star with Ellin Bessner

You've probably heard "Skinnamarink", the classic children's song by Sharon, Lois & Bram. But you probably haven't heard it on TikTok, where Sharon Hampson, now 79, is putting out quick snippets of classics and new material with her newfound family band. She's recruited her daughter, Randi, and grandsons Elijah and Ethan Ullmann, both full-time students at the University of Toronto. Although they grew up in a musical dynasty, it took an international lockdown for them to agree to help their Bubbe's resurgent Zoom-based career. Now, they’re set to mount their first live indoor show since the pandemic began, at the Regent Theatre in Oshawa, Ont., on May 15. And despite Sharon's worry that her voice isn't as strong as it used to be, her relatives say she’s still got it. All four join to explain how they're trying to make music that stays relevant for a generation raised on the Frozen soundtrack and "Baby Shark". What we talked about: Learn about the performance and others at sharonloisandbram.com/events Learn about the Brott Music Festival at brottmusic.com Listen to "Talk About Peace" 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.

Eighty years ago this month, in May 1942, the Nazis forced all Jewish people in the Netherlands to wear a yellow star on their clothes to publicly identify themselves. This would lead to mass deportations and deaths, eliminating about 75 per cent of the Dutch Jewish population. Now, Dutch researchers are trying to identify those persecuted Jews—and find out what happened to them. This year, the Netherlands Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies launched a project called "Behind the Star". They've published hundreds of black and white wartime photos of Jews wearing yellow stars, and are hoping to crowdsource the subjects' identities. Because Canada has such a large population of Dutch Jewish survivors and their descendents, the researchers are hoping Canadians can help look through the photos and put names to the faces, creating a fuller picture what happened to the Netherlands' Jewish community. What we talked about: Learn about the project, "Behind the Star" 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, Dan Goldstein called to his wife, Liat Lev Ary, to look out their office window in Montreal. They saw a Jewish man, carrying an Israeli flag from a Yom ha-Atzmaut celebration, attacked by two men in broad daylight. Goldstein then ran out of their office to yell at the attackers, who then ran away. Local police haven't found the suspects, and there have been no developments since the incident occurred. They're looking to speak with a good Samaritan who intervened before Goldstein arrived, and who was also beaten before quickly leaving the scene. It turns out, Lev Ary and Goldstein knew the victim. And while the victim didn't want to speak to us on advice of his legal counsel, the couple are keen to spread the word. As descendents of Holocaust survivors, they feel deeply disturbed by the sharp rise in anti-Israel sentiment in their own neighbourhood. What we talked about: Watch a video of the attack on Facebook Listen to Eliane Goldstein's podcast, The Effect on Us Read about the Soloway Jewish Community Centre Greenberg Library’s Czech Holocaust Torah Scroll 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.

Starting today, Rabbi Ayelet Cohen, who was raised in Montreal, takes over as the first female full-time dean of North America’s flagship Conservative rabbinical school, the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York City. But what should have been a moment of optimism for the rabbi has been tainted by the recently leaked U.S. Supreme Court ruling that indicates how down Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 decision that says abortions are protected under the country's constitution, is likely to be struck down. Rabbi Cohen, who helped push the Conservative movement to permit same-sex marriages, has now become a leading American Jewish voice speaking out against anti-abortion activists and politicians. What happens next in the fight for abortion rights? Rabbi Cohen joins to talk about Jewish activism, plans for the future and how abortion is kosher under Jewish law, which means banning it is a Jewish problem—not just an American one. What we talked about: Read the "Abortion and Jewish Values Toolkit" Americans can urge their lawmakers to support the Women’s Health Protection Act here Learn more about the Jewish Rally for Abortion Justice 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.

A few weeks ago, Melina Schein of Vernon, B.C., won the final challenge of a new competitive reality show called Wall of Bakers, earning $10,000 as the episode's best amateur baker. Her signature dish was a New York–style black and white cookie with an egg cream drink, harkening back to her childhood growing up in New York. But Schein's Jewish roots go back further. Born in Argentina to the children of Holocaust survivors, she moved to New York to study opera at the Juilliard School before leaving for small-city British Columbia. It was in her Okanagan home that she took up baking as a pandemic pastime. That's when she donned the title of the Saucy Soprano, posting photos of her baked goods, videos of herself singing and near-nudes snapped behind slices of matzah and super-long challah loaves. Schein joins to talk about her time on reality TV and where her career will take her next. What we talked about: Visit her website, thesaucysoprano.com Watch Israel’s torch-lighting ceremony on Mount Herzl 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.

