North Star with Ellin Bessner

Marc Grushcow has never waded into political protests before. But this year, ahead of the Winter Olympics in Beijing, the Canadian retiree—and father of Rabbi Lisa Grushcow at Temple Emmanuel in Montreal —created a video aimed squarely at his country's athletes. He had hoped to convince them to not go to China, or at least forgo the opening ceremonies, in solidarity with the country's 12 million persecuted Muslim Uyghur people, including a million thought to be held in concentration camps. But when he sent his video to the Athletes' Commission of the Canadian Olympic Committee, they declined to share it with the rest of Team Canada. They argued that athletes' attendance did not equate condoning genocide, boycotts aren't effective, in-person diplomacy is better, and speaking out may jeopardize the athletes' safety. Grushcow's video is part of a growing protest movement organized, in part, by Jewish Canadians during the lead-up to the Beijing games. He and Phil Kretzmar, a friend and political activist in Ottawa, join The CJN Daily to discuss their mission and journey to raise awareness of the Uyghur genocide. What we talked about: Watch "Message to Athletes - Don't Turn Your Backs On Us" on YouTube Watch Anthony Housefather's motion in Parliament on Facebook 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.

Just before Hitler rose to power, Isay Rottenberg, then living in Amsterdam, made an unusual move. Rather than flee the area, he moved to Germany, buying Europe's most modern cigar factory. In a move that branded him as a sort of reverse–Oskar Schindler, he employed 670 non-Jewish workers and grew his business profitably, refusing to move until the Nazi government forced him to sell his factory and threw him in prison. Isay Rottenberg and his family survived the war, moving back to Amsterdam afterwards. But he never went public with his remarkable story. After he died, two of his granddaughters—both Dutch journalists—discovered the story and wrote a book about him. Now, the book has finally been released in English in Canada, where some of his descendents now live. Robert Rotenberg, the author of a best-selling crime novel series, and his cousin Michael Levine, one of the country's most prominent book agents, have collaborated to bring the story of their relative’s cigar factory to the English-speaking world, and join The CJN Daily to talk about their journey. What we talked about: Buy the book, The Cigar Factory of Isay Rottenberg: The Hidden History of a Jewish Entrepreneur in Nazi Germany, at wlupress.wlu.ca Find more work by Robert Rotenberg at robertrotenberg.com Join The CJN Circle at thecjn.ca/circle, and use promo code CJNDaily for $36 off 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.

Marci Surkes has been called the air traffic controller of the Prime Minister's Office. For the last two years, it's been her job to make sure all the cabinet ministers carried out their mandates and oversee which new laws got introduced to Parliament. She oversaw all major Liberal government policies, from the COVID-19 response to Truth and Reconciliation and everything related to Judaism and antisemitism. That ended last week, after Marci Surkes stepped down as chief policy advisor to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. She had to, she says, for personal reasons—mostly because of demanding hours, pandemic stress and working six days a week. (She would take Shabbat off.) Given her role in helping shape the prime minister's relationship with Canada's Jewish community, her departure will be felt in Ottawa and beyond. She joins The CJN Daily podcast to pull the curtain back on her time in the PMO, including her handiwork on last summer's antisemitism summit and how she handled Jewish organizations lobbying her on community issues. What we talked about: Watch the prime minister's address in response to the truckers' protests on YouTube Read "Former Ajax mayor Steve Parish dropped as Ontario NDP candidate for defending a Nazi’s namesake street" at thecjn.ca Join 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; find more great Jewish podcasts at thecjn.ca.

This weekend, a convoy of protesters, including truckers and those opposed to mandatory vaccine passports, reached Ottawa after days of a cross-country tour from British Columbia to the capital. Parts of Canada's Jewish community agree with the protesters—however, their goodwill hit pause after scenes emerged of a swastika flag, among other racist emblems, waving from within the convoy. The main spokesperson for the truckers is Benjamin Dichter, a Jewish activist from Toronto. When asked specifically about the swastika, he brushed the question off: "People troll, do stupid things, whatever. Who cares?" Dichter couldn't be interviewed in time for this episode of The CJN Daily podcast—we hope to speak with him this week. Instead, today we'll hear from Conservative MP Melissa Lantsman, who is sympathetic to the convoy's cause but livid about the displays of antisemitism, as well as Andrea Freedman, president of the Jewish Federation of Ottawa. What we talked about: Watch the trucker convoy's live stream on YouTube Watch the clip of the spokesperson's press conference on YouTube Learn more about the veteran Marvin Gord who walked miles for Baycrest at benjaminsparkmemorialchapel.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.

Emma Cunningham has been a volunteer with the New Democratic Party for several years, in several elections, at several levels. Even though she personally feels a little further left than the party at large, she knew she could find a home with the NDP as a progressive Jew. Until last week. When the Ontario NDP nominated Steve Parish—the former mayor of Ajax, who lobbied to keep a local street named after a Nazi officer—to run in the upcoming provincial election, that was the last straw for Cunningham. Despite being the president of a neighbouring NDP riding association, she quit, taking to Twitter to call out the party for what she called "so many antisemitic incidents" she's encountered over the years. While Parish has since apologized for offending Jewish people in Ontario and beyond, and Ontario NDP leader Andrea Horwath told The CJN she's working to stamp out antisemitism, that’s not good enough for Cunningham. She joins today to explain why. What we talked about: Read "Ontario NDP under fire for nominating Steve Parish, the former Ajax mayor who supported naming a street after a Nazi officer" at thecjn.ca Watch the British Pathé video to learn more about Cpt. Hans Langsdorff on YouTube Watch the CBC Manitoba interview with Belle Jarniewski about the new Anne Frank book at cbc.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.

