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. 2d ago

    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

  2. 4d ago

    Carney says Canada's civic compact is failing Jewish Canadians. But Jewish leaders want action

    Prime Minister Mark Carney chose to deliver his highly anticipated speech to Canadians about “the scourge of antisemitism” from inside a storied Toronto synagogue, Holy Blossom. It’s a spot where, for weeks this spring, heavily armed police SWAT teams were dispatched so worshippers could feel safe. Carney’s speech — which was broadcast live nationally — follows years of increased violent attacks on Jewish institutions, including fire bombs, gunshots, physical altercations and graffiti. Carney acknowledged that antisemitism has reached levels not seen since the Second World War and announced his government will assemble a new team of experts who will study the causes and drivers of antisemitism right away. The new ministerial advisory council has only one Jewish member out of the seven. Rabbis, advocacy leaders and community figures said they appreciated the prime minister’s speech, but questioned why it took him so long, why he didn’t deliver it in the House of Commons, and — most glaringly — why he never mentioned Israel, Zionism, Hamas, Oct. 7 or Iran. On today’s episode of The CJN’s North Star podcast, host Ellin Bessner reports from the event, and hears reaction from nearly a dozen community leaders: Rabbis Debra Landsberg, Sam Taylor and Joe Kanofsky; Noah Shack of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs; Simon Wolle of B’nai Brith Canada; Mark Sandler of the Alliance of Canadians Combatting Antisemitism; Rabbi Jen Gorman, the president of the Toronto Board of Rabbis; Rabbi Baruch Frydman-Kohl for the Canadian Rabbinic Caucus; and his successor at Beth Tzedec, Rabbi Steven Wernick; and from host Rabbi Yael Splansky, who taped a pointed message for Carney but couldn't attend due to a family emergency. Related links Read or Watch Prime Minister Mark Carney’s speech on antisemitism, delivered at Holy Blossom Temple June 1, 2026. Discover The CJN’s Mitchell Consky's report on Carney’s speech and some reaction by Jewish leaders, in The CJN. Compare Carney’s promises with the 22 recommendations made in the recent Senate report on antisemitism, in The CJN’s North Star from April 2026. 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 showhttps://www.youtube.com/@TheCJN 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!)

    44 min

  3. 6d ago

    Gail Asper calls for review of new Nakba exhibit at the museum her father founded

    With less than a month until a controversial Nakba exhibit opens at Canada’s national human rights museum in Winnipeg, some Jewish leaders are making a final push to have the contents reviewed first. Palestine Uprooted: Nakba Past and Present is scheduled to open on June 27 at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights. The federal museum was founded by the late media executive and philanthropist Israel Asper. His daughter and family raised millions to establish it in 2014. The exhibit website blames Israel and unnamed militia for what Palestinians call “The Catastrophe”: the forced displacement of 750,000 Palestinians during the Israel War of Independence in 1948. The text also refers to ongoing human rights violations of Palestinians today after Oct. 7. But while the museum insists it has consulted widely with scholars and curators, and has heard the concerns of Jewish leaders, mainstream Jewish groups say the consultations were with mainly anti-Zionist advocates and academics. Gail Asper is an honorary member on the museum’s board of trustees. She fears the exhibit will lead to more antisemitism by giving anti-Israel narratives a national platform at the government museum. In her most extensive public comments to date on the exhibit controversy, Asper is calling for the exhibit to undergo an independent review before it opens. On this episode of The CJN’s North Star podcast, Gail Asper joins host Ellin Bessner along with constitutional law scholar Bryan Schwartz, co-author of a recent book criticizing both the exhibit’s development process and its historical framing. They discuss their concerns over whether a national museum can present the story of the Palestinian Nakba without deepening existing divisions. Related links Read Bryan Schwartz and Rhonda Spivak’s scholarly article calling the exhibit’s process biased, and showing evidence that members of the exhibit’s advisory board hold strong anti-Israel views and one even supported the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre. Discover the Canadian Museum for Human Rights’ preview of “Palestine Uprooted: Nakba Past and Present” exhibit, opening June 27 in Winnipeg. These mainstream Manitoba Jewish groups expressed concern about the content and impact of the forthcoming exhibit when it was announced last November 2025, 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. 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!)

