The CJN Podcasts

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Channel • 9 Shows

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Updated Daily
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Judaism

Judaism

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Judaism

Judaism

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Complete Series

1D AGO

Israel Warns Canada About Rising Antisemitism | Sharren Haskel

Israel’s deputy foreign minister Sharren Haskel says Canada must take rising antisemitism seriously after three Toronto-area synagogues were targeted by gunfire. Born in Canada, Haskel tells The CJN’s "North Star" podcast host Ellin Bessner why Israeli officials are watching closely, and why she believes the attacks are a warning of worse violence to come. Related stories They want to scare us: hear from one synagogue member after the BAYT attack, on The CJN’s North Star podcast on YouTube. How Toronto synagogues ramped up security after the weekend gunfire targeting the BAYT and Shaarei Shomayim, in The CJN. Sharren Haskel is repeating her call made in 2024 on this show , for Diaspora Jews to move to Israel, in the light of revamped antisemitic attacks in Canada and France and elsewhere. Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner ( @ebessner ) Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Andrea Varsany (producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer), Alicia Richler (editorial director) Music: Bret Higgins Support our show Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to North Star (Not sure how? Click here ) Watch our podcasts on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/@TheCJN Help others find this podcast by leaving us a review for “North Star” on Apple Podcasts via your iPhone or iPad device, or with your Android. (Spotify allows only starred ratings but you can do that, too!)

1d ago

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24 min
3D AGO

After the Toronto synagogue shootings: 'They want to scare us'

When Laya Witty arrived for early morning Shabbat services at Beth Avraham Yoseph synagogue in Thornhill this past Saturday March 7, she noticed a police car parked at the entrance. Within moments, she learned why: overnight, gunfire had shattered the synagogue’s glass front doors. Witty says she was relieved no one was hurt, and then she swung into action as a volunteer with the synagogue’s security team–screening guests and looking for unfamiliar faces. Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, reached out personally on Monday to her synagogue’s senior rabbi, Daniel Korobkin as well as to Rabbi Sam Taylor from the other targeted congregation, Shaarei Shomayim synagogue, and Rabbi Debra Landsberg of Temple Emanu-El, to express his concern and support. On today’s episode of The Canadian Jewish News‘ “North Star” podcast, Laya Witty joins host Ellin Bessner to share how it felt when attackers hit her place of worship, and why she fears eventually someone will get killed. Related stories: Read The CJN’s comprehensive coverage of the week of gunfire against Jewish businesses and synagogues: beginning with Temple Emanu-El and a restaurant and education academy shot at on March 2 . Hear what it sounded like on the ground last weekend at the BAYT and also at Shaarei Shomayim, on The CJN’s North Star Podcast. Read what the politicians and the police promised on March 8, in The CJN. **** Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner ( @ebessner ) Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Andrea Varsany (producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer), Alicia Richler (editorial director) Music: Bret Higgins Support our show Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to North Star (Not sure how? Click here ) Watch our podcasts on YouTube. Help others find this podcast by leaving us a review for “North Star” on Apple Podcasts via your iPhone or iPad device, or with your Android. (Spotify allows only starred ratings but you can do that, too!)

3d ago

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20 min
5D AGO

Gunfire aimed at three Toronto synagogues: has the threshold been crossed?

[NOTE: Due to a technical glitch some listeners may have received an incorrect audio file last night. The problem is now corrected. Thank you for your patience and understanding] Gunfire struck three Toronto-area synagogues in less than a week, prompting police to promise a “relentless” investigation into what leaders say are antisemitic attacks. In this episode of The CJN’s North Star podcast, host Ellin Bessner reports from outside Beth Avraham Yoseph synagogue in Thornhill and also listened in outside the Shaarei Shomayim congregation in North York Sunday as police, politicians and Jewish leaders gathered for a show of solidarity. Bullet holes were discovered this weekend at Beth Avraham Yoseph congregation in Thornhill and Shaarei Shomayim synagogue in North York. Temple Emanu-El had been targeted earlier in the week. A Jewish-owned restaurant and a Jewish school were also struck the same day. The attacks have stunned Toronto’s Jewish community and sparked calls for stronger action from governments and police before someone is seriously hurt or killed. Keywords: Toronto synagogues, antisemitic attacks, Jewish community Canada, North Star podcast. Related stories: Read The CJN’s comprehensive coverage of the week of gunfire against Toronto-area Jewish businesses and synagogues: beginning with Temple Emanu-El and a restaurant and education academy shot at on March 2 , Then the BAYT and Shaarei Shomayim shot at separately on the night of March 7 . Read what the politicians and the police promised, on March 8, in The CJN . Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner ( @ebessner ) Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Andrea Varsany (producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer), Alicia Richler (editorial director) Music: Bret Higgins Support our show Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to North Star (Not sure how? Click here ) Watch our podcasts on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/@TheCJN https://www.youtube.com/@TheCJN Help others find this podcast by leaving us a review for “North Star” on Apple Podcasts via your iPhone or iPad device, or with your Android. (Spotify allows only starred ratings but you can do that, too!)

