North Star with Ellin Bessner

Next week, on Sept. 12, Israel’s High Court is set to hear appeals of a key plank in the judicial reform plan of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government. The core issue is a law, passed by the Knesset in July, that curbs the court’s use of what's called the “reasonableness” doctrine—a doctrine that allows judges to review controversial government decisions and political appointments. The op...

On Tuesday, the criminal trial began for two key leaders of the trucker convoy protest, Tamara Lich and Chris Barber. The case touches on some of the deepest political divides in Canada today—and was, back in 2022, an equally hot topic for Canadian Jews. While many in the community turned against the convoy after antisemitic images emerged of protesters waving Nazi flags, some Jewish Canadians fel...

On September 3, Ukraine's defence minister, Oleksii Reznikov, who has stood at the helm of the country's protracted war with Russia since Day 1, announced his resignation. If you missed the news, you wouldn't be alone; with the war heading into its third year in a few months, global attention has drifted away. Clear media narratives and easily digestible stories have fallen wayside since the confl...

This year has been the worst wildfire season in recorded Canadian history, with the millions of Canadians waking up for the first time to the smell of smoke and hazy skies. In the last week, blazes have continued raging in Canada’s coldest, northernmost regions, with all 20,000 residents of Yellowknife, the capital of Northwest Territories, being ordered to evacuate the city. Thousands more across...

In recent months, thousands of Canadian workers—in separate industries—have organized in unions and walked off the job. Port workers in British Columbia, teachers in Nova Scotia, liquor store staff in Manitoba, Metro grocery employees in Ontario—all have hit picket lines this summer, in a significant reversal of a long decline of union power. Jews have a long history of labour activism in North Am...

In late July, the Israeli government won a major victory in its mission to shift power from the Supreme Court to the legislature, where Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu presides over the governing coalition. The so-called "reasonableness bill" stripped the High Court’s ability to use the legal standard of reasonableness to outlaw actions of the government. The action has resulted in mas...

With students returning to classrooms next week, Ontario will become the first Canadian province to mandate Holocaust education starting in Grade 6. The process began last fall, after a number of high-profile American celebrities—including Kanye West and Kyrie Irving—brought antisemitism centre stage, especially online. Ontario Education Minister Stephen Lecce announced a series of reforms to comb...

This interview originally aired on Bonjour Chai_, The CJN's weekly current affairs podcast. Hear the full episode and subscribe at thecjn.ca/bonjour ._ With back-to-school prep in full swing and another semester around the corner, we wanted to ask: what is the Jewish community really getting out of Jewish day schools? What’s their long term effectiveness in terms of building Jewish identity? And,...

This interview originally aired on Rivkush_, The CJN's podcast interviewing incredible Jews of colour. Hear the full episode and subscribe at thecjn.ca/rivkush ._ Charly Wai Feldman is a woman of the world. Born in Montreal to a Jewish father and mother from Hong Kong, she lived in Jamaica and Vietnam before settling in the United Kingdom with her husband, himself of Indian descent (but grew up in...

This interview originally aired on Culturally Jewish_, The CJN's podcast covering Canadian Jewish arts and culture. Hear the full episode and subscribe at thecjn.ca/culture ._ There’s a certain type of Jew, usually Ashkenazi, sometimes Israeli, with a mop of curly hair, an acousitc guitar and an affinity for marijuana, who will inevitably love bands like The Grateful Dead and Phish. Those groups a...

This interview originally aired on Menschwarmers_, The CJN's podcast about Jews and sports. Hear the full episode and subscribe at thecjn.ca/menschwarmers _ On July 19, Josh Sokol, a 29-year-old Scrabble influencer from Montreal, won the top prize of US$10,000 at the 2023 North American Scrabble Players Association championship in Las Vegas. But, as Sokol explains on this episode of  Menschwarmers...

As some of you may already know, last week, Evan Friedlan passed away at 23—the youngest son of The CJN Daily host Ellin Bessner. For now, our show will be taking some time off. We at The CJN are extending our deepest condolences to Ellin; her husband, John Friedlan; and Evan’s brother, Alex. Ellin has invited anyone who wishes to share messages of condolence to email her at ebessner@thecjn.ca. Yo...