    30 min

  4. May 29

    "We Belong Here”: He got Niagara Falls, Canadian Landmarks Lit Up for Jewish Heritage Month

    As Niagara Falls glowed blue against the night sky on Thursday May 20, it became the most visible symbol yet of a one-man, grassroots campaign to ensure that this year, Canadian Jewish Heritage Month was not completely forgotten. For the past seven days, from Halifax to Toronto and Montreal to Alberta, nearly a dozen iconic landmarks, bridges and legislatures across Canada agreed to illuminate in blue. And it was thanks to the efforts of Len Pearl, a Toronto documentary filmmaker, who spent months nudging government officials, universities and sports teams to recognize the month. Parliament officially proclaimed May as Jewish Heritage Month in 2018. But this past couple of years, with the spike in antisemitism since Oct. 7, Pearl believed Jewish Canadians need visible reminders that they remain an essential part of Canada’s story. In this episode of The CJN’s North Star podcast, Pearl joins host Ellin Bessner to discuss the inspiration behind his “We Belong Here” campaign, and also reveal the obstacles he encountered, and his emotional reaction to seeing most, but not all the lights, finally switch on. Related links Learn more about Len Pearl’s new film “Search out the Land” exploring the overlooked Jewish history of Canada, on The CJN’s North Star podcast, from 2022. See the list of Canadian landmarks that lit up in yellow for Holocaust Remembrance Day Jan. 2025. Read about when Canada officially brought in Jewish Heritage Month in 2018, 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!)

    24 min

  5. May 27

    A Yiddish 'Fiddler on the Roof' Arrives in Canada at Exactly the Right Time

    The acclaimed off-Broadway production of “Fiddler on the Roof”—in Yiddish, with English and Russian supertitles—opens in Canada this week, during Jewish Heritage Month. This is the stage musical’s first international tour since its rousing success in New York under Oscar-winning actor and director Joel Grey. The dialogue showcases the original language in which Sholem Aleichem wrote his stories about the beloved fictional character Tevye the dairyman, whose family faces upheaval and antisemitic persecution in Czarist Russia in 1905. Toronto’s Harold Green Jewish Theatre teamed up with the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene to bring the show to Canada, with Broadway star Steven Skybell as Tevye, and a supporting cast of major Canadian performers including Theresa Tova, Jamie Elman and Gabi Epstein. The promoters say this production resonates so deeply after Oct. 7. as questions of identity, migration, continuity and Jewish belonging feel newly urgent. On today’s episode of The CJN’s North Star podcast, reporter Jonathan Rothman joins host Ellin Bessner to discuss why he set out to learn more about this version of the iconic show, and they talk tradition, rehearsals and why attending a performance later today will mark the first time he has actually ever seen any version of Fiddler. (Note: The Harold Green Jewish Theatre is advertising the play on The CJN's website, but they were not involved in this story or our coverage of the play in any way.) Related stories Learn more about the making of the show in The CJN's Jonathan Rothman’s feature article in The CJN . Buy tickets for Fiddler’s two-week run at The Elgin Theatre in Toronto. The CJN’s David Matlow looked at the enduring appeal of Fiddler on the Roof for his “Treasure Trove” column, in 2024 . 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!)

    26 min

  6. May 25

    New sightings, expanded search for missing autistic Toronto teen, Esther, now into second week

    As the official Toronto police Level 1 search for missing Toronto teen Esther (“Esti”) entered its second week, hundreds of community members ignored rainy weekend weather to help a Jewish safety patrol group spread updated posters across the city. The growing grassroots response behind the search effort now includes Jewish and non-Jewish volunteers who are spending hours canvassing bus stops, subway stations, shopping malls and downtown office towers. Many say they are deeply disturbed by evidence that some of the original posters have been torn down, as it reminds them of Oct. 7, and how anti-Israel protesters defaced and ripped posters of kidnapped Israeli hostages. The search effort has broadened beyond North York, where the family lives, including displaying Esther’s image at major public events, starting with a series of concerts by pop star Bruno Mars this week, as volunteers insist on keeping her face visible across the city. On this episode of The CJN’s North Star podcast, host Ellin Bessner visits the Shomrim Toronto volunteer command post and retraces some of the key spots where search has been underway for more than a week. Related stories and links See the Toronto Police new website Find Esther , for the latest information and to submit tips, video or photos. Tipline: 647 355-4148 Read why community members came out on a rainy Sunday to help put up new posters of the missing teenager, after many of the posters have either been torn down on purpose, or damaged by rain, in The CJN.  Parents of missing teen pleaded for the public’s help to check back yards and security cameras, in The CJN on May 19 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!)

