North Star with Ellin Bessner

In the holiday aisle of certain supermarkets, next to the chocolate Maccabees and Star of David cookies, you can find a "Hanukkah house cookie kit". A Jewish cousin to the classic Christmas gingerbread house, the DIY craft-meets-treat trend has sprung up in recent years, seeming more prominent now than ever before. And, it turns out, they're made in Canada. Their maker is Give & Go Prepared Foods, a pastry-producing corporation based in Ontario, whose CEO is Joel Flatt, son of the Canadian philanthropist couple Ab and Phyllis Flatt. This holiday season, their cookie-cutter houses are being sold in the United States under different names for different outlets, including for Manischewitz. Is it another example of Hanukkah's descent into cheap commodification? Or a delightful way to feed holiday spirits and bellies? Ellin discusses with Blair Klayman, Give & Go's vice president of marketing and innovation. What we talked about: Find Hanukkah houses at Publix in the U.S., and Manischewitz's version at manischewitz.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; find more great Jewish podcasts at thecjn.ca.

Michael Posner is known as the "King of Cohen". He spent $35,000 of his own money to travel the world researching Leonard Cohen, the Canadian Jewish poet legend—and only after the globetrotting and spending did a publisher agree to take Posner on. Posner's biography of the late singer is coming out in three volumes. The first was released last November; the second, this month, almost five years to the day of his death in 2016. Posner has interviewed hundreds of people who knew and admired the troubadour in an effort to compile what is poised to be the definitive Cohen biography. Posner joins today to discuss what he learned about Cohen, including the gritty details of Cohen's escapades, dalliances and inspirations. What we talked about: Find the book at simonandschuster.com Visit Michael Posner's website at michaelposner.com Watch the performance of “Hallelujah” by Tamir Greenberg and Valerie Hamaty 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.

Aaron Levy was driving to Chiliwack, B.C., on a Saturday night when it started raining. Hard. There was so much water coming down, in fact, that he lost control of his car and had to call to get it towed. Levy didn't realize at the time how the heavy rainfall he experienced was just a taste of the historic deluge that drowned out huge swaths of southern British Columbia, killing at least five people and forcing thousands to evacuate their homes. Although the situation has stabilized somewhat, the danger is not over. More heavy rain is forecast for B.C. later this week, and residents are still scrambling to recover their homes, stay safe and wrap their heads around the new normal climate. Levy is broadcasting as much critical information as he can from his radio station, CIVL, operating out of the University of the Fraser Valley in Abbotsford. He joins the show to describe what life has been like throughout this emergency. What we talked about: Listen to CIVL at civl.ca Read the flood rescue sheet at the "fv flood help" Facebook group Learn the recipe for cheese latkes here 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.

Kurt Yaakov Tutter was born in Vienna in 1930. Eight years later, Nazi Germany annexed Austria. The Tutters escaped to Belgium, only for the Nazis to follow in 1940. Kurt's parents were arrested and deported to Auschwitz, while he and his five-year-old sister hid in an attic before being smuggled into an orphanage. Austrians have long considered themselves Adolf Hitler's first victims, and it took the Austrian government 50 years to admit its complicity in rounding up, deporting and killing Austria’s Jews. Kurt Tutter played one small but critical role in that transition. On Nov. 9, 2021—the anniversary of Kristallnacht—the country finally unveiled a new memorial to the country's Jewish Holocaust victims. The Wall of Names in Vienna features 64,440 names engraved on slabs of granite, and was spearheaded by an organization Tutter founded more than 20 years ago, in May 2000. Having recently returned from the inauguration in Austria, Tutter—now 91—joins the show to discuss his years-long effort, the rise of antisemitism in Austria and his hopes and fears for the monument for which he spent more than two decades fighting. What we talked about: Watch the full unveiling of the Wall of Names on YouTube Browse the Austrian Holocaust victims database at doew.at 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.

Canada’s 44th Parliament is set to resume Monday at 1 p.m. In it are eight Jewish MPs, including two relatively new faces—Ya'ara Saks, the Liberal representative for York Centre, elected in a 2020 byelection; and Melissa Lantsman, the rookie Conservative just elected by the voters of Thornhill. Both will be sitting for the first time in the House of Commons—Saks has only Zoomed into meetings so far—and, while they sit on opposite ends of the aisle, both women are proudly Jewish, with similar plans for tackling antisemitism, addressing the nation's high cost of living and hanging a mezuzah on their office doors. Saks and Lantsman join to give us an insight look at what's going to happen Monday afternoon, where they disagree and where they share common goals. What we talked about: Visit Ya'ara Saks' website at yaarasaks.liberal.ca Visit Melissa Lantsman's website at melissalantsman.ca Learn about the flood relief plan by the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver at jewishvancouver.com/bcflood 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.

