North Star with Ellin Bessner

The CJN Podcasts
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Newsmaker conversations from The Canadian Jewish News, hosted by Ellin Bessner, a veteran broadcaster, writer and journalist.

  1. 23 hrs ago

    The Human Rights museum's only Jewish trustee wanted the Nakba Exhibit. He just quit

    Mark Berlin initially supported the Canadian Museum for Human Rights creating a Nakba exhibit on the experiences of Palestinian Canadians displaced during the Israel War of Independence in 1948. But the Ottawa human rights lawyer and professor who served for years as the only Jewish member on the Winnipeg museum’s board of trustees, resigned abruptly on Monday June 22. His letter was sent just days before the controversial exhibit is scheduled to open this weekend. Berlin says he spent months in a fruitless effort to push the museum from the inside to tell a more complete story. He alleges that the museum never showed the board any of the exhibit’s content materials. He fears the Nakba exhibit, which opens June 27, will be a one-sided, anti-Israel “ideologically political-oriented story”, which he calls “curation by omission”. The museum website exhibit material blames the Israeli military for the expulsion of 750,000 Palestinians, but doesn’t give any wider context that five Arab countries invaded the fledgling Jewish State at the time. Museum officials tell The CJN that while the board was not given specific details of exhibit wording, photos and the like, trustees have been “regularly briefed” since 2021, “with a high-level overview of the schematic design and interpretive plan for the exhibit, as well as with reports on how the Museum was managing its relationships and risks. There were lengthy conversations on these matters.” Berlin also decried what he calls an “institutional anti-Zionism bias” at the museum, not just with this exhibit but he cites numerous examples including anti-Israel messages on public display inside the building, and on social media channels, and pro-Palestinian protesters permitted to do a die-in after Oct. 7 while Jewish groups were denied a chance to hold a similar event. Prominent Canadian Jewish community leaders and philanthropists were invited to the museum recently for a meeting to discuss the exhibit, but Berlin and a second source described what happened May 13 as “egregiously, outrageously dismissive of us”. On today’s episode of The CJN’s flagship podcast North Star, host Ellin Bessner sits down with Berlin for his first broadcast interview to hear what he’s experienced these past two plus years that made him realize it was time to leave. They also talk about what he wants the federal Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture to do next. Related links Read Mark Berlin’s letter of resignation to the Canadian Museum for Human Rights and the Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture. Why Gail Asper, the daughter of the museum’s founder, and law professor Bryan Schwartz, called for the Nakba exhibit to be paused and revised, on The CJN’s North Star June 1, 2026. Criticism of the planned exhibit’s storytelling and lack of transparency began back in November 2025 after the museum announced the show would go ahead, in The CJN. **** Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner ( @ebessner ) Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Izzie Helenchilde (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!)

    30 min

  2. 1d ago

    What we know about the deadly Montreal shootings that shook a Jewish neighbourhood

    A police officer and a Jewish civilian have been killed after a gunman opened fire in a deadly ambush that unfolded Monday mid-morning June 22 in one of Montreal’s busiest Jewish districts. The shooting appears not to have targeted Jews, although many community members initially worried it was antisemitic terrorism. Nevertheless, the “nightmare” event, as police have called it, has left the Jewish community reeling because of the loss of life and because it happened in Snowdon, a community hub in Côte-des-Neiges where many Montreal Jews live, shop and gather. Media reports say the shooter was part of the “incel” community, and left behind a manifesto about how he hated women, but investigators have not confirmed this to The CJN. The chaotic day had residents and hotel guests either in lockdown or scrambling to safety in a nearby Jewish social services agency, MADA. Wide swaths of the city were shut down as hundreds of police tried to locate other possible suspects, although by day’s end the chief said there was only one shooter and he was killed. As the investigation continues, the identities of the slain policeman and also the slain Jewish bystander have now been released. The CJN’s Quebec correspondent, reporter Joel Ceausu, has been following developments since the first emergency alerts were issued. He knew of both of the victims. And like so many Jewish Montrealers, he also has a personal connection to the neighbourhood where this tragedy unfolded. Joel joins host Ellin Bessner on today’s special breaking news edition of The CJN’s North Star podcast to help us understand what happened, who the victims were, and how this devastating event has affected Montreal’s Jewish community. Related links Read The CJN’s continuing coverage of the June 22 Montreal ambush and shootings in the Jewish neighbourhood of Côte-des-Neiges, at thecjn.ca Watch what it was like for shoppers trapped inside the PA Supermarket as Montreal police stormed through searching for suspects, on The CJN’s YouTube Channel. Learn more about Montreal’s Jewish community from the latest Canadian census data, in The CJN. Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner ( @ebessner ) Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Izzie Helenchilde, (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!)

