North Star with Ellin Bessner

In less than two months on the job for Noah Shack, the interim CEO of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) has had to speak out after someone shot at a Jewish girls' school in Toronto; decry a repeated arson attack on a Montreal-area synagogue; and oversee the response in Winnipeg after five swastikas were spray-painted on a community centre in a Jewish area during the final days of Hanukkah. But none of those moments marked his true national introduction, which came on Jan. 27, when he delivered a televised speech from Ottawa's Holocaust monument as part of the official ceremony to mark the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. Shack—who spent nearly 15 years working for CIJA in Ottawa and Toronto—has now risen to become the organization's public face, following the exit of Shimon Koffler Fogel, who managed Jewish government relations in the capital for approximately 40 years. Insiders have told The CJN that CIJA's board wanted a change of leadership ahead of an expected change in government in the coming federal election. Shack is also clear that CIJA is eager to combat anti-Israel policies, such as federal funding for the UN-backed Palestinian relief agency UNRWA—but insists CIJA isn't hitching its wagons to the Conservative party. On today's episode of The CJN Daily, Shack sits down with host Ellin Bessner to explain why he took the job, why he's calling for unity among Canada's Jewish organizations, and why he hopes Jews soon won't need to think about fleeing Canada for their own safety. Related links Read more about Noah Shack’s Holocaust survivor relatives, the late Zalman and Pola Pila, of Toronto, in The CJN. Read Shimon Fogel’s outlook for the Jewish community, in The CJN archives.  Watch Shimon Fogel’s final testimony to the Canadian Senate about antisemitism, on Dec. 2, 2024. sure how? Click here)

Monday Jan. 27 was a busy day for Canadian politicians pledging to remember the Holocaust, fight antisemitism, and, in some cases, stand by the embattled State of Israel. The historic day—80 years since the liberation of Auschwitz—also provided a convenient ramp for some early campaign pledges as the country heads into a federal election later this year. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made one of his final international visits, to Poland to visit Auschwitz and attend the official commemoration ceremony, where he spoke with two Canadian survivors of that infamous death camp. Back in Canada, his minister of addictions and mental health, Ya’ara Saks, visited the Toronto Holocaust Museum to explain how $3.4 million federal dollars will go toward six organizations to combat Holocaust denial and antisemitism while a million more goes to UNESCO; in Ottawa, his minister of official languages, Rachel Bendayan, revealed the date of the forthcoming second national summit on antisemitism while speaking at Canada’s official national Holocaust monument. At the same event, Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre attacked the Liberal record on protecting Canadian Jews and standing up for Israel. On this episode of The CJN Daily, you’ll hear all these voices and more—including Canadian survivors Howard Chandler and Miriam Ziegler, and U of T law student Pe’er Krut, who had a front row seat in Poland—part of a sweeping glance at what the monumental day sounded like across Canada and beyond. Related links Learn more about the federal funding for Holocaust education and museums in Canada, announced on Jan. 27, in The CJN. Read Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s statement on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, and Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's speech. Listen to Calgary’s Daniel Pelton’s launch of three new compositions of music inspired by “The Tattooist of Auschwitz:, and recorded using the Violins of Hope, once owned by Holocaust survivors, on The CJN’s Culturally Jewish podcast. Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner (@ebessner) Production team: Zachary Kauffman (producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer) Music: Dov Beck-Levine Support our show Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to The CJN Daily (Not sure how? Click here)

Pinchas Gutter, 92, and Mariette Doduck, 89, were both children when they survived the Holocaust. But now something else unites them: when a government representative called them a few months ago to inform them they would be receiving the Order of Canada, both thought it was a prank call. Eventually, the two renowned speakers realized it was for real. They are among 88 Canadians recently named to the honour by the governor general. Gutter and Doduck’s families and friends, it turned out, had kept the four-year-long application process a secret. As the world gathers on Jan. 27 to mark the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz—where Dodeck’s mother and two brothers were among the million Jews murdered—both survivors sit down with Ellin Bessner on The CJN Daily to explain what keeps them going, how Holocaust education has shifted post-Oct. 7, and how they hope to change the world for their great-grandchildren. Related links Watch the ceremony live at 10 a.m. ET on Monday Jan. 27 from Auschwitz here. Learn about Toronto survivor Pinchas Gutter’s story in The CJN; interact with his hologram testimony done by the USC Shoah Foundation, which we covered in The CJN. Discover Mariette Doduck’s struggle as a Holocaust orphan after she arrived in Canada with three of her surviving siblings, and laterfounded the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre, in The CJN. Her new book is called A Childhood Unspoken. Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner (@ebessner) Production team: Zachary Kauffman (producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer) Music: Dov Beck-Levine Support our show Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to The CJN Daily (Not sure how? Click here)

