North Star with Ellin Bessner

This past Monday, just in time for Pride Week, Canadian Blood Services quietly posted an update on their website, recommending the elimination of Canada's "blood ban". The ban forbids gay, bisexual and other queer men from donating blood if they've had sex with men in the last three months. The rule used to require five years of celibacy, before getting truncated down to one year; only in 2019 did Canadian Blood Services change the criteria, lowering it to three months. Canadian Blood Services says they're still worried about the risk of contaminating Canada’s blood supply—their data suggests gay men account for 40 per cent of all HIV cases. Nonetheless, they say they will send a report to Ottawa by the end of the year, urging Health Canada to let them scrap the blood ban and replace it with a questionnaire that asks all donors, regardless of sexual orientation, about their sexually risky behaviour. On today's episode, we hear from Moshe Appel, an activist who's tweeted at Prime Minister Justin Trudeau over 1,000 times in the last six years, in hopes the leader will keep an old campaign promise and nix the blood ban altogether. What we talked about: Follow Moshe Appel on Twitter @MosheBAppel Read Canadian Blood Services' recent post, "Evolving eligibility criteria for gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men," at blood.ca 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. Find more great Jewish podcasts at thecjn.ca.

How does someone live to celebrate their 114th birthday? On today's episode, Ellin poses the question to Cecile Klein, Canada's oldest person. She tells us her secret to longevity: staying active, doing things for yourself, eating steaks (because you still have all your own teeth) and hopping on a cruise to Mexico at the young age of 103. Klein lived on her own, in her own house in Montreal’s Snowdon area, until she was 110, in 2017. Unfortunately, she suffered a fall that year, which landed her in Montreal’s main Jewish nursing home, the Donald Berman Maimonides Geriatric Centre, where she's lived ever since. The pandemic has been particularly hard for the nursing home: at least 60 residents died and the government called in the Armed Forces to help. Klein was lucky not to get sick, but she remained isolated for much of 2020. When she celebrated her 114th birthday last week, while her fellow residents could gather outside with her, only four family members were allowed to visit in her room. Klein joins us today right after her birthday party, along with her 85-year-old daughter; her grandson, Arthur Nussbam; and Arthur's sister, Elaine Nussbaum. What we talked about: Watch video of Klein's birthday party on The CJN's YouTube page See photos from the event on Côte-Saint-Luc Mayor Mitchell Brownstein's Facebook page 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. Find more great Jewish podcasts at thecjn.ca.

Robbie Waisman is a well-known speaker on Holocaust education. When he was 11, he was forced to worked in a munitions factory in Poland; by 14 he was sent to Buchenwald, where he was grouped in the same cohort of teenagers as Elie Weisel. His parents and four brothers were killed in the Holocaust. Eugene Arcand, meanwhile, is now an official with Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and also speaks widely about his experiences as a forced Indian residential school student in Saskatchewan for 11 years. For a few years now, Waisman and Arcand have been joining forces to speak together at schools and various events. They both took part in a new art show that exhibits 18 portraits of survivors: nine from the Holocaust, nine from Indian residential schools. The artist who painted them, Carol Wylie, is Jewish herself—she got the idea after hearing a survivor in Toronto, Nate Leipciger, speak five years ago at her synagogue in Saskatoon. Now she hopes people who see her show will be moved to learn more about both genocides, while also inspiring Jewish people to help residential school survivors heal. To commemorate National Indigenous Peoples Day, Wylie joins Ellin Bessner on The CJN Daily to discuss her project and the stories she heard. What we talked about: See Carol's website at carolwylie.ca View the project at carolwylie.ca/they-didnt-know-we-were-seeds Read about National Indigenous Peoples Day on rcaanc-cirnac.gc.ca 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. Find more great Jewish podcasts at thecjn.ca.