    27 min

  3. 2d ago

    A synagogue heard local schoolchildren were hungry. They've delivered 7,000 lunches

    “I didn’t know there was a need.” Two years ago, Dr. Irv Siegel, a past president of Beit Rayim Synagogue in Vaughan, Ont., heard about growing food insecurity in York Region, one of Canada’s wealthiest suburbs, where one in five families faces food insecurity. He was surprised to learn that hundreds of public school kids in Thornhill and Richmond Hill often come to school without lunch. So for the past two years, volunteers from the synagogue have shown up every Thursday morning with fresh produce and bagels to feed students they will never met. Siegel’s successful Feed the Children School Lunch program hit a milestone last week: it’s now provided 7,000 nutritious lunches to students in four York Region public schools. They don’t write a cheque: instead they bring all the food, wash and assemble all the lunch bags on site, and deliver the meals to the school office before the bell rings. School staff say these meals are sorely needed. The program doesn’t operate anonymously. For organizer Irv Siegel, the Star of David on every lunch bag is intentional. He wanted students, families and educators in York Region’s diverse public schools to know that a Jewish community was reaching beyond its own walls to help its neighbours. On today’s episode of The CJN’s North Star podcast, host Ellin Bessner takes you inside this noteworthy response to childhood hunger. And full disclosure: she volunteers there, too. Related links Learn more about Beit Rayim synagogue’s Feed the Children School Lunch program and how to donate or volunteer. Read how memorial and yahrzeit plaques have now moved into the digital sphere with a portable kiosk at Beit Rayim, in The CJN from 2023 . Discover how rising cost of groceries was impacting Jewish families in the Greater Toronto Area at Passover, in The CJN. **** Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner ( @ebessner ) Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Izzie Helenchilde (producer), Michael Fraiman (Director of Digital Content), 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!)

    25 min

  4. 5d ago

    Extremist settlers 'threaten' Israeli society, President Herzog warned. This Canadian activist flew to witness for herself

    Last month, during a ceremony to award the Jerusalem Unity Prize, Israeli President Isaac Herzog greeted the audience with a warning about “a terrible process of brutalization” that has been threatening Israeli society. He singled out extremist Jewish Israelis living in the West Bank, who he called an “anarchist mob,” and whose ongoing attacks against Palestinians “defiled every moral, legal, and Jewish norm.” Herzog isn’t alone in criticizing the current situation on the West Bank. Israel’s military chief recently issued similar warnings, as did the Israeli defence minister. The Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called it vigilantism. Earlier this month, Canada joined several European countries in announcing a fifth round of sanctions against extremist settlers, slapping financial and travel bans on two Israelis and five groups whom Canada says are enabling Jewish settler violence. Yet the violence continues. Last year, the Israeli Defence Forces reported 867 such attacks in the West Bank. Extremists have set fires to Palestinian homes and mosques, and also near Christian sites including a church. They’ve destroyed orchards, stolen livestock, drained water tanks, and beaten—and even killed—Palestinian civilians. Last year, on June 29, the extremists turned against their own army: an IDF battalion clashed with a group of Jewish settlers in the West Bank, who threw stones and beat the soldiers.   One Canadian wanted to take action. Ronit Yarosky is a Montreal-based peace activist who flew to the region this month, as part of a mission of volunteers who oppose the recent escalation in attacks. For a week, she stayed with Palestinian Bedouin families’ homes on the outskirts of Taybeh, a mainly Christian village near Ramallah, in the hope that her presence—together with other Jewish and Israeli peace activists—might deter attackers from setting up new illegal Jewish outposts.  Yarosky joined The CJN’s North Star podcast from Taybeh to share what she’s seen. We also speak with Maytal Kowalski, the executive director of JSpace Canada, from Vancouver, who has done similar volunteer work herself. Related stories: Hear Ronit Yarosky on her struggle to hold on to her friendship with a Muslim man post-October 7 on The CJN’s In Good Faith podcast, from Nov. 2025. Hear more from Maytal Kowalski of JSpace Canada, when she joined The CJN’s North Star podcast in May 2025 to explain why Canada brought in its first round of sanctions on Israel, over the humanitarian aid situation in Gaza. Learn more about Torat Tzedek , the Israeli NGO supported by New Israel Fund, that is sending observers such as Ronit Yarosky to provide “protective presence” to Palestinians in the West Bank who are facing home demolitions, dispossession and Israeli settler violence. Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner ( @ebessner ) Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Izzie Helenchilde (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!)