There were whistles and angry shouts of “Go back to New York” and “Get Lost” last Wednesday at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, as a group of observant Jewish women known as Women of the Wall conducted their monthly morning prayer service–complete with a small Torah scroll they’d smuggled in with them. Using the scroll is against the rules set down by the holy site’s authorities, which still only pe...

Funeral services will be held Tuesday, July 25, for Monte Kwinter, the long-serving Toronto politician who set the record as the oldest sitting MPP in Ontario’s legislature. Kwinter, who came from a family of Polish immigrant butchers in Kensington Market, was re-elected nine times for the Liberals in the heavily Jewish riding of York Centre—and, before that, Wilson Heights, as it was previously n...

On July 24, Chief Rabbi Haim Korsia of France wraps up his hectic weeklong tour of Ontario and Quebec. But it wasn't his first time in the country, or specifically Montreal—he came over 30 years ago for a family wedding. In an interview with The CJN Daily , Rabbi Korsia downplayed the impression that France's Jewish community faces an increasingly difficult future in the wake of terrorist attacks...

Rosalie Mednick Nepom and her brother Sol Mednick were born in the mining town of Rouyn-Noranda, Que., and grew up there–the children of a local grocer. Meanwhile, Dr. Issac Katz is the son of the community’s first permanent rabbi. Now, these former Rouyn-Noranda residents have collected memories and stories of growing up in the once-vibrant pioneering Jewish community, and published them in a new...

In one of the summer’s buzziest blockbuster films— Oppenheimer , about the real-life Jewish head of the top-secret American wartime Manhattan Project—the film’s director neglected to include an important Canadian figure. A Jewish scientist from Winnipeg, Louis Slotin was a key part of the team of groundbreaking researchers at the Los Alamos atomic laboratories. He helped build and assemble the bom...

As  The CJN Daily _reported  earlier this week , the Anglican Church of Canada adopted a strongly worded resolution condemning what its members believe are systemic human rights abuses by Israel against Palestinians. After some Jewish leaders criticized the Church’s statement as “misleading” and “disappointing”, the Anglican Archbishop of Calgary, Gregory Kerr-Wilson—who moved the original resolut...

As you may have heard, the church representing over one million Anglicans in Canada has voted to formally replace an old prayer calling for the conversion of Jews, although it is hardly used any longer. Anglican officials formally expunged it from the official Book of Common Prayer, during a synod held over the Canada Day weekend. They replaced it with a new prayer for reconciliation with the Jews...

The Toronto-raised social media professional Cindy Seni gained fame by appearing on Netflix’s popular  Jewish Matchmaking  reality TV series to find a husband. Instead, she found the man who is now her  basheret  all on her own. In fact, Seni met him last summer, when filming was already underway for the eight-part dating show. Their meet-cute happened through her day job with an organization that...

It was billed as a “Day of Disruption” in Israel as protesters blockaded the country’s main airport, hundreds of army reservists threatened to refuse to serve, and police arrested at least 77 demonstrators across the country. Although Israel has seen 27 straight weeks of political turmoil, Israelis have taken to the streets in massive numbers this week in a revitalized round of protests. These wer...

Over the past year,  The CJN Daily  has run a regular tribute to prominent members of Canada’s Jewish community who have passed away. We’ve highlighted more than 50 honourable menschen and women from coast to coast. In this latest episode, we profile two Canadian women who led their communities: Mira Koschitzky of Toronto and Gladys Rose of Saskatoon. Plus, three beloved Holocaust educators have d...

Only one Jewish rookie out of 244 was selected at the NHL 2023 draft, held from June 28-29: Andrew Cristall. If the surname sounds familiar, it’s because the 18-year-old is the son of Alex and Jodi Cristall, leaders and philanthropists who are deeply involved in Vancouver’s Jewish community. On July 7, Cristall signed his three-year, $2.85-million (USD) entry-level contract with Washington, after...

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 fo...

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,...