Podcast
North Star with Ellin Bessner
Hosted by The CJN Podcasts · EN
Newsmaker conversations from The Canadian Jewish News, hosted by Ellin Bessner, a veteran broadcaster, writer and journalist.
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Jewish students speak out after landmark campus antisemitism study
3d ago00:26:54Tap to summarizeOn Aug. 5, a new national study of antisemitism on Canadian university campuses revealed a startling reality: 95.7 per cent of Jewish students surveyed said they had experienced or witnessed antisemitism in the past year. The report received wide coverage, including in The CJN, but there’s more to this story than that disturbing number. The 1,200 anecdotes submitted by students paint a vivid picture of being targeted by peers and professors for their faith and identities. The research was originally commissioned by the office of Canada’s Special Envoy on Holocaust Remembrance and Combating Antisemitism, Deborah Lyons, before Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government scrapped both her office and the Islamophobia czar’s in February 2026. When Carney announced the makeup of a new federal Advisory Council on Rights, Equality and Inclusion in June, he told the members to tackle antisemitism first, especially on campus. That’s when the study’s authors reminded the government it already had the research sitting there, which it had paid for. But what else does this report tell us? What do Jewish university, college and CEGEP students actually say happened to them? And now that we have the research, what happens next? On today’s episode of The CJN’s North Star podcast with Ellin Bessner, you’ll hear several of the students who spoke out, along with Cary Kogan, a University of Ottawa professor who was an advisor on the report and helped make it public last week, who spoke with The CJN’s Zenith Wolfe. Related links A new report finds nearly 95%, nearly all Jewish students surveyed, personally experienced or witnessed campus antisemitism last year, in The CJN Read the report on the Government of Canada’s website , and please specially read the Jewish students’ personal comments . Read about the class action lawsuit against McGill University, and other legal actions underway against three other campuses including TMU, Western, and Windsor, in The CJN. Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner ( @ebessner ) Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Izzie Helenchilde (producer/video editor), Michael Fraiman (executive producer), Alicia Richler (editorial director) Music: Bret Higgins Support our show Subscribe to The CJN newsletter https://thecjn.ca/north Watch our podcasts on YouTube Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt)
Transcribe →Finding their people: How B.C.’s small Jewish communities are growing
5d ago00:25:55Tap to summarizeIn May, Jewish residents in the Comox Valley on Vancouver Island were invited to celebrate the festival of Lag BaOmer around a bonfire. On Aug. 6, a kayak paddling excursion on Burnaby’s Deer Lake attracted 30 members of that city’s Jewish community. Coming up on Aug. 23, Jewish residents of Squamish and Whistler are planning a boat cruise to spot wildlife, followed by a brunch. These different events around British Columbia have something in common: they’re part of a new project underway in the province in response to the measurable shift of Jewish people moving away from Vancouver’s traditional Jewish corridor. Whether for affordability reasons or lifestyle choices, the populatin of Jews living outside Vancouver grew by 60 per cent, according to official figures. Jewish communities like Victoria are seeing tremendous population growth, while the Okanagan region is growing, too. That is why Vancouver’s Jewish Federation officially changed its name this summer to the Jewish Federation of B.C., to better reflect the territory they intend to represent. As part of an annual budget of $1.2 million, they have hired nearly a dozen local Jewish leaders whose job it is to help boost Jewish life in places without easy access to a synagogue, kosher food and the like. Funding is also available for events and outreach, and plans are underway to hire another “community connector” for Prince George. On today’s episode of The CJN’s North Star podcast, host Ellin Bessner checks in with two curent community connectors: Jessica Benoualid, a former Montrealer stationed in the Comox Valley, and Jenny Reznik, serving in Burnaby/New Westminster, who’s fighting political battles at City Hall; and we speak with Mijal Ben-Dori, who oversees the entire outreach program and says other Jewish federations in Canada are taking notes. Related links Read more about the June 26 gathering in Whistler of B.C.’s small Jewish communities who are participating in the Jewish Federation of B.C.’s new connector program, in The CJN . Hear the Jewish Federation of B.C.’s Okanagan community connector Abbey Westbury, interviewed about Jewish life in Kelowna several years ago, on The CJN’s “Yechupetzville” podcast. Learn how to contact Jewish Community Connectors in your part of British Columbia. Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner ( @ebessner ) Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Izzie Helenchilde (producer and video), Michael Fraiman (executive producer), Alicia Richler (editorial director) Music: Bret Higgins Support our show Subscribe to The CJN newsletter https://thecjn.ca/north Watch our podcasts on YouTube Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt)