Hamilton’s Jewish community agencies—including synagogues, schools and camps—spent the evening of Jan. 20 learning new security protocols to handle antisemitic protests, vandalism and terrorist attacks. The “Guardian Training” session was part of Hamilton’s new membership in the U.S.-based Secure Community Network (SCN) program, run by the New York-based Jewish Federations of North America. Hamilton is the first Canadian Jewish community to join this network. Hamilton received hundreds of thousands of dollars in funding for the next three years, and quickly used part of it to hire a former local police commander as their new regional security director, whom they sent for training in Chicago. That's where the SCN Network's 24/7 command centre is located, where former FBI agents and ex-military experts sit in a computer-lined war room and monitor attacks and threats to the Jewish world. After Oct. 7, Jewish leadership in Hamilton were looking for an answer to protect their community, but its small size of 5,000 people made it unrealistic to afford the needed staffing and resources to build its own security network. On this episode of The CJN Daily, we hear more about why Canadian federations are looking south of the border for help: we’re joined by Glenn Mannella, the new regional security director at Hamilton’s Jewish Federation, and Gustavo Rymberg, the Federation’s CEO. Related links See what the Jewish Federations of North America’s Secure Community Network command centre looks like, and how it saves Jewish lives. Learn why Hamilton’s Jewish Film Festival was moved after original venue cancelled, after Oct. 7, in The CJN. Read more about private security agencies setting up to act to protect the Jewish community in Canada after Oct. 7, in The CJN. Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner (@ebessner) Production team: Zachary Kauffman (producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer) Music: Dov Beck-Levine Support our show Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to The CJN Daily (Not sure how? Click here)

Some Toronto residents have more reason than most Canadians to be overjoyed with the release of the three Israeli women hostages on Sunday Jan. 19, as part of the first stage of an agreed upon “cease-fire for hostages” deal with Hamas that is expected to last six weeks. Maureen Leshem’s younger cousin Romi Gonen, 24, was one of the trio to come out first after 471 days in captivity. Gonen was shot while fleeing the Nova Music festival on Oct. 7, where Hamas murdered many of her friends. Meanwhile, Aharon Brodutch found it hard to watch the coverage of this new round of freed hostages because it reminds him how four members of his own family were released from Gaza over a year ago, in November 2023. His sister-in-law Hagar Brodutch and her three young children, Ofri, 11, Yuval, 10, and Oriya, now 5, spent 51 days in captivity after being captured during the terrorist rampage through their Kibbutz Kfar Aza. On today’s episode of The CJN Daily, we’ll hear from Aharon Brodutch, who shares details about what the rehabilitation process for freed hostages looks like, and from Maureen Leshem about what the release of her young cousin means, and why they continue to advocate for the release of the remaining 95 hostages. Related links Donate to the Hope for Romi fund to send financial help directly to Romi Gonen’s family to help her heal.  Hear our original The CJN Daily interview with Toronto physicist Aharon Brodutch from November 2023, when his Israeli sister-in-law and her three children were released from Hamas captivity. Read more about Iris Weinstein Haggai’s campaign to have her Canadian-raised mother, Judah Weinstein Haggai’s body returned from Gaza, in The CJN. Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner (@ebessner) Production team: Zachary Kauffman (producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer) Music: Dov Beck-Levine Support our show Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to The CJN Daily (Not sure how? Click here)