5d ago

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28 min
3D AGO

Synagogues under fire: What solutions can actually keep the Jewish community safe?

Last week, three Toronto synagogues were hit with gunfire in overnight shootings. Shocked and exasperated, the city’s Jewish community demanded that action must be taken to keep them safe. They’re angry at public officials for not offering sufficient protection, and many have voiced their frustration with community institutions for what they perceive as an ineffective use of community security funds. But, after all the sound and fury, what practical solutions are available to Canadian Jewish communities? What type of security spending could actually reduce the likelihood of these events, and when is it just throwing good money after bad? Are efforts for more security the most effective way to address these incidents, or would other interventions — like pushing for more municipal street lighting or for stricter gun control laws — be the thing that actually makes a difference? Comments by influencers like Tucker Carlson saying that Chabad is directing the Iran War may only serve to fuel further attacks. Anyone can have their own TV show and broadcast to million of followers from their phon — does that mean that we need to take the microphone away? As the Jewish community’s calls for action came to a crescendo last weekend, they coincided with the reading of parshat “Ki Tisa,” which tells the story of the Israelites being gripped by fear, dismay, and abandonment after Moses fails to return after weeks on Mount Sinai. The people come to Aaron and demand that he take action, do something, to save them. On this week’s episode of Not in Heaven, our rabbinic podcasters ask: when community leaders are faced with demands for action, how should they respond? Which solutions are real, and which are, as it were, simply a false idol? And quite apart from solutions, how can we respond and comfort very real fear within a community? Credits Hosts: Avi Finegold, Yedida Eisenstat, Matthew Leibl Production team: Zachary Judah Kauffman (editor), Michael Fraiman (executive producer) Music: Socalled Support The CJN Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to Not in Heaven (Not sure how? Click here )

3d ago

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48 min
MAR 4

Iran targeted Irwin Cotler. What he says must happen now

For decades, Iran’s regime has targeted Canada’s Irwin Cotler — publicly denouncing him, threatening him, and, according to Canadian authorities, plotting to assassinate him for the last two years. Now, after the military campaign launched by Israel and the U.S. this past weekend that took out Iran’s Supreme Leader, and many of his top regime officials, Cotler isn’t thinking about letting down his guard. Instead, he’s speaking out about what must happen next, even with the war is still going on. In today’s episode of The CJN’s flagship North Star podcast, Canada’s former justice minister and retired Special Envoy on Combatting Antisemitism argues that this moment is not only about celebration — but should be about accountability, too, including for the estimated 35,000 Iranians executed by the regime in January’s popular protests. And Cotler explains to host Ellin Bessner why what he calls a 26-year “culture of impunity” which persisted for so long, may finally be coming to an end. Related stories: In 2024, Irwin Cotler was warned of an imminent threat on his life at the hands of Iranian agents, and received 24-hr protection, on The CJN North Star . How Canada’s lax immigration policies allowed Iranian regime members to come quietly to live in Canada, Irwin Cotler charged, on The CJN North Star podcast from June 2025. Read Irwin Cotler’s letter to The CJN after Ottawa scrapped the position of Canada’s Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism, from Feb. 2026, in The CJN. Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner ( @ebessner ) Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Andrea Varsany (producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer), Alicia Richler (editorial director) Music: Bret Higgins Support our show Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to North Star (Not sure how? Click here ) Watch our podcasts on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/@TheCJN Help others find this podcast by leaving us a review for “North Star” on Apple Podcasts via your iPhone or iPad device, or with your Android. (Spotify allows only starred ratings but you can do that, too!)