    30 min

  5. Jun 17

    Montreal rabbi says 'I'll eat my kippah' if firebomb attack wasn't deliberate hate crime

    On June 17, the suspect caught and charged in connection with breaking a window, then setting fire to Montreal’s Temple Emanu-El-Beth Sholom, is scheduled to have his bail hearing. Court documents show the suspect, Steven Luu, 38, is from the Montreal borough of Saint-Leonard, about 20 kilometres away from the synagogue. He was caught on the scene by local Westmount public safety patrols. Subsequent security video showed the suspect in the back alley of the shul repeatedly throwing a rock to break the window, then tossing two explosive devices through. He’s been in custody since the June 5 attack, while undergoing a court-ordered psychiatric assessment, which is now concluded, according to Quebec government officials. He’s been charged with six counts, including arson, arson by negligence, using an explosive with the intention to damage or destroy the synagogue, possession of an explosive, possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose, and wearing a disguise with the intent to commit a crime. But the target congregation’s spiritual leader, Rabbi Lisa Grushcow, says she can’t understand why there hasn’t yet been a hate component attached, since it’s obvious to her that this was no impulsive act. Local media reports suggest he had a walkie-talkie with him when he was picked up. “To me—not as a lawyer, not as a politician, but as a civilian and a Jewish community member and leader—this seems absolutely ridiculous, right? I will eat my kippah if it was totally random that this person chose to cross town into a neighbourhood that wasn’t where he lived, in the middle of the night, and multiple times threw a rock at the window to try and open it, and then threw in an incendiary device—that it had nothing to do with it being a synagogue?” Rabbi Grushcow told The CJN’s Ellin Bessner. Rabbi Grushcow joins today’s episode of North Star to discuss the escalation of attacks on her shul since Oct. 7, beginning with a spray-painted swastika in February 2025. She reveals that this fire bomb damaged a storeroom attached to her own personal study and vows to proceed with the rituals of her congregation’s Jewish life, in defiance of the hate. Related stories Learn more about why the suspect has been in custody since June 5, after being arrested at the site of the attack, in The CJN. Read or send a message of support online to Temple Emanu-El-Beth Sholom though their website, and see all the other comments from politicians, multi-faith leaders. See what The CJN reported in February 2025 when a swastika was spray painted on the synagogue. Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner ( @ebessner ) Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Izzie Helenchilde (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!)

    30 min

  6. Jun 15

    "We need an incredibly strong Ark": Jonathan Levy's Farewell to TanenbaumCHAT

    As Jonathan Levy prepares to preside over his final Grade 12 graduation ceremony as head of school on Wednesday June 17, the outgoing leader of TanenbaumCHAT says the mission of Jewish education has never been clearer. "We need an incredibly strong ark so that we can go out and be among the people," Levy told teachers, students, parents and staff during a speech at a recent farewell tribute, reflecting on a 17-year tenure that ends in June. The American-born educator saw Canada's largest private Jewish high school navigate declining enrolment, mergers, then rapid growth, the COVID pandemic, and most recently, the challenges facing Jewish students after Oct. 7. But Levy says, throughout it all, his goal has always been the same: helping to build a new generation of Jewish leaders ready to engage confidently with the wider world. He is leaving Toronto for a new leadership role beginning July 1 running one of the most prominent Jewish private schools in the United States: the Charles E. Smith JDS in Rockville, Maryland, a suburb of Washington, D.C. It has a smaller enrolment and is spread on two campuses spanning Grades K-12. Levy, one of Canada's most influential Jewish educators, joins today's episode of The CJN's North Star podcast with host Ellin Bessner to discuss what pluralistic Jewish education looks like now. Related stories Read The CJN’s coverage from just after Oct. 7 2023 when CHAT was targeted by bomb threats and also when some students were even physically threatened, in The CJN Discover how TanenbaumCHAT added 14 new classrooms beginning in the summer of 2023 due to booming enrolment, in The CJN. Learn more about the Tribute event held for Jonathan Levy on May 25, 2026 at TanenbaumCHAT Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner ( @ebessner ) Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Izzy Helenchilde (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!)

