North Star with Ellin Bessner

A note to listeners: I am sick in bed with the flu and have lost my voice (since Friday). Apologies, but there is no new show today. Check The CJN.ca website for the latest breaking news or catch up on episodes you might have missed-like this one, just ahead of Tu B’Shevat later this week: about how Canadian synagogues are going green. The yearly observance—which some consider the Jewish Earth Day—sees more Jewish congregations embracing sustainable Judaism year-round: they’ve installed solar panels on the roof, put LED lights in the sanctuary, and stopped using disposable paper plates at Kiddush. And in Vancouver, over a dozen Jewish sites are really buying in, hoping to earn a “Seal of Sustainability.” On this encore episode of The CJN Daily, Rabbi Shlomo Schachter of Schara Tzedeck Synagogue joins, along with Ariel Greene, head of the shul’s sustainability committee.

Did you know the late Toronto men’s fashion retailer Harry Rosen actually paid for his first store with a bag of quarters? Or that George Cohon, the lawyer who founded McDonald’s restaurants in Central and Eastern Canada, later brought Big Macs and fries to the USSR? In the last few months, Canada’s Jewish community said goodbye to Rosen, Cohon and many other esteemed community builders. And on today’s episode of The CJN Daily’s Honourable Menschen, we pay tribute to these honourable men and women. You’ll hear about Zelda Young, who hosted a daily Jewish radio show for nearly four decades; Holocaust survivors and educators Vera Schiff of Toronto, Willie Glaser of Montreal and Toronto Rabbi Erwin Schild, who lived to be 104; McGill professor Gershon Hundert, a world-renowned giant of Jewish academia; toy store owner Harry Bricks; and Moishe Goldstein, the father of longtime CJN editor-in-chief Yoni Goldstein. At a time when so many are mourning what’s happening abroad, and are anxious about what the future might hold here in Canada, it feels all the more important to honour the incredible impact on our country made by these recently departed Jewish men and women. CJN reporter emeritus Ron Csillag joins host Ellin Bessner to share the stories behind the names. What we talked about Learn more about Willie Glaser, Vera Schiff, Zelda Young, Gershon Hundert, Rabbi Erwin Schild in The CJN Learn more about xHarry Rosen, and George Cohon and Moishe Goldstein Listen to the wisdom of Rabbi Erwin Schild on The CJN Daily Credits The CJN Daily is written and hosted by Ellin Bessner (@ebessner on Twitter). Zachary Kauffman 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 subscribe to this podcast, please watch this video. Donate to The CJN and receive a charitable tax receipt by clicking here. Hear why The CJN is important to me.

Last week, at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, the Jewish State was accused of committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, in a case launched by South Africa. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly both gave oddly confusing statements, in which they said Canada’s support for international law “does not mean” they support South Africa’s accusations. Onlookers were confused by the phrasing—and even federal government staffers didn’t know what to make of it. It took a few days before a statement by Global Affairs Canada confirmed that the country will, in fact, abide by whatever the ICJ rules. But Israel is vehemently defending itself on the international stage, with its barristers at The Hague describing South Africa’s case a “libel” designed to prevent Israel’s right to defend itself from Hamas after Oct. 7, 2023. That’s the big takeaway for legal expert Tamara Kronis, a Canadian human rights lawyer who has worked in The Hague on other genocide cases. On The CJN Daily, Kronis walks us through the inner workings of this important court, what’s likely to happen and what it means if Israel loses. What we talked about Watch Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s comment on Canada’s position vis a vis the genocide hearing on Israel at the International Court of Justice Learn more about Tamara Kronis and about her late father Jules Kronis’s esteemed legal background in The CJN Watch Israel’s submission before the International Court of Justice on YouTube Credits The CJN Daily is written and hosted by Ellin Bessner (@ebessner on Twitter). Zachary Kauffman 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 subscribe to this podcast, please watch this video. Donate to The CJN and receive a charitable tax receipt by clicking here. Hear why The CJN is important to me.