Mar 4

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22 min
MAR 6

She loves Iran and Israel. What it’s like for this Canadian watching them at war

Tina Ahava Azarin constantly checks the news about the war between Iran and Israel. But for the Ottawa resident, it’s not just distant headlines. An Iranian-Jewish entrepreneur, Azarin was born in Isfahan and raised in Tehran before leaving Iran for Canada in 2001 with her husband and their newborn daughter. Today, that daughter is studying in Israel — making the conflict between the two countries Azarin loves deeply personal. The latest escalation between Iran and Israel followed an Israeli air strike last weekend that killed Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, an attack reportedly carried out with support from the United States. The strike and Iran’s retaliation have raised fears of a broader regional conflict, leaving many people in the Iranian and Jewish diasporas watching events unfold with deep personal concern. Growing up in Iran after the 1979 Islamic Revolution meant living under strict social controls. While Azarin was at university, she was detained by the regime’s morality police. Some neighbours and relatives were killed. Now living freely in Canada for more than two decades, where she and her family are active members of Ottawa’s Jewish community, Azarin says she felt “overwhelmed with joy” after learning of Khamenei's death. Despite everything, Azarin still dreams of one day bringing her children back to visit Iran to see the roots of one of the world’s oldest Jewish communities. Jewish life in Persia dates back roughly 2,700 years, although today fewer than 10,000 Jews remain in Iran. On this episode of The CJN’s flagship North Star podcast, Azarin speaks with host Ellin Bessner about living between three loves — Iran, Israel and Canada — and how cooking Persian Jewish dishes helps her cope as she watches the conflict unfold. Related stories Read an essay which our guest, Tina-Ahava Azarin, wrote for the Ottawa Jew Ottawa Jewish Bulletin ish Bulletin in January 2026 while she was watching the tensions build in Israel and Iran. Meet Iranian Jewish Canadian lawyer and politician Dyanoosh Youssefi, who fled Iran as a schoolgirl with just the clothes on her back, in 1982, after the Islamic Revolution, on The CJN’s North Star podcast from 2022. Why Jewish Canadians have been receiving support at their pro-Israel rallies from the Iranian Canadian community, in The CJN from 2024 . Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner ( @ebessner ) Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Andrea Varsany (producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer), Alicia Richler (editorial director) Music: Bret Higgins Support our show Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to North Star (Not sure how? Click here ) Watch our podcasts on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/@TheCJN Help others find this podcast by leaving us a review for “North Star” on Apple Podcasts via your iPhone or iPad device, or with your Android. (Spotify allows only starred ratings but you can do that, too!)

Mar 6

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25 min
MAR 2

Canadians in Israel: families sheltering, flights uncertain

As rockets continue to fly across Israel and the surrounding region, the confirmed death of Iran’s Supreme Leader marked a major turning point — but not necessarily the end of the fighting, nor the Iranian regime. Israel's air defences continue to intercept most, but not all of the incoming Iranian drones and missiles–however, the death toll in Israel is climbing. And Israelis, and Canadians living or visiting that country, are moving in and out of shelters as alerts have been sounding since the attacks launched Saturday Feb. 28. On today's episode of The CJN's flagship "North Star" podcast, host Ellin Bessner speaks with Montreal lawyer and parent Neil Oberman–currently visiting his son in Israel–as the family's rides out the hostilities. During our conversation, rocket sirens sounded and he took us along (virtually) to the bomb shelter to finish the interview. We then speak with Middle East expert Professor Thomas Juneau, of the University of Ottawa, about what this moment means strategically — what it does not mean — and what is likely to happen in the next 24-48 hours. Related stories: Learn more about Neil Oberman , who was a Conservative candidate in the last election, his legal warfare in support of Montreal’s Jewish university students and safety zones around places of worship, in The CJN . Read how Canadians in Israel from North to South are riding out this latest war, in The CJN. Toronto’s Jewish and Iranian community held separate and also joint celebrations on Sunday: for Purim, and the death of the Ayatollah, in The CJN. Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner ( @ebessner ) Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Andrea Varsany (producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer), Alicia Richler (editorial director) Music: Bret Higgins Support our show Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to North Star (Not sure how? Click here ) Watch our podcasts on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/@TheCJN Help others find this podcast by leaving us a review for “North Star” on Apple Podcasts via your iPhone or iPad device, or with your Android. (Spotify allows only starred ratings but you can do that, too!)