Thanks to the Netflix action film The Red Sea Diving Resort, many people have heard of Operation Moses, when Israel rescued 30 planeloads of Ethiopian refugees, bringing them to the Holy Land. That covert operation launched almost exactly 37 years ago. But even earlier, another secret mission took place to save several hundred Ethiopian Jews, which brought them not to the shores of the Mediterranean, but the banks of the St. Lawrence River. In the early 1980s, a group of Montrealers decided to do what the Israel government had still only been planning. The group of lawyers, social workers and students teamed up with Quebec politicians, Brian Mulroney and Steven Lewis, arranging visas by forging fake university acceptance letters, made-up job offers and bogus wedding invitations. Ultimately, they helped between 200 and 300 Ethiopians reach Canadian soil. Now, more than 40 years later, an American museum is sharing this story more widely. It tells the story from the perspective of one of the main operatives, Mark Zarecki, who joins us today to discuss the rescue mission that deserves its own Hollywood movie—but never got one. What we talked about: Learn about the museum exhibit featuring Mark Zarecki at pritzkermilitary.org Read about Operation Moses at mfa.gov.il Watch "Sterlin Castle: The Story behind RCR Lt. Mitch Sterlin's Gallantry in Italy in WWll by Ellin Bessner" on YouTube on Nov. 18 at 6 p.m. EST 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.

After years of relative stability and the election of a prime minister who won a Nobel Peace Prize in 2019, Ethiopia has been mired in domestic warfare since November 2020. Sparked by postponed elections and the COVID-19 pandemic, the war sees the Ethiopian government facing off against rural militias, separatist groups and a paramilitary organization slowly advancing across the entire country. This leaves the nation's remaining Jews trapped and scared. So advocates are looking to Israel for help evacuating the country's Jewish populace, echoing Operation Moses from the 1980s and Operation Solomon from 1991, which brought thousands of Ethiopian Jews to the Holy Land. One of those advocates is Yaffa Tegegne. The Montreal-based lawyer is the daughter of Baruch Tegegne, the famous activist who spearheaded the campaign to save Ethiopia's Jews. Tegegne joins to discuss her parents' legacy, the people he saved and what Canadians need to know about the Ethiopian Jews trapped in the current conflict. What we talked about: Visit Tegegne's website at yaffategegne.com, and read her short biography of her father at yaffategegne.com/baruch-tegegne Listen to The CJN Daily episode, "At 13, he got an Apple Watch. At 14, he built a daily prayer app for it" at thecjn.ca/kid-genius. 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.

The debut NHL season for the Seattle Kraken has not been kind. They've won just four games so far, losing 10 and tying one. They rank last in their division, and have slunk near the bottom of the entire league. One of the few bright moments, however, came at the expense of the Montreal Canadiens—the Kraken beat the Habs 5-1 in their first-ever franchise victory. It was a bittersweet moment for Mitch Garber, who watched the historic game from the owners' box in Seattle. Garber—a lawyer, businessman, investor and respected philanthropist in his native Montreal—is a minority owner of the upstart hockey squad, and now finds himself making monthly trips to the West Coast to support his new team. Garber joins to discuss his involvement with the Kraken, the connection between Judaism and hockey, and how he torn feels when his new Kraken kids face off against his beloved Canadiens. What we talked about: Visit Mitch Garber's website at mitchgarberinvestments.com Read "This graffiti was found outside the Elgin Street courthouse in Ottawa" at thecjn.ca To hear the full interview, subscribe to Menschwarmers at thecjn.ca/menschwarmers 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.

The major international climate conference COP26 wrapped up this weekend. Canadians, now accustomed to seeing headlines about B.C.'s heat dome, wildfires in Northern Ontario and Alberta, melting Arctic ice and irregular farming seasons across the country, have much at stake in the conversation about climate change. The conference produced some worthwhile promises, but the question remains: Will they be enough? Will Canadians' actions matter on a global scale? And how can the country transition out of fossil fuels when those industries are still pivotal to our economy? To discuss these issues and more, we're joined by Seth Klein, an analyst, professor and the head of the climate emergency unit of the David Suzuki Foundation. Like his sister, Naomi Klein, he's also a published author, with his book, A Good War: Mobilizing Canada for the Climate Emergency, published Sept. 2020. What we talked about: Visit Seth Klein's webiste at sethklein.ca and find his book at ecwpress.com See the new menorah created by Ari Harel for Halifax’s Shaar Shalom Synagogue 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.

Jules Freedman, Max Sucharov and Archie Adelman have a few things in common. All three served in the Canadian military; all three were killed in 1944; all three were Jews. But history would bind them together in a different way, too: for decades, on each of their gravestones in the Bretteville-sur-Laize Canadian War Cemetery in Normandy, France, was not a Jewish Star of David, but a Christian cross. It took six months and several emails and calls flying between The CJN Daily host Ellin Bessner, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and Martin Sugarman, the archivist for the Association of Jewish Ex-Servicemen and Women, in London, England—but, eventually, the error was corrected. Today, all three tombstones bear the proper Star of David, cementing their legacy as Canadian Jewish war heroes. Sugarman joins the show to discuss how the mistake was made and how it was resolved. Sugarman has made it his personal mission to find incorrect or missing Jewish soldiers' graves around the world and fix any errors. He's helped 200 fallen soldiers over 30 years so far—and is still working on more. What we talked about: Watch the WW2TV episode with Ellin leading a virtual tour of Bretteville-sur-Laize Canadian War Cemetery on YouTube Read "Britain to replace crosses for 3 Jewish Canadians killed in WWII" at ellinbessner.com Watch the ceremony of Lawrence MacAulay awarding the Veterans Affairs Canada Commendation medal to the late Rabbi Reuven Bulka of Ottawa 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.