The Israeli government has begun preparations to ratify a deal that would begin releasing some of the remaining 98 hostages taken by Hamas on Oct. 7. In exchange, they plan to enact a ceasefire with Hamas and free hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. Already, lists are circulating around the media of which hostages will be released first—women, children and seniors are taking priority—while Israeli hospitals and trauma centres are preparing to receive them, after they spent 467 days in captivity in Gaza. But, unlike the last brief ceasefire and hostage deal in Nov. 2023, this one likely won’t have news media on the scene—and the handover from Hamas to Israel will be done differently, too. The process is expected to begin Sunday, Jan. 19. The reaction within Israel has been mixed. According to Vivian Bercovici, Canada’s former ambassador to Israel, the deal is causing “agony and anguish” among some hardliners who slam the deal as a capitulation to Hamas, especially given that Hamas has not been “destroyed”, as the government promised, after 15 months of war. Others acknowledge that this the only way to bring the remaining hostages home quickly, whether they’re dead or alive. On today’s episode of The CJN Daily, Vivian Bercovici joins Ellin Bessner to provide an on-the-ground report from the Holy Land. She explains why the deal allows Israel to stay true to its founding promise that it will leave no one behind—despite the cost. What we talked about: Read more about Iris Weinstein Haggai’s campaign to have the body of her Canadian-raised mother, Judih Weinstein Haggai, returned from Gaza, in The CJN. Hear the families of Canadian hostages (or victims) of Oct. 7come to Ottawa to lobby Canadian lawmakers to secure their release from Hamas, on The CJN Daily. Toronto resident Mayan Shavit opens up about the murder of her cousin Carmel Gat in Sept. 2024, a hostage held by Hamas in captivity in Gaza, on The CJN Daily. Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner (@ebessner) Production team: Zachary Kauffman (producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer) Music: Dov Beck-Levine Support our show Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to The CJN Daily (Not sure how? Click here)

Israel’s Ambassador to Canada, Iddo Moed, is actively monitoring the hourly reports coming out of the Middle East and Washington about negotiations for a deal that would usher in a new ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, paving the way for a gradual release of dozens of Israeli hostages (in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli custody). According to U.S. and Israeli news sources, Hamas prepared a list of about 33 hostages they are prepared to release. They would start with civilians before handing over female soldiers and others. Moed fervently hopes that the Bibas children, Kfir and Ariel, and their parents will be among the first to be freed after a captivity that’s lasted 465 days. But while the negotiations are still happening, Moed calls the process “excruciating” and “painful” for the hostages families, as the release may be joyful—but also possibly heartbreaking. In this special evening edition of The CJN Daily, Moed joins to discuss the possible outcomes of this rapidly evolving story—as well as separate issues that have kept him busy while waiting. His office has been closely monitoring the case of Hassan Diab, a professor in Ottawa who was convicted of terrorism for bombing a synagogue in Paris that resulted in the deaths of four people (including the mother of Moed’s personal friend); and the controversial Islamist conference organized by Hizb ut-Tahrir Canada, slated for this weekend until its recent cancellation. What we talked about: Read more about the Israeli Ambassador’s views on Canada’s blocking arms sales to Israel, funding UNRWA, and his trip to Israel in March 2024 with Melanie Joey and Ya’ara Saks, in The CJN. Iddo Moed’s first interview with The CJN Daily on Oct. 8, 2023 just hours after the deadly Hamas attack and just a few days since arriving to take the diplomatic post Judih Weinstein Haggai confirmed dead, in The CJN. Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner (@ebessner) Production team: Zachary Kauffman (producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer) Music: Dov Beck-Levine Support our show Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to The CJN Daily (Not sure how? Click here)

'Auschwitz: Not Long Ago. Not Far Away' opened Jan. 10 in Toronto at the Royal Ontario Museum, marking the only Canadian stop for the eight-year-old travelling show. The exhibit originally launched in Spain in 2017, and the Toronto version is a smaller edition due to space restrictions: showcasing some 500 artifacts and photos from the actual site of Auschwitz, the modern world’s most notorious genocide factory. But while the Canadian debut may seem belated, the timing is perfect: it arrives just a couple of weeks ahead of the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau on Jan. 27. It’s also a significant time for the Canadian Jewish community, which is facing an unprecedented spike in antisemitism, including Holocaust denial and distortion, wherein Israelis are being called modern Nazis for their military response in Gaza after Oct. 7. Were these issues on the minds of the curators? How has the exhibit adapted to update post-Oct. 7? The CJN Daily‘s host, Ellin Bessner, went to see for herself. On a private media tour on the day before the exhibit opened to the public, Bessner walked through the museum wondering about the relevance of showcasing the eerie similarities between this past year and the months leading up to the Holocaust. As she discovered, the organizers aren't moralizing or preaching, but rather letting their rigorously researched historical evidence and facts speak for themselves. On the episode, you'll hear from Toronto Holocaust historian professor Robert Jan van Pelt, whose mother survived Auschwitz; and from British curator Paul Salmons, plus Luis Ferreiro, director of the private Spanish company MUSEALIA, which owns the touring exhibit. Joshua Basseches, the CEO of the ROM, also joins. What we talked about: Learn more about the ROM exhibit Auschwitz: Not So Long Ago. Not So Far Away and how to buy tickets. School groups get free admission. Learn more about the exhibit’s chief Auschwitz historian, Toronto professor Robert Jan van Pelt, in The CJN archives Read about the ROM’s exhibit 2017 called “The Evidence Room” which professor van Pelt also curated, in The CJN archives. Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner (@ebessner) Production team: Zachary Kauffman (producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer) Music: Dov Beck-Levine Support our show Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to The CJN Daily (Not sure how? Click here)