In the past year, an unusual number of Canadian rabbis have changed jobs, even while COVID restrictions make job interviews difficult. Rabbis across the country have left their synagogues, either to change things up or for personal reasons. Some came as a surprise, like Matthew Leibl in Winnipeg, who announced his resignation in April; others left to pursue other projects, like Yossi Sapirman of Toronto. What is it like for a rabbi to change positions? How easy is it for them to move? In today's episode, Rabbi Lionel Moses, a veteran Canadian rabbi who ran the matching system between rabbis and synagogues for the Conservative Jewish community in North America, says it’s a lot like dating—and mourning. And this year hasn't made it any easier. What we talked about: "'Rabbi Yossi' now heads outreach group he founded" (thecjn.ca) "Leaving one home for another" (about Rabbi Don Pacht, at jewishindependent.ca) "Rabbi Chaim Strauchler To Take the Helm at Rinat" at jewishlink.news "Meet Rabbi Aubrey Glazer" (mauijews.org) "Rabbi Matthew Leibl leaving position" (szwinnipeg.ca) Sign up for The CJN's newsletter at mailchi.mp/thecjn/newsletter 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. Find more great Jewish podcasts at thecjn.ca.

This week, Israel got its first new prime minister in over a decade: Naftali Bennett, an Orthodox right-wing politician, formed an unlikely governing coalition with centrist and left-wing parties, as well as the United Arab List. Bennett, who spent some formative years living in Montreal as a young child, has staunch positions on controversial domestic issues. He supports settlements in the West Bank, rejects the prospect of a nuclear deal with Iran and opposes a two-state solution with Palestine. Keeping an eye on all this movement, from his home in Jerusalem, is Canadian professor Irwin Cotler. On today's episode, the former Liberal MP and human rights lawyer describes Israel's current political climate, and what Bennett's election could mean for Canada. What we talked about: Read: "How attending preschool in Montreal helped define Naftali Bennett" (thecjn.ca) See Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's statement on Bennett's election at the government of Canada's website Watch Ellin's full interview with Irwin Cotler on YouTube 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. Find more great Jewish podcasts at thecjn.ca.

The Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, died on June 13, 1994. Each year, to commemorate his death, his Chabad followers visit Scheerson’s gravesite outside New York—it's known as the Ohel—where they leave letters and prayer notes for him. This year, a large celebration features guest speaker Elie Wiesel’s son, Elisha, and a musical performance by Itzhak Perlman. One prominent Canadian Chabad leader yearned to go. But due to COVID restrictions, Rabbi Mendel Kaplan of the Thornhill Flamingo congregation spent the day on this side of the border, teaching and spreading his beloved rebbe’s wisdom—virtually, on YouTube. Rabbi Kaplan joins today to talk about how the myriad ways the pandemic has affected him and his congregants, including how he and his family caught COVID last year, and how he turns to the Rebbe's words for inspiration in what will soon be a post-pandemic world. What we talked about: Watch a live stream of the Chabad event at chabad.org Visit Rabbi Kaplan's congregation at chabadflamingo.com 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. Find more great Jewish podcasts at thecjn.ca.

Canadian Jewish groups have been pushing the federal government for weeks to create a national emergency summit on anti-Semitism. The calls follow spikes in angry anti-Israel protests around the country in the wake of the latest violent flare-ups in the Middle East, as well as an outpouring of online hatred that extends beyond anti-Zionism and into anti-Semitism. Late last Friday afternoon, Bardish Chagger, Canada’s Minister of Diversity and Inclusion, confirmed that Canada will in fact hold a national summit on hatred against Jews. At the helm will be Irwin Cotler, the distinguished Canadian Jewish human rights lawyer and advocate, who says he has been working for some time on what such a summit might look like. Now his project has been greenlit. What comes next? What subjects will it tackle? And who will attend? To answer these questions, Cotler joins The CJN Daily in part one of an exclusive two-part interview. Our second episode, in which Cotler discusses the new Israeli government and its implications for Canada, will air later this week. What we talked about: Read: "Canada to hold an emergency summit on anti-Semitism" (thecjn.ca) CIJA's press release: "CIJA welcomes Government of Canada decision to host Emergency Summit on Antisemitism" (cija.ca) 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. Find more great Jewish podcasts at thecjn.ca.