A new national survey, released today, reveals troubling news about the state of Holocaust education in Canada. Conducted by Liberation75, the Canadian charity focused on Holocaust commemoration and education, the survey found that one in three Canadian kids think the Holocaust either didn't happen or was exaggerated, while nearly half don't know six million Jews were killed. And despite the wealth of free Holocaust education materials out there, many Canadian kids still learn about the Holocaust from social media, movies, TV, comics and video games. That's why the authors are calling for provincial governments to make Holocaust education mandatory, trather than lumped in with world history and the Second World War. Marilyn Sinclair, the founder of Liberation75, and Alexis Lerner, the survey's author, join to discuss their research and findings. What we talked about: Read the full Liberation75 report at liberation75.org Watch The Tattooed Torah at iwitness.usc.edu/sites/tattooedtorah Sign the B'nai Brith petition to help figure out what happened to Raoul Wallenberg at bnaibrith.ca/justice-for-wallenberg 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.

Ashley Waxman Bakshi is an Israeli influencer with more than 300,000 followers on Instagram and another 200,000 on YouTube. Her fans typically subscribe for daily makeup tips, fashion advice and parenting stories of raising four kids. But lately, the Canadian-born social media star has been filling her feed with a different kind of content: pro-Israel videos. Waxman Bakshi is part of a network of Israeli influencers selling more than beauty products and lifestyle aspirations. They're selling the State of Israel itself. She's part of a government-sponsored initiative known as 4IL, and its primary goal is to combat popular messaging they perceive as anti-Israel, especially related to the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions community. For Waxman Bakshi, that means adding pro-Israel and historical explainers to her usual mix of lifestyle vlogs. She believes that by banding together with other Israeli influencers, they can respond to public claims by, and media coverage of, loudly pro-Palestinian activist celebrities such as Bella Hadid and Emma Watson. She joins the show to explain. What we talked about: Visit 4IL at 4il.org.il Follow Ashley Waxman Bakshi on Instagram @ashleywaxmanbakshi 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.

When Louis Rasminsky was appointed to be governor of the Bank of Canada in 1961, he became the first Jew to hold such a high office in the history the Canadian public service—even though he’d previously been passed over for the job due to antisemitism, and wasn't even allowed to join Ottawa’s exclusive Rideau Club at the time, since it didn't accept Jews until 1964. Canada's public service today is, of course, much more accepting of diversity. But there is still work to do. Antisemitic jokes are still made among colleagues in some departments, while Jews are not always invited to government-run anti-racism initiatives, such as one held by the Department of National Defence last fall. These are the issues that preoccupy the Jewish Public Servants' Network, which recently held its first annual meeting on Zoom. The group boasts around 300 members, including Jonathon Greenberg of the CRTC; Kayla Estrin, a 30-year employee with Health Canada; and Artur Wilczynski, a former ambassador who now works at the Communications Security Establishment. All three join today to discuss their initiative and the intersection between Judaism and the public service. What we talked about: Email the Jewish Public Servants' Network at jps.gc.fpj@gmail.com Read "A former Timmins Catholic school teacher’s licence was revoked due to his Holocaust denial and antisemitic lessons" at thecjn.ca Learn about #WeRemember at weremember.worldjewishcongress.org 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.

January 23 is a big date for JSpaceCanada: with a large virtual conference, the progressive Jewish organization will mark its 10th anniversary, while also bidding goodbye to Karen Mock, who served as its president since 2016. Mock, a veteran human rights campaigner and anti-racism educator, is now in her late 70s, and wanted to make way for younger blood to steer the ship—especially Jewish Canadians who love Israel and its values, but want to promote human rights on both sides of the conflict with Palestine. For JSpaceCanada, that means advocating for Israel to withdraw completely from the West Bank. Mock joins today to discuss her legacy and her hopes for the future of the progressive Jewish movement. What we talked about: Learn more about JSpaceCanada at jspacecanada.ca Watch The House of the Wannasee Conference on YouTube 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.

Shortly after Minister of Public Safety Marco Mendicino learned about the hostage situation at Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas, his phone started buzzing with messages from Canadian Jewish community leaders. They wanted to make sure he saw what was happening—and also wanted to convey their concerns about copycat attacks at home. In Canada, the Communities at Risk: Security Infrastructure Program (SIP) has existed for more than a decade, covering up to half the costs, to a maximum of $100,000, for security infrastructure upgrades to places of worship, community centres and religious schools. And while many synagogues have benefited from the program, the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs is pushing the Canadian government to refocus the program—or create new programs—for security personnel for the Jewish community. While Mendicino didn't announce any new measures, he granted The CJN Daily an in-depth interview about how the government is responding to the American situation. That includes speeding up the process of getting funds into the hands of community leaders and considering expanding the program in the future. What we talked about: Read "Outremont, Que., shuls receive federal security grant" at thecjn.ca Read CIJA's press release, "Hostages freed. Jewish community calls for more security", at cija.ca Learn about the U.K.'s Community Security Trust at cst.org.uk 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.