Mar 2

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27 min
FEB 23

For the first time in a generation, Canadian Jews ask if they should leave

For many Canadian Jews who grew up feeling secure here, the idea of needing a ‘Plan B’ might have never occurred to them. Unthinkable, even. It was something their grandparents faced before the Holocaust. But in recent months, that conversation is now happening in many Jewish spaces across this country — even among people who have no immediate plans to leave. Some families are actively scouting Florida, despite the political and immigration challenges which the U.S.A. poses. Others are traveling to Panama, to explore buying property there just in case-where permanent residency is attainable. Real estate agents and immigration lawyers in Israel and beyond are fielding new calls. And communities in the U.S. and Israel are marketing directly to Canadians: you will have heard about Lech L’Tulsa, Oklahoma. But is this a real demographic shift — or is it something deeper: a rupture in confidence about the future of Jewish life in Canada in response to rising antisemitism and uncertainty? Today on The CJN’s flagship podcast North Star, host Ellin Bessner examines why some Canadian Jews are looking for Plan B: we speak with Aryeh Snitman and his wife Heather Snitman of Thornhill who’re exploring both Florida and Panama; with Jaqueline Lewis, of Toronto, who bought a place in Panama just a few months ago; and with Lauren Cohen, a Canadian-born lawyer based in Boca Raton, Florida who provides immigration business and real estate guidance to clients considering moving to “Mechaya Florida”. Related links: Learn more about Tafsik’s Plan B resources, their next trip to Panama in March , and watch their Zoom video about moving to Panama. Read more about Lauren Cohen’s immigration and real estate services designed for Canadians interested in relocating to Florida, or elsewhere in the United States. Why these Canadian Jews moved to Israel months after Oct. 7, 2023, in The CJN. Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner info@thecjn.ca Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer), Alicia Richler, The CJN’s Editorial Director Music: Bret Higgins Support our show Subscribe to The CJN newsletter https://thecjn.ca/newsletters/ Subscribe to North Star https://thecjn.ca/north https://www.youtube.com/user/CanadianJewishNews https://www.youtube.com/user/CanadianJewishNews Donate to The CJN + get a charitable receipt Watch our podcasts on YouTube. Help others find this podcast by leaving us a review for “North Star” on Apple Podcasts via your iPhone or iPad device, or with your Android. (Spotify allows only starred ratings but you can do that, too!)

Feb 23

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39 min
MAR 5

The power and perils of blurring an ancient and modern day Purim

The story of Purim is well known: in ancient Persia, a wicked royal vizier plots to wipe out the Jewish people — but he didn't count on Queen Esther, a courageous Jewish woman who revealed the plot to the king. The tables were turned for the Jews as the powerful are victimized by their intended victims; those who were once low are brought high, those who were once high are brought low. When Israel and the U.S. launched a joint military campaign on Iran on Shabbat Zachor, just days before the festival of Purim, it was almost inevitable that politicians, rabbis, and Jews around the world would see themselves in the Book of Esther. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made the connection explicit in his first statement announcing the strikes: “Twenty-five hundred years ago, in ancient Persia, a tyrant rose against us with the very same goal, to utterly destroy our people,” Netanyahu said. “Today as well, on Purim, the lot has fallen, and in the end this evil regime will fall too.” Each week, rabbis stand before their congregations and find connections and explanations about how the Torah portion speaks to their modern lives. They try to give structure and meaning to a world that often feels chaotic. On this week’s episode of Not in Heaven, our rabbi podcasters ask: what do we risk when we draw these connections too tightly? Avi Finegold and Matthew Leibl discuss what may be lost in understanding the modern day when we look through the lens of Purim and what is lost in understanding Purim when we look through the lens of the modern day. Credits Hosts: Avi Finegold, Yedida Eisenstat, Matthew Leibl Production team: Zachary Judah Kauffman (editor), Michael Fraiman (executive producer) Music: Socalled Support The CJN Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to Not in Heaven (Not sure how? Click here )

Mar 5

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43 min
3D AGO

Jack Hughes, Team Israel, and a Jeopardy champion: a big few weeks for Jews in sports

The 2026 Winter Olympics ended on a very Jewish note with an overtime goal scored by NHL star Jack Hughes. Brother Quinn Hughes, also a member of the gold-medal winning American team, has a legitimate chance to lead his team, the Minnesota Wild, to a Stanley Cup this year. With the Winter Olympics behind us, there’s so much more to catch up on in the world of Jews and sports. The World Baseball Classic kicked off last weekend, and Team Israel secured its spot in the next tournament — which will happen in a few years — with a 5-0 win over Nicaragua. The bats are solid, but pitching depth remains a challenge in a pool led by powerhouse Dominican Republic, as well as Venezuela. Team Israel was eliminated from the 2026 tournament, with a record of 2-2 and finished a respectable third place in Pool D. Daniel Berger narrowly lost the Arnold Palmer Invitational on the PGA Tour, and in the NBA, Deni Avdija returned from an injury. The Menschwarmers are back together after Jamie’s appearance on Jeopardy — where he won three games and gave the podcast a national shout-out. Credits Hosts: James Hirsh and Gabe Pulver Producer: Michael Fraiman Music: Coby Lipovitch (intro), chēēZ π (main theme, " Organ Grinder Swing ") Support The CJN Follow the podcast on Twitter @menschwarmers Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to Menschwarmers (Not sure how? Click here )

3d ago

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29 min

News, views and perspectives on Jewish life through a Canadian lens.