If Anne Frank had survived the Holocaust, she would have been celebrating her 92nd birthday on June 12. Elly Bollegraaf can empathize with Frank's experience. When Bollegraaf speaks to students in Ottawa about her experiences being a hidden child during the Holocaust in the Netherlands, she usually gets asked whether she knew the famous diary writer. Each time, she disappoints the crowd by informing them she did not. In reality, Bollegraaf was just two years old when the Germans began deporting Holland’s Jews to their deaths. While Anne Frank was already a teenager—and living in another part of the country, in Amsterdam—Bollegraf remained hidden for two years. She was only free after the war ended, in 1945. On today's episode, Bollegraaf shares her incredible story of survival, and what she thinks when people say they feel like Anne Frank while living under lockdown during the pandemic. What we talked about: Watch a hypothetical video diary series of Anne Frank, created by the Anne Frank House, on YouTube Listen to Elly Bollegraaf's video testimony given to Carleton University at carleton.ca The hotel where Bollegraaf was hidden is now a bed and breakfast run by the Wetzels descendents, which you can view at bloeiendeberg.nl 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. Find more great Jewish podcasts at thecjn.ca.

This year, June 10 marks is the 54th anniversary of the end of Israel's Six Day War, which claimed the lives of nearly 800 Israeli soldiers. It was hardly the only war that led to sacrifices by Israeli men and women. According to official estimates, about 25,000 Israelis have died for their country, spanning from the years before, during and in the aftermath of the establishment of the State of Israel. However, not all of the deceased have had their stories properly told. As many as 861 Israelis gave their lives and remain unknown. That's where Giving a Face to the Fallen comes in. It's a non-profit, volunteer-run Israeli group that memorializes those who have fallen in military operations around the time of Israel's independence in 1948. Today, Ellin speaks with Toronto-born Stephen Glazer, a social worker and the only Canadian currently volunteering with Giving a Face to the Fallen. Glazer is working to track down the identities of these unknown soldiers and seek out any living relatives. What we talked about: Learn more about Giving a Face to the Fallen at their website, latetpanim.org.il/en Watch an Israel news broadcast about Bella Papierowicz, 21, who was a member of the Haganah, and Lechi, who was killed in 1947 in Jerusalem, at YouTube Browse the official list of known fallen Israeli soldiers at izkor.gov.il/en 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. Find more great Jewish podcasts at thecjn.ca.

Last night, a public vigil was held at the London Muslim Mosque in London, Ont., for the victims of what is being described as a murderous hate crime. Five members of a Pakistani Canadian immigrant family, out for a Sunday evening stroll, were deliberately mowed down by a hit-and-run driver. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Ontario Premier Doug Ford and other federal and provincial leaders showed up to the vigil in person, along with several of London's Jewish community's leaders. In this episode, Ellin speaks to Eric Robinson, the program director at London Jewish Federation, about the impact the tragedy has had on the community. Plus: Listen to a stunning speech by one imam, Munir El-Kassem, that is worrying Canadian Jews. El-Kassem used his platform to denounce Israeli actions against Gaza and East Jerusalem, capping off two hours of speeches with the proclamation that "whatever is happening in Jerusalem and Gaza is related to whatever happened in London, Ontario—period." What we talked about: Watch a livestream of the vigil and read the statement by Jewish community at Jewish London Ontario's Facebook page Contrinute to the Go Fund Me set up for the family at gofundme.com/f/salman-family-accident-relief Read more about the national Canadian Jewish response to the tragedy at thecjn.ca 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. Find more great Jewish podcasts at thecjn.ca.