Last week, the International Ice Hockey Federation—the sport's governing body—announced they were barring Israeli national teams from competing in crucial championship matches this winter. The move is seen by many as an unfair penalty against the Jewish State in the wake of the war with Hamas, in which an estimated 25,000 Palestinians have been killed, resulting from Hamas's terrorist attack on Oct. 7, 2023. IIHF officials insist their decision was not political, but instead made purely for security reasons: they couldn’t guarantee Israeli athletes' safety from protestors during upcoming matches in Bulgaria, Serbia and Estonia. Nontheless, Israel’s hockey federation has announced a legal appeal. In the meantime, the IIHF’s ruling has shocked the team's fans around the world—not to mention Israel's athletes and coaches themselves, including a handful of Canadians closely tied to Israel's hockey program. On today’s episode of The CJN Daily, you’ll hear from two of them: Esther Silver, the Canadian-born manager of Israel’s women’s hockey team, and Eliezer Sherbatov, a veteran of the men’s team, now based in Montreal. What we talked about Learn more about the growing reaction to Israel’s hockey teams being blocked from international competition, in The CJN Read more about athlete Elie Sherbatov’s long hockey career, including his escape from the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and about his new book on overcoming a weak left foot condition to succeed on the ice, on The Menschwarmers’ podcast Hear about the birth of Israel’s national women’s hockey team and manager Esther Silver’s support for the players, on The CJN Daily Credits The CJN Daily is written and hosted by Ellin Bessner (@ebessner on Twitter). Zachary Kauffman 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 subscribe to this podcast, please watch this video. Donate to The CJN and receive a charitable tax receipt by clicking here. Hear why The CJN is important to me.

For the first time since Oct. 7, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and several Liberal Members of Parliament met with a large group of Toronto-based Canadian Jewish leaders on Jan. 10 at Beth Tzedec synagogue in Toronto. While the prime minister’s office and community guests had to keep the details secret ahead of time for security reasons, The CJN has learned what was discussed. The group pressed the prime minister on what Canada’s position will be vis-a-vis the International Court of Justice hearings, beginning today, on genocide charges against Israel. Trudeau’s meeting in Toronto also came a month after Canada voted for a UN motion calling for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas—a policy change that has angered many Jewish Canadians, who see it as a betrayal of Canada’s longstanding support for Israel. The prime minister also discussed how the Jewish community is coping with the explosion of antisemitic public discourse, a surge in hate crimes and anti-Zionist protests. Trudeau later released a statement on social media saying he listened to the community’s “pain and anger and grief,” and that he remains focused on combating antisemitism and keeping Canadian Jews safe. He also described his commitment to Canadian Jews, and also to Israel as a Jewish, democratic state as “unwavering”. While the meeting was closed to the public and off the record, we at The CJN Daily spoke to several guests who were there—and who say the meeting didn’t make them feel better. On today’s episode, you’ll hear from host rabbis Steven Wernick and Robyn Fryer Bodzin, both from Beth Tzedec, and from audience member Rabbi Daniel Korobkin of the Beth Avraham Yoseph of Toronto congregation.