    29 min

  7. Jun 10

    The protesters were farther away at Toronto's Walk with Israel. The anger and anxiety weren't

    It’s a few days out from Toronto’s 2026 Walk with Israel, and volunteers and walkers are still sharing their impressions and experiences of participating in the largest Jewish pride event in Canadian history, Sunday’s Walk was noteworthy because it had a record turnout of 60,000 people. It required a massive police presence that successfully kept most of the anti-Israel protests farther away than previous editions, with six people arrested. Last year only one person was arrested and charged. Yet this year’s Walk also took place just hours after two Canadian synagogues were targeted by hate crimes, and also a few days following Prime Minister Mark Carney’s nationally-televised speech acknowledging that antisemitism in Canada has reached levels not seen since the Second World War. As a result, despite the walk being better protected than before, many participants told The CJN they feel less secure than ever living openly as Jews in Canada. Which is why wanted to come show their Jewish pride and solidarity, and also to express anger and frustration at some of Canada’s political leaders. Neither Carney nor Toronto’s Mayor Olivia Chow attended the walk in person, but activists from Jewish advocacy group Tafsik made sure the politicians’ absence was front and centre: they supplied life-sized, cardboard cutouts of both leaders to carry along the parade route. On today’s episode of The CJN’s North Star podcast, host Ellin Bessner shares the sights and sounds she encountered along the route. Related stories: This Sunday’s Walk with Israel set attendance records, in The CJN . Why not everyone is comfortable with how Israel is central to large Jewish events and walks: Phoebe Maltz-Bovy opinion in The CJN . After another difficult year, Toronto prepared to walk for Israel again, with tightened police protection, on The CJN’s North Star June 5, 2026. Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner ( @ebessner ) Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Izzie Helenchilde (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!)

    18 min

  8. Jun 5

    After a difficult year, Toronto's Jewish community prepares to walk again

    As tens of thousands of people prepare for Sunday’s 57th edition of the “Walk With Israel”, Toronto’s Jewish community finds itself in a very different place than it was a year ago. The 251 hostages whose fate hung over last year’s event have now all been returned, either alive or for burial. While the regional landscape has changed dramatically since last year’s walk—as wars fought against Hamas, and Iran are now governed by fragile ceasefires that have replacing the heaviest fighting—but many of the conflicts and tensions that erupted after Oct. 7 remain unresolved. But Israelis and Jews remain vulnerable targets of extremist violence around the world, from Australia to Europe and North America. Canada has not been immune, as tensions remain acute thanks to unabated antisemitic attacks and shootings of synagogues and businesses, political campaigns aimed at financially crippling Jewish schools and summer camps, and effigies of Israeli Jewish politicians hung during anti-Israel street demonstrations. This is also the first Walk With Israel since federal and provincial governments dramatically increased funding for Jewish community security, while introducing new measures aimed at curbing hate crimes and protecting vulnerable institutions. Four days ago, the prime minister delivered his highly-anticipated speech saying the country’s civil covenant has failed Jewish Canadians. Now there will be a federal advisory committee to study the causes of antisemitism and take a “whole of government” approach to tackling it. On today’s episode of The CJN’s North Star podcast, host Ellin Bessner recalls how last year’s “Walk for Israel” played out under heavy security along Bathurst Street, and explores why the annual march has become one of the most significant public expressions of Jewish pride and solidarity in Canada. Related links Read what happened at last year’s 2025 Walk for Israel in Toronto, that attracted a record 56,000 marchers, in The CJN . Learn about the security measures which are in place for this one, and what to do should there be anti-Israel protesters. Hear what Toronto police have planned for security for the Walk, in The CJN . Sign up for free to receive home delivery of The CJN's Scribe Quarterly magazine, and enter the contest for a chance to win one of three cash prizes of $200. Eligibiilty: New subscribers only. Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner ( @ebessner ) Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Izzie Helenchilde (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!)

    23 min
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Newsmaker conversations from The Canadian Jewish News, hosted by Ellin Bessner, a veteran broadcaster, writer and journalist.

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