North Star with Ellin Bessner

Valentyna Agapova hid in a bomb shelter for four days before making her escape. The 67-year-old hairdresser and widow, trapped in Ukraine after Russia invaded, subsequently went on a 1,000-kilometre trek by bus, train and foot to reach the Polish border from her apartment in the Zaporizhzhia area. She didn't live far from Europe’s biggest nuclear power plant, which came under attack early in the war. Her ultimate destination was Winnipeg, where her son lives with his wife and children. They immigrated to Canada in 2017 as part of a Federation program called GrowWinnipeg, which has been bringing Jewish families to the city for more than 25 years. Now, with the help of a federal program that fast-tracks Ukrainian immigrants to stay in Canada for up to three years, Agapova is hopeful that she won't have to return to her war-torn country ever again, while she works on setting down roots in her new home. Agapova, her daughter-in-law and a translator join to help share Agapova's remarkable story of survival and escape that finally brought her to Winnipeg just two weeks ago. What we talked about: Read about Cantor Zelermyer’s first time singing the national anthem at the Bell Centre in 2010 at thecjn.ca Read about the Jewish Federation of Winnipeg's welcome to new immigrants on their 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.

Only two Canadians joined a recent trip to Ukraine put together by the Jewish Federations of North America. Linda Frum, board chair of Toronto's Federation, and Adam Minsky, its president and CEO, travelled to the Polish-Ukrainian border to see firsthand where the millions of dollars raised by Canadians—including $4 million by Jewish Canadians alone—are going. The United Nations now says 10 million Ukrainians have left their homes because of the war—a quarter of the entire country’s population. Money raised by Canadian Federations has so far mainly gone to help two groups doing work on the ground, the American Jewish Joint Distrubution Committee and the Jewish Agency for Israel. But what does that look like? What is the scene like on the ground, and how are Jewish NGOs helping? Frum and Minsky join to share what they saw, what they learned and why they don't expect many Ukrainian refugees to arrive on Canadian soil. What we talked about: Watch a video of their trip from the UJA Federation's YouTube channel Read the StatsCan report on Canadian hate crimes in 2020 at www150.statcan.gc.ca Read "The Jewish community in Canada has now raised $4 million for Ukraine—and it’s preparing for the imminent arrival of refugees" 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.

Last week on The CJN Daily, we brought you an interview with Canadian writer Rosemary Sullivan. Her latest book, The Betrayal of Anne Frank: A Cold Case Investigation, details a team of historians and researchers that argue it was a Dutch Jewish notary who sold out the Franks to the Nazis. Sullivan defended her work and argued the Dutch need to face the fact that one-third of all Dutch Jews in hiding were betrayed, resulting in the death of 75 per cent of the country's Jewish population. But the Dutch are angry at the book—especially one Dutchman, Ruben Vis. The CEO of a Dutch Jewish organization called NIK, who is also the son of Holocaust survivors who hid for their survival, Vis has since embarked on a PR campaign to force the book's publisher to stop printing copies. He also believes his research refutes several accusations from The Betrayal of Anne Frank, a book which he describes as a painful hit on Dutch Jews. Vis joins from Amsterdam to explain what Sullivan's book got wrong and why his fight to stop the book is going to heat up even more next week. What we talked about: Listen to Rosemary Sullivan discuss her book on The CJN Daily at thecjn.ca Watch Sullivan's full interview with The CJN on YouTube Learn about the event, "The Betrayal of Anne Frank: A Refutation", in which local Dutch historians and family members go into details about their counter-findings, at spui25.nl 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 2021, a producer for the game show Family Feud Canada reached out to Rabbi Stephen Wise, hoping to boost the diversity pool of their show's contestants. When asked if he knew anyone from the community who might want to participate, Rabbi Wise didn’t need to look very far: his wife, Cheryl, and her whole family are game show fanatics. That's how he joined his in-laws, the Kestelmans, on live TV in March 2022, winning three matches against three other families and walking away with about $2,500. Plus, they managed to teach host Gerry Dee a bit about Jewish life—an easy ask for a rabbi, the principal of TanenbaumCHAT and the director of a synagogue's afternoon school. Renee Cohen, the school principal, gives a behind-the-scenes scoop on what it was like being on the show and how they felt representing Jewish Canadians on national TV. What we talked about: Watch the Kestelmans' episode of Family Feud Canada on CBC Gem Hear The CJN Daily episode "TikTok star Josh Zilberberg dishes on his Canadian Jewish roots" on thecjn.ca Read "From hamantashen to art shows, Canadians find creative ways to help Ukraine" 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.

If you haven't heard, Toronto is getting a new Holocaust museum. The $27-million institution will be located in the new Prosserman Jewish Community Centre, and will do more than simply commemorate the past: it aims to make the Holocaust relevant to modern visitors, world events and Canadian life, using augmented reality, tablets and video of survivors to tell its stories. But work began only recently, and it will take at least a year before its doors open to the general public. In the meantime, the city's old Holocaust museum has closed down and a rash of antisemitic incidents has been sweeping across Toronto's public schools. How can the museum's organizers stay relevant at a time when their presence is arguably needed most? The CJN Daily's Ellin Bessner took a tour of the construction site to get a sneak peek at the developments, and spoke with the museum's executive director, Dara Solomon, as well as fundraiser Glenys Lindenberg, to discuss. What we talked about: Learn about the museum at holocaustcentre.com/revitalization-project Read "Why is every Holocaust museum in Canada undergoing a massive overhaul right now?" at thecjn.ca Watch a video about JRoots and the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center partnering up to help Urkainian refugees in Poland on Vimeo 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.