Vancouver rabbis Dan Moskovitz and Carey Brown spent four days in Israel in December 2023 as part of a delegation of eight spiritual leaders from the city. They carried 21 duffel bags full of supplies, toured Kibbutz Be’eri and heard from survivors, met with mourners and visited the grave of Vancouver’s Ben Mizrachi, who was murdered at the Supernova music festival on Oct. 7, 2023. Three months after the Hamas attack that killed 1,200 residents–sparking a war that shows no end in sight–tourism in the Holy Land has stalled. Many airlines have yet to resume full service to Israel; hotels are full of displaced residents from Israel’s frontline communities; lifestyle travellers have cancelled trips. In the midst of this bad economic news, however, one unique type of tourism has partly filled the void: volunteer missions. Wine tastings in the Galilee and mud baths at the Dead Sea are out, but picking avocados is in. And hundreds of Diaspora Jews have volunteered. On today’s The CJN Daily, we’ll hear why so many Jews are feeling compelled to “bear witness”. Rabbi Moskovitz will discuss his December visit; we’ll meet Yael Benarroch and Sherri Ettedgui, both Toronto residents, who volunteered on a “Mother to Mother” mission organized by U.S.-based Jewish organization Momentum. And Gal Hana, Israel’s consul for tourism in Toronto, describes what tourism will look like from now, until the fighting ends. What we talked about Learn more about the “Till They All Come Home” hostage bracelet fundraiser created by Rabbi Dan Moskovitz, including how to order. Read more about how volunteers are preparing food for Israelis, in The CJN. Why Canadian cardiologist Dr. Brad Strauss flew to Israel to help a hospital after Oct. 7 on The CJN Daily. Credits The CJN Daily is written and hosted by Ellin Bessner (@ebessner on Twitter). Zachary Kauffman 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 subscribe to this podcast, please watch this video. Donate to The CJN and receive a charitable tax receipt by clicking here. Hear why The CJN is important to me.

After weeks of Palestinians staging anti-Israel protests on Canadian streets—even going so far as to take over highway overpasses in the Toronto area—on Jan. 6, uniformed Toronto police officers were filmed handing over a large Tim Hortons coffee container and cups and snacks to some protesters blockading a Jewish neighbourhood at Avenue Rd. and Wilson Ave. After the video went viral, the Toronto police later explained they did not provide the coffee to the protesters themselves, but were rather “managing a dynamic situation” by handing it over on behalf of some other protesters who had brought it but weren’t being permitted back inside the protest zone. Nevertheless, the gesture has touched off strong feelings, coming just days after a Jewish-owned deli in Toronto was set on fire—and after months ofhundreds of Palestinian protests: including taking over shopping malls, vandalizing bookstores and Jewish businesses, including setting fire at a Jewish grocery store. Community members want answers on why Toronto police are permitting these overpass protests— protests that even the Ontario solicitor general, who lives in the area, calls “intimidation and harassment”. On today’s episode of The CJN Daily, we try to find out why no one is stopping the protests, with guests Solicitor General Michael Kerzner, who is in charge of Ontario’s public safety and policing, and Toronto city councillor James Pasternak. Also with special guest Lila Sarick, The CJN’s News Editor. What we talked about: Read the petition circulating from residents of the Avenue Rd. and 401 neighbourhood in Toronto asking for the Palestinian overpass protests to be banned Watch the video clip of the coffee incident via Caryma Sa’d on X Learn more about the arson at the IDF grocery store in Toronto on Jan 3, in The CJN Credits The CJN Daily is written and hosted by Ellin Bessner (@ebessner on Twitter). Zachary Kauffman 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 subscribe to this podcast, please watch this video. Donate to The CJN and receive a charitable tax receipt by clicking here. Hear why The CJN is important to me.

Canada’s Jewish community wants the 119 remaining Israeli hostages to know that they are not forgotten—even though the letters they’re writing to them most likely will never arrive. For nearly three months now, in schools and synagogues and kitchen tables across Toronto, more than 1,000 volunteers have been penning letters to the hostages, filling care packages and mailing them—or, in some cases, delivering them in person—to the offices of the Canadian Red Cross. The letter-writing campaign, called “You Are Not Forgotten”, is supported by Toronto’s UJA Federation, which provides a suggested script and the address of the Canadian Red Cross president, Conrad Sauvé, in Ottawa. It’s also designed to keep the pressure on the Red Cross’s international head office in Switzerland to finally visit the hostages and demand their immediate release. Other local groups like Canadians for Israel have undertaken the same letter-writing project. Camp Gesher saw campers write to now-freed hostage Ofri Brodutch, 10, who attended the Jewish camp in the summer of 2023. On today’s The CJN Daily, we’ll hear from some of the letter-writers, including Eynat Katz, Sophie Giterman and bat mitzvah girls Ainsley Davidson and Halyn Freeman—and also from the Canadian Red Cross, to explain why they can’t deliver any of the notes. What we talked about Learn more about the letter-writing campaign in The CJN Volunteer to write letters via the UJA Genesis project Hear how Ofri Brodutch and her siblings and mother were released, on The CJN Daily Credits The CJN Daily is written and hosted by Ellin Bessner (@ebessner on Twitter). Zachary Kauffman 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 subscribe to this podcast, please watch this video. Donate to The CJN and receive a charitable tax receipt by clicking here. Hear why The CJN is important to me. Special thanks to Judith Guttman for the audio recording of Andrea Weinstein at the Saturday vigil.

