North Star with Ellin Bessner

Although they count just 100 member families, Saskatoon’s Congregation Agudas Israel believes there is a bright future for Jewish life in their Prairie city. Which is why the Conservative egalitarian synagogue has just completed a lengthy $3.8 million dollar renovation of their post-war-era building. Aside from improved security and accessibility, and a mikveh, it also now includes bigger space for a small but modern Jewish Community Centre, recently named after Sherwood and Elaine Sharfe: the prominent local family of philanthropists are the lead donors to the project. On the weekend of Friday June 23, current synagogue members and also former Saskatoon residents returned to the grounds of the building for three days of festivities to mark the official rededication and reopening. On this episode of The CJN Daily, we speak with the synagogue’s president, Kevin Sharfe–it’s his parents’ names on the venue–and also with his cousin Grant Scharfstein, who spearheaded the multimillion dollar Legacy Project. What we talked about Learn about the renovation project at Saskatoon’s historic Agudas Israel synagogue, on The CJN Daily, from 2021. Watch a promo video from the Saskatoon synagogue while under renovations, on YouTube. Read more about the history of the Jewish community of Saskatoon, in The CJN, from 2016. 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 intern is Ashok Lamichhane (@jesterschest on Twitter).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.

It’s an uncertain time for the future of journalism in Canada. Bell Media announced layoffs and closed radio stations; Postmedia and the Toronto Star’s parent company are talking about merging; and Google and Meta, the company that owns Facebook and Instagram, threatened to block Canadian news from their platforms because of an ongoing feud with the federal government. That move leaves Canadians, including The CJN’s audience, in danger of having less access to vital information about our world, and threatens the country’s journalism industry as a whole—which relies heavily on visibility on social platforms and search engines to reach our audiences. So what does the future hold, and how will it impact what you can read, hear and watch? We’ve assembled a panel of experts to break it all down and offer tips for what you can do while the dust settles. On The CJN Daily, we’re joined by three key players in the country’s media landscape: Paul Godfrey, the former executive chairman and founder of Postmedia; Yoni Goldstein, the CEO and editor in chief of The CJN; and author Jeffrey Dvorkin, currently a lecturer at Massey College in Toronto, who has formerly been the head of CBC Radio and the ombudsman at NPR. What we talked about Learn how you can bypass Facebook and Google by supporting The CJN directly. Read about how The CJN pivoted during the pandemic to a new business model, in The CJN Learn more about Jeffrey Dvorkin’s book, Trusting the News in a Digital Age, and where to buy it 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 intern is Ashok Lamichhane (@jesterschest on Twitter).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.

As Canadian Jewish kids begin settling into their cabins and tents at overnight camp this month, they’ll find some of the camps are offering something extra: mental health support teams. Whether an on-site emotional support dog or a nighttime ritual of journaling positive achievements, camps are adding mental health components including 24-hour support professionals. They’re called “camper care directors” or “spiritual coordinators”. With training and degrees in social work and child psychology, they make sure the campers (and also camp counsellors) have the emotional support they need to deal with anxiety, bullying, eating disorders, severe homesickness and other mental health challenges that arise while they spend weeks away from the familiarity of parents and home. On this episode of The CJN Daily, we speak with Toronto social worker Lynda Fishman, the camper care team lead for Camp Shalom, in Gravenhurst, Ont., about why parents shouldn’t grab their car keys if they feel worried by their kids’ first letter home. What we talked about Read about Canada’s first summer camp for Jewish LGBTQ children opening, in The CJN Read about the fire at Camp B’nai Brith of Ottawa over the winter, in The CJN Why visitors’ day was virtual at summer camps in 2022, 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 intern is Ashok Lamichhane (@jesterschest on Twitter). 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.

Construction has begun at the site of the Joseph and Wolf Lebovic Jewish Community campus in Vaughan, Ont. for the Honey and Barry Sherman Arena. The $52 million dollar arena–to be attached to the existing JCC complex–is a gift from their son Jonathan Sherman to the Toronto Jewish community. The late Sherman’s three surviving daughters are not participating. It would make the UJA Federation of Greater Toronto the only JCC in Canada, and in North America, to own its own indoor ice hockey arena. With two NHL-sized rinks, stands, dressing rooms and a kosher snack bar, the arena is designed to provide badly-needed ice facilities for Jewish youth players and figure skaters, too. It will also be open to rentals by the wider community, where ice time is at a premium. Jonathan Sherman admits the announcement brings “heavy emotions” because the 2017 murders of his billionaire philanthropist parents have not been solved. But on this day, Sherman says he wants to focus on continuing their legacy of community building. On this episode of The CJN Daily, we hear from Adam Minsky, the CEO of the UJA Federation of Greater Toronto; Christopher Ainsworth, the city councillor for the City of Vaughan where the project got the green light, and words from Jonathan Sherman himself. What we talked about Read about the construction of the Joseph and Wolf Lebovic campus in Vaughan over the years in The CJN, including the official opening in 2012. After the murders of Barry and Honey Sherman in 2017, their legacy of philanthropy was in the spotlight, in 2018 in The CJN. Learn why the northern campuses of TanenbaumCHAT high school and Leo Baeck day schools closed in 2017 and 2019 respectively, at the Lebovic Jewish campus, 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 intern is Ashok Lamachhane @jesterschest. 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.