What do Seth Rogen, Dave Barrett and Cornelia Oberlander have in common? They're three of hundreds of notable people featured in a new coffee table book celebrating British Columbia's Jewish community. Looking Back, Moving Forward: 160 Years of Jewish Life in BC comes out today. It was created to mark the 50th anniversary of the Jewish Museum and Archives of British Columbia, and recounts the fascinating history of Jews in the province, dating back to before Canada was a country. Home to the third-largest Jewish community in Canada, B.C. has been home to trailblazing Jewish politicians, influential artists and powerful business tycoons. Michael Schwartz, the director of community engagement for the museum and the book's editor, joins to discuss how he hopes his organization's endeavour will mitigate the rising trend of antisemitism by showcasing Canadian Jews' myriad contributions to the country—and why why he thinks this story should be made into a miniseries. What we talked about: Learn more about the book Looking Back, Moving Forward: 160 Years of Jewish Life in BC at jewishmuseum.ca/looking-back-moving-forward Listen to The CJN Daily episode "Still demanding justice: 27 years since Argentina’s largest unsolved terror attack" 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.

For some Jews, just the thought of returning to Poland—let alone to help Ukrainians—stirs up complicated feelings, given the two countries' fraught Holocaust legacies. But this week, three Canadian rabbis did exactly that, confronting the past and engaging with the present emergency. Rabbi Mark Fishman, Rabbi Adam Scheier and Rabbi Reuben Poukpo travelled to Poland on a mission to help Ukrainians who are fleeing Russia's war on their home country. The rabbis flew into Warsaw and made their way east, stopping to meet traumatized Ukrainian refugees in hostels and Jewish buildings. They distributed money and donated warm clothes, which they packed and brought in large suitcases. They believe that modern Jews must put aside their memories of Europe's troubled past and focus on helping people in need today. And while their brief trip is one small effort in the larger humanitarian crisis, they knew they had to do something. Rabbi Fishman and Rabbi Poukpo spoke to The CJN Daily from the Warsaw airport to discuss what they saw, how they helped and what they're taking away from this life-changing experience. What we talked about: Watch Rabbi Fishman's video from the border on Facebook Read about Rabbi Scheier's experience meeting Ukrainian Jews on Facebook Read "Rabbi Erwin Schild looks back on 95 years" at thecjn.ca Donate to Jewish Winnipeg's Ukraine Emergency Relief Fund at jewishwinnipeg.org/ukrainian-emergency-relief-fund 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.

Rosemary Sullivan, the Canadian author of more than a dozen books, knew she'd get some pushback for her latest non-fiction endeavour, a book that casts the Anne Frank story in a troubling new light. But she never expected it to be this bad. The city of Amsterdam demanded 100,000 euros back from the subjects of Sullivan's story; Dutch newspapers issued bold retractions on their front pages; the book's Dutch publisher publicly apologized to readers for offending them. At the root of the controversy is a startling revelation alleged in Sullivan's new book, The Betrayal of Anne Frank: A Cold Case Investigation. Sullivan details a team of Dutch and American investigators who discover that it was likely a Dutch Jewish man who betrayed the Franks, inviting a Nazi raid that ultimately led to many of the family members' deaths. The story, and the resulting outcry, has made international headlines. In Canada, Indigo's CEO, Heather Reisman, called the book the "one thing you should read this year," and Sullivan herself stands by the investigators' findings—even if they're hard to stomach. She joins to discuss. What we talked about: Buy The Betrayal of Anne Frank: A Cold Case Investigation at harpercollins.ca Read "Chaim Katz’s six-year battle culminates in the University of Toronto withholding $10,918 earmarked for the BDS caucus in a graduate student union" 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.

On March 19, 12-year-old Naomi Hochman will celebrate her bat mitzvah at Winnipeg's Shaarey Zedek synagogue. And while she's 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 takes 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. What we talked about: Submit your bat mitzvah story to the Jewish Women’s Archive at jwa.org/stories/batmitzvah-at-100 Donate to the Jewish community of Mariupol at jewishwaterloo.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.

For weeks now, we here at The CJN have been reporting on a wave of antisemitic incidents being reported at public schools across Toronto. Mostly they involve Nazi salutes and swastikas, and the targets have been both students and teachers. Three new incidents happened late last week—all on the same night. Earlier this year, students made Nazi salutes at two separate schools in Toronto; at a third school, a teacher was suspended for comparing vaccine passports to Nazi-era yellow stars. It's gotten to the point that even mainstream media outlets are paying attention, while many parents, teachers and school board officials are wondering what is going on. Is it ignorance? Or something more sinister? Professor Barbara Perry, an expert in right-wing extremism who teaches at Ontario Tech University in Oshawa, calls what's happening a "contagion" circulating in the ether. She joins to explain. What we talked about: Read "A suspect is being sought after antisemitic graffiti was found at three Toronto high schools; the latest in a string of hateful incidents" at thecjn.ca Read the TDSB report, "Combatting Hate and Racism: Student Learning Strategy", at tdsb.on.ca See the full list of the Order of British Columbia at news.gov.bc.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; find more great Jewish podcasts at thecjn.ca.