Transcribe →This Canadian soldier waited 109 years for his funeral Kaddish
1w ago00:25:32Tap to summarizeWhen Canadian First World War soldier Pvt. Albert Detmold was killed by German shelling on Aug. 15, 1917, while digging communication trenches on the front lines in northern France, he could never have imagined that more than a century later, both a Chabad rabbi from Toronto and a Ukrainian Catholic priest from Saskatoon would preside over his formal military burial. Detmold’s remains were discovered by construction workers in a field near the French city of Lens in the summer of 2020. They’d lain there for over 100 years, sharing the fate of many hundreds of his comrades who lost their lives in the Battle for Hill 70, after Vimy Ridge. While Detmold’s name was later engraved on the Vimy Ridge Memorial as missing with no known grave, in late 2025, DNA testing and historical sleuthing allowed Canada’s Department of National Defence to make a positive ID. Arrangements were soon put in place to mount a formal reburial ceremony on July 9, in France, Detmold’s actual birth date. He was born into a prominent European Jewish family before coming to Canada, so inquiries were made about the possibility of having a Star of David engraved on Detmold’s gravestone. But officials ultimately decided to bury him under a cross, as the soldier had enlisted as a Presbyterian. Detmold’s great-niece, Liana Walters, of Tees, Alta., traveled to France to represent the family at the service, and told The CJN she “would have liked to have seen the Star of David on the tombstone as well.” On today’s episode of The CJN’s North Star podcast, host Ellin Bessner speaks with chaplain Maj. (Rabbi) Arnold Noteh Glogauer, of Thornhill, Ont., who recently returned from officiating at the burial, and with Walters, the great-niece, about their surprisingly emotional farewell for the long-lost soldier. Related stories Read how Canada’s Department of National Defence Casualty Identification Program spent five years doing DNA testing and tracing Pvt. Detmold’s relatives, in The CJN. Watch our interview with the three Canadian experts who made the positive identification, on The CJN’s North Star podcast, on YouTube from April 2026. See the Canadian Armed Forces’ brief video of Detmold’s burial service. Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner ( info@thecjn.ca) Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Izzie Helenchilde (producer and video editor), Michael Fraiman (executive producer), Alicia Richler (editorial director) Music: Bret Higgins Support our show Subscribe to The CJN newsletter https://thecjn.ca/north Watch our podcasts on YouTube Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt)
Transcribe →‘In my baseball team, I’m the only Jewish kid’: What the JCC Maccabi Games mean to its athletes
1w ago00:26:23Tap to summarizeFor the past week, Canada has played host to more than 2,000 Jewish teen athletes from around the world, who competed at the 2026 JCC Maccabi Games. Competitors and their families came from 75 communities across Canada, the U.S.A, Israel, Europe and South America. Due to tight security, Monday night’s opening ceremony—with 10,000 guests and Israeli entertainers Yuval Rafael and Nissim Black—was staged far outside the city. Even the locations of the main activity venues were being kept under wraps until after the final whistles on Aug. 6. The teenage athletes say they came first and foremost hoping to win medals in the myriad sports being played. But, as The CJN’s North Star host Ellin Bessner discovered after spending a day with some of them, the Games were also about meeting other Jewish teens who may be the only person of their faith on their school or city teams. On this episode you’ll hear from three Toronto baseball players chasing gold on home turf after missing this summer’s Maccabiah in Israel; an Edmonton goalkeeper playing on a composite team with athletes from small Jewish communities; an Israeli volunteer spending his gap year mentoring vulnerable youth; a pioneering JCC Access athlete from Miami; and former Survivor winner Ethan Zohn, who shared his message of resilience with a new generation of Jewish athletes. Related stories Why the 2026 Toronto JCC Maccabi games are a family affair for cancer survivor Darryl Silverstein, the coach of a Toronto boys baseball team competing this week, in The CJN. 300 Canadian athletes were not able to compete in the Maccabiah Games in Israel this July, when Maccabiah Canada pulled out due to Middle East hostilities with Iran, in The CJN . Hear The CJN’s Menchwarmers interview with two pro-basketball stars Tamir "Jewish Jordan" and NBA veteran Ricky "Buckets" Davis who gave clinics at this years JCC Maccabi Games. Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner ( @ebessner ) Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Izzie Helenchilde (producer and video editing), Michael Fraiman (executive producer), Alicia Richler (editorial director) Music: Bret Higgins Support our show Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Watch our podcasts on YouTube. Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) https://thecjn.ca/north