Talk about an identity crisis. For his whole life, Canadian actor Noam Tomaschoff, 31, thought he was the son of a Jewish couple with roots in Israel and Montreal. Tomaschoff went to Jewish day school, speaks Hebrew and has visited Israel. But last summer, his life changed when his parents learned he was planning to take a DNA test, for fun, while on holiday at the cottage. So they sat him down to reveal a three-decade-old secret: due to fertility problems, they used an anonymous sperm donor to conceive. The donor is no longer alive. The shocking news prompted Tomaschoff to start searching for answers. He’s since discovered his birth father’s details, including that the man was not Jewish—and Tomaschoff now has 35 half-siblings scattered around the world. Now Tomaschoff has put the experience into a new show, called Our Little Secret: The 23 & Me Musical, debuting July 6 at the Toronto Fringe Festival. Noam Tomaschoff joins The CJN Daily, along with his parents, Gideon Tomaschoff and Sylvie Leone-Tomaschoff. What we talked about Learn more about Noam Tomaschoff and his play To buy tickets, check the play’s website Read how The CJN covered Noam Tomaschoff and his friends in Grade 12 at TanenbaumChat high school when they wrote their first musical in 2009 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. This podcast is powered by Pinecast.

Welcome to one of the most squalid Jewish-owned office buildings in Canada: 788 Marlee Ave. in midtown Toronto. Over the years, it’s been home to countless Zionist organizations and Jewish charities—including Mazon Canada, Canadian Young Judaea, Sar-El Canada, Camp Shalom, Machane Lev summer camp, the Association for Soldiers of Israel, Canadian Friends of Yad Sarah, and more. Some tenants have been complaining for years about the conditions, including a rat infestation; mould on lobby ceilings; extensive water damage from a leaky roof and broken skylights; elevators that haven’t been inspected since at least 2020; bathrooms with no lights and broken sinks; and a toilet with human feces that wasn’t cleaned in eight months. The city has cited the building several times for garbage violations and uncut grass. The conditions have become so bad that at least one tenant moved out permanently in May. Others choose not to work in their offices much, except to drop off the rent. On top of it all, there are two lawsuits filed in the Ontario courts against the longtime owners of the building, the Toronto Zionist Council. Among the lengthly list of allegations in the court documents are accusations of wilful negligence, misappropriation of money (particularly by one of the directors, Paul Rotenberg, to the tune of at least $70,000), forgery, deliberate misconduct and allowing the once-proud symbol of the Zionist movement in Canada to fall into “appalling” conditions. The TZC also owns a 75-year-old summer camp in Gravenhurst, Ont., called Camp Shalom, which is also discussed in the court documents, amidst questions wondering where the money to upgrade the camp has gone. The CJN will be publishing several reports as part of this exclusive investigation. To start, on today’s episode of The CJN Daily, we take you inside 788 Marlee Ave. You’ll hear from Mazon’s Izzy Waxman; Jessie Lash, the owner of a catering business; and Roni Perez, who served on the board of the ground-floor synagogue known as The Marlee Shul. What we talked about Take a video tour of 788 Marlee Ave. on The CJN’s YouTube channel Toronto Zionist Council director Paul Rotenberg has spoken out often in favour of expanding Jewish settlements in the West Bank, including in 2016 in The CJN Read why the Canada Revenue Agency revoked charitable status of the Toronto Zionist Council’s charity, the Zionist Organization of Canada Charitable Fund, in 1995, for funnelling money illegally to settlements in the West Bank A new charity has been set up with a similar name by the same directors of the Toronto Zionist Council, now called the Ontario Jewish Education Association, in Toronto, since July 24, 2020. 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. This podcast is powered by Pinecast.