Israel’s government says 45,000 new immigrants came to live in the Holy Land in 2023, including over 720 alone who landed since Oct. 7–when Hamas terrorists attacked and slaughtered 1,200 Israeli residents and took 240 others hostage. Among the newcomers is Irving Matlow, 96, a well-known member of Toronto’s Jewish community, who may be among the oldest people ever to make Aliyah. Matlow has been deeply attached to the State of Israel since he grew up in a Zionist home in Toronto, the son of Jewish immigrants from Belarus. In 1948, while studying for his business degree at the University of Toronto, he left Canada and snuck into Israel to fight for a year in the Israel War of Independence. Now, 75 years later, the widower's personal gesture of support for the country he helped found comes as Israel is engaged in a similar existential war of survival, although Matlow is long past the days of putting on a uniform. On today’s episode, we’ll speak to Matlow just before his plane lands in Tel Aviv, plus you’ll meet other Canadians who’ve permanently moved to Israel in recent weeks–despite the war, or maybe, even partly because of it: Montreal schoolteacher Laurence Ittah, and Victoria B.C. bakers Moshe and Leah Appel and their children. What we talked about Learn more about Irving Matlow’s service in the Israel War of Independence in 1948, in The CJN. Moshe and Leah Appel ran the only kosher bakery on Vancouver Island until a few months ago, in The CJN. How the Canadian parents of Israeli lone soldiers are surviving the war after Oct. 7, in The CJN. Credits: The CJN Daily is written and hosted by Ellin Bessner (@ebessner on Twitter). Zachary Kauffman 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 subscribe to this podcast, please watch this video. Donate to The CJN and receive a charitable tax receipt by clicking here. Hear why The CJN is important to me.

Nearly three-and-a-half years after Shai DeLuca felt he had been defamed by the owner of the now-closed Foodbenders restaurant—who suggested on social media that the Toronto interior designer was a “racist” Israeli “terrorist” who had killed Palestinian babies—an Ontario court has found in his favour. The Superior Court of Justice judgement, which was released on Dec. 22, said DeLuca was entitled to $85,000 in damages because he was defamed by Kimberly Hawkins back in the summer of 2020. The judge found Hawkins acted with malice, was irresponsible, and had tried to not only ruin DeLuca’s public reputation but his professional career as well: she had hoped to get him fired by Citytv, where the Israeli-Canadian designer has been an on-air expert in decor and style for over a decade. DeLuca says the whole ordeal was very stressful, especially because he even received death threats at the time. But now, he says with this court victory, he hopes it will serve as an example to the Jewish community to fight back against the current explosion of antisemitism at play in Canada after Oct. 7. Shai DeLuca joins The CJN Daily today to talk about what he went through, and what will happen next. What we talked about Read more about the Foodbenders lawsuit in The CJN. Learn more about Shai DeLuca in The CJN. Last chance to donate to The CJN for 2023, to support our work, get a tax receipt, and receive our sparkling CJN magazines 4x per year. Hear why The CJN is important to me, in this short message. Credits: The CJN Daily is written and hosted by Ellin Bessner (@ebessner on Twitter). Zachary Kauffman 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 subscribe to this podcast, please watch this video. Donate to The CJN and receive a charitable tax receipt by clicking here. Hear why The CJN is important to me.