Julia Koschitzky, Malcolm Lester, Boris Brott, Rabbi Benjamin Friedberg, Alex Eisen, Marcia Koven: these are just some of the many prominent Jewish Canadians who passed away in the first few months of 2022. As we kick off Jewish Heritage Month, we decided to introduce a new recurring segment: The CJN Daily Dead Beat, featuring CJN reporter emeritus Ron Csillag. Each episode, we'll give honourable mention to honourable menschen and women, many of whom Csillag has met personally long before being tasked with writing their obituaries. Since it's hard to sum up a person’s life in 700 words, Csillag will occasionally join the show to share some rarely heard stories about these memorable men and women. We’ll discuss Boris Brott, a world-famous maestro without the ego; Julia Koschitzky, dubbed the foreign minister of Canada's Jewish community; Malcolm Lester, who detoured a rabbinic life for literary publishing; Rabbi Benjamin Friedberg, who brought both unity and division to Toronto's Beth Tzedec Congregation; and the tireless Alex Eisen and Marcia Koven, who founded the Shoah Scroll and the Saint John Jewish Historical Museum, respectively. What we talked about: Marcia Koven's obituary Remembering Malcolm Lester Rabbi Benjamin Friedberg's obituary _The CJN Daily_ episode on Boris Brott The CJN Daily episode on Julia Koschitzky Alex Eisen's obituary 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.

Tonight begins Yom ha-Zikaron, Israel's Remembrance Day, in honour of the soldiers and underground fighters who have died helping to create and defend the State of Israel. But ask Zvi Kan-Tor, a retired Israeli general, and he'll tell you it's time his country broadened their remembrance to include the 1.5 million Jewish Allied soldiers who fought in the Second World War. Kan-Tor has spent decades trying to fix this problem by creating a museum dedicated to that group of Diaspora fighters, which included 17,000 Canadians, as well as 35,000 soldiers from British Palestine that joined the British army. Now, after 20 years of political squabbles and funding issues, the Chaim Herzog Museum of the Jewish Soldier in World War II will finally open its doors to the public in Latrun, a hilltop battleground during Israel's 1948 War of Independence that sits between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Kan-Tor hopes tourists and locals will stop by his museum after visiting Yad Vashem, so they can gain a fuller picture of what Jews accomplished during that terrible time. He'll also discuss what earned the British, Soviet, American and South African Jewish military forces major exhibitions and their own separate wings—while the Canadian contribution got capped at a handful of noteworthy men. What we talked about: See the museum's website Watch the trailer for the The Museum of the Jewish Soldier in World War II Watch the Yom ha-Zikaron ceremony in Toronto 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.

Early last year, The Times of Israel launched a daily news podcast called The Daily Briefing. It runs Sundays to Thursdays. Episodes rarely run past 20 minutes. Sound familiar? Swap out the Israeli angle for a Canadian one, and you've got a pretty good summary of The CJN Daily. We launched this show one year ago this week. And with more than 270,000 listens and 200 episodes under our belts, we're celebrating by sitting down for a lengthy chat with our Israeli counterparts, Amanda Borschel-Dan and Jessica Steinberg, who host essentially a doppelganger version of this program for the Times of Israel. In this special extra-long episode, we discuss the latest twists in Israeli politics, if it's safe to go to Israel now, and the two Israeli hosts' surprising connection to Canada. What we talked about: Listen to the Times of Israel's podcast Listen to the first-ever episode of _The CJN Daily_, which aired May 3, 2021 Learn how to support us by subscribing to this podcast 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.

A historic debate took place in the House of Commons on Wednesday. With two nearly identical proposals tabled to ban Holocaust denial, members of Parliament tackled the one put forth first, by Conservative MP Kevin Waugh. They spent an hour debating it, though most of them agreed to support it, at least in principle. It may all be moot—the bill may be thrown out if and when the federal budget gets passed, as the Liberals' version of the bill is nestled into that massive document. But until then, and on the eve of Yom ha-Shoah, Waugh's bill continues to go through the proper motions. Today you'll hear from representatives of the four major parties who delivered speeches, including Conservative MP Melissa Lantsman, Liberal MP Anthony Housefather, NDP MP Blake Desjarlais and Bloc Québécois MP René Villemure. What we talked about: Watch MP Kevin Waugh's full interview with _The CJN Daily_ Watch MP Melissa Lantsman's speech in the House of Commons Listen to Tuesday's episode of The CJN Daily, "A Tory MP claims the Liberals ‘stole’ his Holocaust denial bill—and watered it down" 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.

It's highly unusual that eight family members would not only survive the Holocaust, but all end up living in Canada after the war. Yet that's what happened to the Veffers. The Dutch family withstood appendicitis, scurvy and Nazi raids while hiding for nearly three years, only to wind up moving to Canada after the only Veffer daughter married a Canadian Jewish soldier, who helped the whole family come to Toronto. Now, 60 years later, the Veffers' story is being commemorated in a new children's book by a Jewish author and filmmaker who lives in Bussum, the Dutch town where the Veffers hid. Annet Betsalel wrote Where is Max? to portray the war through the eyes of one of the Veffer boys, Max, a soccer fanatic. Betsalel and the son of one of the six Veffer children, Dr. Hartley Stern, join the show to talk about the book and the renewed attention brought to the hidden and those who hid them. What we talked about: Order the book and read an excerpt Watch the _This is Your Life_ segment Watch the Yad Vashem ceremony 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.