Transcribe →Moncton's Tiferes Israel Synagogue celebrates 100 years with reunion, plans for second century
2w ago00:23:23Tap to summarizeMore than 135 descendants of Moncton, N.B.'s founding Jewish families returned over the August long weekend for a sold-out centennial reunion at Tiferes Israel Synagogue, sharing memories, meals and hopes for the future of one of Canada’s oldest Jewish communities. The reunion, dubbed “Kum A Heim“, filled the historic Orthodox synagogue on Steadman St., which served as a central hub for the events—including two plaque dedications, a tree planting, a walk through the community’s cemetery, Shabbat services, and greetings received from King Charles and other government officials. “We wanted everybody to feel like they were coming home,” organizer Sandra Rose told The CJN. “They’re really here in the synagogue and it is their home, whether they came from, you know, New York or whether they came from down the street.” The weekend also demonstrated a bittersweet reality: many younger attendees have long since moved away, the current synagogue congregation is aging, and the building itself needs crucial repairs. Yet the organizers say they are determined to keep going and begin a second century, albeit with a very different Jewish community than the one that built it back in the 1920s. On today’s episode of The CJN’s North Star podcast, host Ellin Bessner hears from organizer Sandra Rose, who now lives in Fredericton; her cousin Anne Jochelman, who ran the shul’s kitchen for the entire weekend; and Audrey Lampert, who spoke about her city’s Jewish history during the Friday night welcome dinner in the shul banquet hall. Related links Learn more about the Moncton synagogue’s Kum A Heim Centennial weekend, see photos, on the event website. Read about when Moncton’s city council tried to ban the annual Hanukkah menorah-lighting ceremony in 2023, in The CJN. Listen to The CJN’s Y ehupetzville podcast from 2021 about what Jewish life was like in Moncton. Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner ( @ebessner ) Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Izzie Helenchilde (producer and video editor), Michael Fraiman (executive producer), Alicia Richler (editorial director) Music: Bret Higgins Support our show Subscribe to The CJN newsletter https://thecjn.ca/donate/ https://thecjn.ca/north Watch our podcasts on YouTube. Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) https://thecjn.ca/north
Transcribe →From Toronto to Texas: Why Shloime Zionce is driving his Cybertruck cross-continent on a mitzvah mission
2w ago00:25:59Tap to summarizeLast week, if you were in Toronto, you may have spotted a striking yellow-and-black Tesla Cybertruck cruising around the city. Behind the wheel was Shloime Zionce, the Toronto-raised White House correspondent for Ami Magazine and YouTube creator. He grew up in Toronto’s Orthodox Jewish community before moving to the U.S. to attend yeshiva. While visiting his parents and extended family in his native city, Zionce launched his cross-continent mitzvah mission at a July 21 event outside the Promenade Shopping Centre in Thornhill. He will take the self-driving Cybertruck on the road, on his two-year quest to drive through all 50 U.S. states. He’s encouraging Jewish pride and mitzvot in response to the surge of antisemitism since Oct. 7. Zionce is paying for the project himself to honour his late friend, Chabad Rabbi Zvi Kogan, who was kidnapped and murdered by Islamic terrorists in the United Arab Emirates in 2024. The eye-catching design is intentional. “Overall we need eyeballs on this thing because if you want to connect with Jews, the Jews have to notice you and see that you’re there. And this vehicle is pretty hard to to go unnoticed.” On today’s episode of The CJN’s North Star podcast, host Ellin Bessner gets a private tour including climbing aboard for a ride through Zionce’s grandmother’s Thornhill neighbourhood, as he explains the mission behind one of the most unusual Jewish outreach vehicles on the road. Related links: Read more about slain Chabad Rabbi Zvi Kogan from his friend Rabbi Yehuda Sarna, a Montrealer who is Chief Rabbi of the Jewish community in the UAE, in The CJN from 2024 . Learn more about Shloime Zionce's new Cybertruck mitzvah campaign to bring Jewish pride and yiddishkeit to all 50 states and Canada in honour of his slain friend, Rabbi Zvi Kogan, killed by terrorists in 2024 in the UAE, at Mitzvahtruck.com Watch Shloime Zionce's reporting from the White House and his travel stories, on YouTube Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner ( @ebessner ) Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Izzie Helenchilde (producer and video editor), Michael Fraiman (executive producer), Alicia Richler (editorial director) Music: Bret Higgins Support our show Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Watch our podcasts on YouTube. Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) https://thecjn.ca/north