    19 min

  7. May 20

    Honourable Menschen: Stephen Lewis saved millions from HIV/AIDS in Africa

    Stephen Lewis, who once made Time magazine’s list of the world’s 100 most influential people, was a humanitarian and ambassador who led Ontario’s NDP before pushing the world to help millions of HIV/AIDS patients in Africa obtain life-saving medicine. His passing on Mar. 31 prompted an outpouring of tributes from global leaders and African grandmothers alike. Hours before Lewis died, at the age of 88, he was able to watch his son, Avi, continue the family’s political legacy by being elected as the new federal NDP leader. Lewis is just one of several noteworthy Canadian Jews to have passed away recently. The CJN’s obituary columnist, Heather Ringel, joins North Star host Ellin Bessner on today’s episode to reveal how Lewis and this spring’s four other featured “Honourable Menschen” gave back to their communities. The others include Wolf Bronet, the Auschwitz survivor who founded Montreal’s “Wolf Pack” running club and helped raise funds for 14 ambulances for Israel through Magen David Adom; Sara Vered, who fought in Israel’s War of Independence before helping bring Israeli and Jewish culture to Ottawa through education, the arts and philanthropy; Al Osten, the former singer who built a Weight Watchers empire in Western Canada and donated millions, alongside his late partner Buddy Victor; and Sondra Gotlieb, the Winnipeg-born journalist and author whose sharp observations made her one of the most recognizable Canadian voices in Washington diplomacy and media circles. Related stories Learn more about the late Calgary philanthropist Al Osten in The CJN. Why Sondra Gotleib’s Washington home became a sought-after invitation while her husband was Canada’s ambassador to the United States, in The CJN. Sara Vered fought in Israel’s War of Independence then helped bring Israeli and Jewish culture to Ottawa, in The CJN . Wolf Bronet started running outdoors for his 40th birthday. Hundreds have followed his footsteps around Montreal. In The CJN. Stephen Lewis launched the Stephen Lewis Foundation n during his time helping to fight against HIV/AIDS and assist surviving orphans and grandmothers. 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!)

    29 min

  8. May 15

    The Canadian "Challah Mom" getting thousands of Jewish women to bake challah together

    Anat Ishai, who was born in Israel but grew up in Canada, started baking braided Challah loaves in her Thornhill kitchen during the COVID pandemic to help her break out of the isolation of lockdown. She started posting social media videos of herself baking and dancing. Her moves, with snippets of Jewish pride and shots of her Orthodox Jewish lifestyle caught on. Today Ishai has a devoted following worldwide as “The Challah Mom”, with over 300,000 followers including on her Tik Tok, Instagram and Facebook accounts. Ishai is now based in Israel. She and her Canadian husband and their four children immigrated in 2023 just four weeks before Oct. 7. She’s chosen to stay in the land of her birth, and rides out the conflict by keeping the war off her public platforms. Instead she channels faith and joy and ritual to help empower Jewish women. The CJN’s North Star podcast host Ellin Bessner attended The Challah Mom’s stop at Shaarei Tefillah synagogue in Toronto to learn the fascinating story of Ishai’s personal journey: from a secular daughter of Russian Israeli immigrants to reconnecting with Orthodox Judaism and ultimately, teaching all kinds of women about the mitzvah of hafrashat challah. Related links Follow Anat Ishai at her website to get her challah recipe or on Instagram Anat Ishai appears in the new documentary “Sheitel” about why married Orthodox women choose to cover their hair with wigs, scarves, hats or a combination, on The CJN’s North Star podcast. Anat Ishai sometimes wrote for the Times of Israel during the pandemic. 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
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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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