This week on The CJN Daily, we brought you an interview with human rights advocate Judy Feld Carr about her decades of work to rescue Syrian Jews. But her husband, Donald Carr, didn’t know the full extent of it—it was only weeks before he died, in November 2024, that she felt safe enough to disclose to him the full extent of her clandestine Syrian missions over the past fifty years. Donald Carr, 96, a prominent lawyer and community leader, was also one of The CJN’s most ardent supporters, acting as a longtime board member. That’s why, on this first Honourable Menschen episode of 2025, obituary columnist Heather Ringel joins host Ellin Bessner to share anecdotes about the life of Carr—and four other prominent Canadian leaders we recently lost. You’ll hear about Dr. Ronald Weiss, 68, of Ottawa, who was nicknamed “the Wayne Gretzky of vasectomies”, having performed a record-breaking 58,789 of them; Michael (Muki) Baum, 64, a Toronto artist who fundraised hundreds of thousands of dollars on behalf of treatment centres for people like him with multiple disabilities; celebrity chef Marty Galin, 74, who created the world’s largest salad; and radio host Ethel Taylor, 99, who started her on-air career at the age of 92. What we talked about: Read Heather Ringel’s tributes to our Honourable Menschen and Women in The CJN: Muki Baum, Dr. Ron Weiss, Donald Carr. Learn more about Marty Galin’s life, on Steeles Memorial Chapel. Ethel Taylor’s story is on The Bay 88.7 FM website. Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner (@ebessner) Production team: Zachary Kauffman (producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer) Music: Dov Beck-Levine Support our show Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to The CJN Daily (Not sure how? Click here)

For several months now, Liberal MP Anthony Housefather has been calling for his boss to resign. The Montreal-area politician first broke publicly with his party in March 2024, over its positions on the Israel-Hamas war—yet he ultimately decided to remain in the Liberal caucus. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau later appointed Housefather as special advisor on the Jewish community and antisemitism, but that promotion didn’t stop Housefather from calling for Trudeau to step down in recent weeks. On Jan. 6, 2025, Housefather finally got his wish. Trudeau announced he would resign as prime minister and leader of the Liberal Party of Canada after the party votes on a new leader. To give themselves some time, the prime minister prorogued parliament until March 24. The significant decision comes on the heels of tenuous conflicts that the Prime Minister’s Office faced, both within and beyond his own party—including conflicts over Jewish issues. His centrist approach to the Middle East conflict invited criticism on his foreign affairs file from right- and left-leaning supporters, while Canadian Jewish voters faced unprecedented spikes in antisemitism across the country, with some laying blame, rightly or wrongly, at the foot of the federal government. For his part, Housefather thinks Canadian Jews should stick with the Liberals under a new leader, and plans to advocate for Jewish issues with the forthcoming candidates. (He’s already praising Christy Clark, the former B.C. premier, and Chrystia Freeland, the ex-finance minister). Housefather joins The CJN Daily to discuss Trudeau’s historic resignation and lays out what to expect. Then, we speak with Jeremy Levi, the mayor of the Town of Hampstead, Quebec, for his take on the moment and why Trudeau’s decision doesn’t move the needle for Conservative supporters such as himself. Related links Read what Justin Trudeau told The CJN in 2015 about his and his party’s positions on Jewish and Israel issues before he was first elected as Prime Minister with a majority. Review why Liberal MP Anthony Housefather almost left the Liberal government over its anti-Israel positions, on The CJN Daily, from March 2024. Learn more about Hampstead Mayor Jeremy Levi, a Conservative supporter who has become a vocal critic of the Liberals, especially Housefather, in this recent The CJN profile. Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner (@ebessner) Production team: Zachary Kauffman (producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer) Music: Dov Beck-Levine Support our show Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to The CJN Daily (Not sure how? Click here)