Transcribe →Building Jewish Canada out West: Vancouver's JWest reaches milestone, Edmonton's new JCC well underway
3w ago00:27:06Tap to summarizeCanada’s largest public Jewish construction project, the JWest campus in Vancouver, has reached a significant milestone. About two weeks ago, on July 16, Vancouver’s city council approved an updated rezoning proposal for the $235 million redevelopment that will build a new Jewish community centre, with a revamped Holocaust museum and a day care, a theatre and space for 20 Jewish agencies, and also a larger King David High School right next door. Eventually, the builders hope to erect two apartment towers offering 630 rental units, including some non-profit housing. Groundbreaking for the new JCC is expected this fall, according to Alex Cristall, the chair of the JWest Foundation, the fundraising arm. Meanwhile, in Edmonton, work has been underway for months on a new JCC for the Alberta capital, which hasn’t had one since 2012. Edmonton’s construction is expected to be finished by early in the winter of 2027, according to Stacey Leavitt-Wright, the CEO of the Jewish Federation of Edmonton. The $6 million project to refit an old Boy Scouts regional headquarters will build “a living room” for the city’s Jewish community, she said. Unlike Vancouver’s massive undertaking, Edmonton’s will be on a much smaller scale. It won’t have a gym or a pool. But both communities share a common goal: creating new brick and mortar hubs to provide a much-welcome meeting place for Jews who have been seeking stronger community connections since Oct. 7, 2023. On today’s episode of The Canadian Jewish News’ North Star podcast, host Ellin Bessner speaks with Alex Cristall and Stacey Leavitt-Wright about where each project stands to date, and why they are a bet on the future growth of Jewish life in Western Canada. Related links Read about the federal funding announced for Vancouver’s JWest campus project in The CJN from 2022 , Hear “North Star’s first interview with Alex Cristall, JWest's chair, from that year. Learn more about JWest and Edmonton’s new JCC project . Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner ( @ebessner ) Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Izzie Helenchilde (producer and video editor), Michael Fraiman (executive producer), Alicia Richler (editorial director) Music: Bret Higgins Support our show Subscribe to The CJN newsletter https://thecjn.ca/newsletters/ https://thecjn.ca/north Watch our podcasts on YouTube. Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receip) https://thecjn.ca/north
Transcribe →Rejected by his parents for being gay, Harvey Brownstone turned pain into a best-selling memoir
3w ago00:38:30Tap to summarize“Everything I did was about making my parents proud,” said retired Ontario Court of Justice judge Harvey Brownstone, summing up his lifetime struggle for acceptance. Rejected and cut off at age 19 when he told his parents he was gay, Hamilton native Harvey Brownstone went on to succeed in school, in the legal profession, and now in the world of show business. But his new book, “Without Prejudice: My Life as a Gay Judge” , which was released earlier this summer, reveals the heart-breaking personal cost of fighting homophobia from his family, at university, Bay Street law firms, and even from the top level of the Ontario government. But as Brownstone turned 70 last week, on July 24, he is thrilled that his life story is now touching a chord with so many readers both in the gay community and beyond. His book has been on the bestseller lists. Soon, a new Hollywood bio-pic of his life, starring David Arquette, based on the manuscript, is to be released this fall. And while Brownstone doesn’t have his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, nearly five years post-retirement from the bench, he’s already interviewed hundreds of famous movie stars since he launched his second career as a celebrity talk-show host in 2021. On today’s episode of The CJN’s North Star podcast, Harvey Brownstone returns to the show to talk about the reaction to his new book: he shares how he finally forgave his mother, why the Ontario court system — specially family court — needs a serious remake, and he gives his advice for any young people considering when to “come out” to their families. Related links Follow Harvey Brownstone Interviews at his website and buy his book there, too. Harvey Brownstone was a guest on The CJN’s _North Sta_r podcast in 2025 when Zionist groups were being banned from Pride parades across Canada. Why former Ontario Court justice Harvey Brownstone warned divorcing families to stay out of family court, if they can help it, in The CJN, from 2009. Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner ( @ebessner ) Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Izzie Helenchilde (producer and video editor), Michael Fraiman (executive producer), Alicia Richler (editorial director) Music: Bret Higgins Support our show Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Watch our podcasts on YouTube. Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) https://thecjn.ca/north