Fashion journalist Jeanne Beker has been in the public eye for more than 50 years, most notably as a globetrotting reporter interviewing some of the world’s highest-profile designers and models, as well as entertainers the likes of Paul McCartney and Bob Hope. But for the last year, Beker, now 71, has turned the camera on her own story—as a breast cancer patient. She’s been extremely public about her diagnosis, chemotherapy and radiation treatments, and surgery. And now, she’s advocating for better (and earlier) screening for women with dense breasts. Two weeks ago, Beker completed her year of cancer treatments at the Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto. But that challenge hasn’t stopped her from starting to write a new book, hosting her Style Matters television show and making countless appearances at fundraisers for breast cancer and other good causes. Beker joins The CJN Daily to discuss where she got her determination and how she’s found a renewed gratitude for life. What we talked about Follow Jeanne Beker on her Instagram account or her website Read The CJN’s coverage of Jeanne Beker’s career from emceeing the Zareinu fashion shows, to winning many awards Hear The CJN Daily’s interview with Jeanne Beker’s cancer authority, Dr. Paula Gordon, on why women with dense breasts should get screened beginning at 40 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. This podcast is powered by Pinecast.

Torontonians will elect a new mayor, the city’s 66th, on Monday, June 26, in a byelection made necessary by the surprise resignation of John Tory in February. With 102 names on the ballot—including a pet dog—the choice for voters can be confusing, but The CJN Daily‘s political panel is here to break down the issues and evaluate the frontrunners. In the days leading up to the vote, it’s Olivia Chow’s election to lose. The former NDP MP and city councillor has previously run unsuccessfully for mayor before, but she holds a significant lead over the man polling second in most polls, Mark Saunders, a former Toronto police chief who has run unsuccessfully for the Ontario Conservatives. Trailing those two in third-place: Anthony Furey, a former newspaper columnist; Anna Bailaõ, a former city councillor and ally of ex-mayor Tory; and Josh Matlow, a sitting councillor and member of the Jewish community. On today’s episode, we’re joined by Stephen Adler, senior director of public affairs at National Public Relations; Sophia Hershfield, The CJN’s “Critical Kvetching” columnist; and Josh Lieblein, The CJN’s “Doorstep Postings” columnist. Read more Read Lieblein’s “Doorstep Postings” columns on some of the candidates running for mayor in Toronto in The CJN, including Josh Matlow, Mark Saunders, Anna Bailaõ, Brad Bradford, Anthony Furey and Rob Davis Read more about Ben Carr, who won Monday’s federal byelection in his late dad Jim Carr’s riding of Winnipeg South Centre, in The CJN How to vote in the Toronto mayor byelection June 26, 2023 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. This podcast is powered by Pinecast.Read transcript

Dani Dayan was in Canada last week to honour the outgoing chair of the Canadian Society for Yad Vashem, Fran Sonshine, and to attend the opening of the new Toronto Holocaust Museum. Dayan, 67, took the job as chair of Yad Vashem in 2021. After enjoying a high-profile political career as a spokesman for Jewish settlers in Israel, and then as Israel’s Consul General in New York City, Dayan made it his goal to revamp the world’s foremost Holocaust museum, in Jerusalem. Dayan often says he has to be apolitical, but he hasn’t shied away from speaking his mind since taking office. He’s slammed Russian leaders for Holocaust distortion; criticized Poland’s controversial new law that outlaws discussing Polish crimes committed during the Holocaust; and, most recently, voiced support for a Canadian professor who was harassed while giving a Holocaust lecture in Poland. Dayan joins The CJN Daily for his only Canadian interview during his recent tour. He praises the new Canadian Holocaust museum, describes what it was like meeting his fellow Argentine countryman Pope Francis, and warns of what he calls “the Disneyland” approach to teaching about the Holocaust. What we talked about Hear our interview with Prof. Jan Grabowski on Poland’s and Wikipedia’s campaign to deny their role in the Holocaust, on The CJN Daily Read Josh Lieblein’s column on how Jewish leaders pick their battles, in The CJN How Russian President Vladimir Putin falsified Russian Holocaust history while at Yad VaShem in The CJN from 2020 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. This podcast is powered by Pinecast.

On Friday, an American jury brought down a guilty verdict for all 63 counts against the gunman who burst into the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh in 2018, murdering 11 Jews and wounding six others. It was the worst-ever mass killing of Jews in the United States. Among the victims was a Toronto native, Joyce Fienberg. The retired widow, 75, attended the synagogue nearly every day, according to her younger brother, Dr. Bob Libman, a Toronto physician. He’s been monitoring the trial closely from his home in Thornhill. In this exclusive interview with The CJN Daily, Libman talks about the devastating impact his late sister’s killing had on the extended family, and what he hopes will happen with the sentencing hearing for the shooter—in which the shooter faces the death penalty. What we talked about Read more about Joyce Fienberg, z”l in The CJN, from 2018 and here How Christians and Muslims formed a “ring of peace” around Canadian shuls in 2018 in The CJN Hear journalist Mark Oppenheimer discuss his book on the Squirrel Hill shooting on Bonjour Chai 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. This podcast is powered by Pinecast.