Transcribe →The search for Esti: Inside Shomrim Toronto's biggest mission ever
3w ago00:40:16Tap to summarizeShomrim Toronto became the public face of the massive volunteer effort to help Toronto police search for 14-year-old Esti, an autistic Jewish teenager who went missing from her home for two weeks in May. Hundreds of volunteers from the Jewish community and beyond came out to help in the civilian-led search, putting up posters and flyers, bringing food, supporting the family, and raising funds for a $25,000 reward for information. On May 28, Toronto police announced they’d located her, safe and sound, in a basement apartment many kilometres away from her home. While there won’t be any charges laid, and police have now said the case is closed, the impact of the mission—their biggest ever since their founding five years ago—has left a deep impact on Shomrim Toronto’s volunteers. In this exclusive interview with The CJN’s North Star podcast, host Ellin Bessner sits down with Avi Grinberg and Kevin (Menachem) Silver of Shomrim Toronto, who explain how they became the hub of the massive community civilian search, how Esti’s family is doing now, and how the experience will shape the organization’s future. Related stories Learn about why Shomrim launched in this story from 2021 in The CJN. In 2024, Shomrim and other volunteer security groups were profiled for helping protect Jewish Toronto and York Region, both in the community and, in some cases, on campus, in The CJN. Some of The CJN North Star’s coverage of the successful search for Esti from May 2026. To volunteer or learn more about Shomrim, check out their website . Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner ( @ebessner ) Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Izzie Helenchilde (producer and video), Michael Fraiman (executive producer), Alicia Richler (editorial director) Music: Bret Higgins Support our show Subscribe to The CJN newsletter h https://thecjn.ca/north Watch our podcasts on YouTube. Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) https://thecjn.ca/north
Transcribe →Meet the Canadian now leading one of the world's oldest Jewish women's organizations
4w ago00:27:28Tap to summarizeDebbie Wasserman has spent nearly four decades volunteering with the National Council of Jewish Women in Canada. Now she’s taken on her highest profile role yet: she’s the new president of the International Council of Jewish Women (ICJW), a century-old umbrella NGO representing Jewish women’s organizations in 36 countries on five continents, from Argentina to Nigeria to Croatia. The organization advocates for women’s rights on a global stage, including at the United Nations and the Council of Europe. Their members speak out on issues including human trafficking, domestic violence, antisemitism, and, after Oct. 7, security for Israel and raising awareness about the sexual violence Hamas terrorists carried out against Israeli women. Wasserman got her start in public service as a young mother in Toronto, including helping run the National Council of Jewish Women Toronto branch’s famous annual Passover food basket campaign. Today, after many leadership positions with the Canadian affiliate, she’s now only the second Canadian woman in history to lead the historic international NGO. In this episode of The CJN’s North Star podcast, Wasserman joins host Ellin Bessner to discuss the priorities she’ll be tackling over the next four years, including an exciting project launching first right now in Canada: “The Power of Small Conversations”, an initiative to fight antisemitism, which Wasserman hopes can become a model for Jewish communities around the world. Related links: Follow Debbie Wasserman and her work with the International Council of Jewish Women and read her inaugural speech May 19, 2026. Read more about when Toronto’s Debbie Wasserman was elected president of the National Council of Jewish Women of Canada, in 2017, in The CJN . Learn more about The Power of Small Conversations initiative being launched this fall by the Canadian organization, NCJWC, with Wasserman’s involvement. 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 Watch our podcasts on YouTube. Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt)
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