Even if you haven't visited the National Holocaust Monument in Ottawa, you may recall when it opened in September 2017 with one glaring omission: it didn't mention Jews. While the federal government did fix the plaque on the nearly $9-million monument, after that controversial opening, the monument sat largely ignored. Yes, it's used by federal politicians for Holocaust remembrance events, but there is limited signage and no tours to explain its significance to visitors or tourists.

It's a problem that the Centre for Holocaust Education and Scholarship (CHES) wanted to fix. On Oct. 30, just before Holocaust Education Week kicks off on Nov. 4, the Ottawa-based organization unveilled a self-guided tour now available on IWalk, a mobile app created by the USC Shoah Foundation. CHES calls the tour "an essential companion to the monument," featuring information about the details of the monument along survivor testimonies, educational materials for teachers and a virtual 3D tour.

The CJN Daily's Ellin Bessner was recently in the nation's capital and wanted to see the monument for herself. Rather than take the IWalk tour, she met up with Mina Cohn and Artur Wilczynski of CHES for an in-person experience to hear the story and history behind this new immersive educational experience.

What we talked about

• Learn about the National Holocaust Monument's IWalk tour at iwalknhm.org
• Find more educational resources from CHES at chesatottawa.ca
• Read about the plaque controversy when the National Holocaust Monument opened at thecjn.ca (from 2018)
• Listen to "Canada’s Holocaust monument opened 4 years ago. Why isn’t anyone using it?" on The CJN Daily

Credits

• Host and writer: Ellin Bessner (@ebessner)
• Production team: Zachary Kauffman (producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer)
• Music: Dov Beck-Levine

Support our show

• Subscribe to The CJN newsletter
• Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt)
• Subscribe to The CJN Daily (Not sure how? Click here)

Ziv and Barak Morag, along with their young two children, lived happily in their small house in Kibbutz Nir Oz—until Oct. 7, 2023. The southern community saw around 100 of its members killed or kidnapped by Hamas terrorists, leaving the remaining 300 residents—including the Morags—scattered and displaced in the aftermath of the attack.

On a whim, while moving between homes, they applied to a little-known grassroots initiative called Hug for Hope, which matches displaced Israeli evacuees with Canadian or American families for up to 10 days. It was only months later that they got a call: a family had agreed to host them. The Morags were skeptical, but when they hopped on a virtual call with their future hosts, they immediately felt a connection.

As the Morags and their host, Danielle Kaplan, explain on today's episode of The CJN Daily, that connection is the point of this experience. The goal is to help these Israeli families relax, laugh and enjoy themselves after living through horrific trauma. As you'll hear, while in Toronto, the Morags went sightseeing, bonded with their Canadian counterparts and created a lasting emotional bond that made them feel like they were truly staying with family.

Related links

• Learn more about Hug for Hope at hugforhope.ca
• Hear how Danielle Kaplan helped her husband recover from a near-fatal motorcycle crash, on The CJN Daily

Credits

• Host and writer: Ellin Bessner (@ebessner)
• Production team: Zachary Kauffman (producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer)
• Music: Dov Beck-Levine

Support our show

• Subscribe to The CJN newsletter
• Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt)
• Subscribe to The CJN Daily (Not sure how? Click here)

With the U.S. election just over a week away, Vice-President Kamala Harris is maintaining a narrow lead over former president Donald Trump—although the margin of error is so slim that the result remains essentially a toss-up.

One polling company contributing to this data is Mainstreet Research, a Canadian firm. Steven Pinkus, a longtime vice president at Mainstreet, struck a partnership with Florida Atlantic University and began polling Americans directly to find recurring themes and provide accurate data for their clients north of the border.

As it happens, Americans are concerned with many of the same issues as Canadians this election cycle, with affordability, housing, immigration and inflation reigning supreme. But which candidate is better for Israel and the Jews? Steve Pinkus joins host Ellin Bessner for a conversation about the issues that matter to Americans, Canadians and the Jewish community this fall.

Related links

• See Mainstreet and FAU's polling at faupolling.com
• "Loomering large: Phoebe Maltz Bovy on Jews and fake news" (thecjn.ca)
• "Trump or Biden? Who is Good for the Jews and Israel?" (thecjn.ca archives, from 2021)

Credits

• Host and writer: Ellin Bessner (@ebessner)
• Production team: Zachary Kauffman (producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer)
• Music: Dov Beck-Levine

Support our show

• Subscribe to The CJN newsletter
• Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt)
• Subscribe to The CJN Daily (Not sure how? Click here)

Days ahead of Yizkor being recited in synagogues across Canada, The CJN Daily wanted to take stock of some noteworthy Canadian Jews who've passed away in recent months. It's the latest edition of a recurring series we like to call "Honourable Menschen".

Today, host Ellin Bessner sits down with The CJN's obituary writer, Heather Ringel, to chat about five noteworthy community members we've lost in 2024. They begin with Sheila Kussner, one of Canada's most relentless cancer fundraisers, before moving onto Irving Liebgott, one of the longest-surviving members of The Tailor Project, which brought Jewish tailors and their families to Canada after the Holocaust. They also discuss Morley Rosenberg, who served as the mayor of Kitchener in the late 1970s and early '80s; Faye "Tootsie" David, who owned an iconic Jewish deli on Cape Breton with her husband, Ike; and the trailblazing feminist academic Frieda Johles Forman.

What we talked about

• Obituary: Sheila Kussner, 91, whose Hope & Cope advocated for people living with cancer (thecjn.ca)
• Obituary: Irving Leibgott, 100, whose work as a tailor spared his life in the Holocaust and helped him write a new chapter in Canada (thecjn.ca)
• Read about Morley Rosenberg's run for city council in 2018 (thecjn.ca)

Credits

• Host and writer: Ellin Bessner (@ebessner)
• Production team: Zachary Kauffman (producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer)
• Music: Dov Beck-Levine

Support our show

• Subscribe to The CJN newsletter
• Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt)
• Subscribe to The CJN Daily (Not sure how? Click here)

Shai Davidai became a public figure shortly after Oct. 7, 2023 when the assistant professor from Columbia University starred in a video warning Jewish parents at elite American universities about the explosion of antisemitism on campuses across the United States. Davidai’s impassioned plea changed his life: the Israeli researcher soon became a vocal activist who took on the mission of calling out American universities for failing to curb Jew hatred. Last week, Columbia banned Davidai from certain parts of the New York campus—including his office and faculty meetings—because he was “repeatedly harassing and intimidating” fellow university employees, according to a statement sent to CNN. But if you ask Davidai, he’ll say he was standing up against staff members and campus groups who support terrorism. What’s undeniable is how Davidai’s spotlight on Columbia—the site of the first pro-Palestinian encampment in April—did help lead to the school’s president stepping down, and also resulted in the firing of three senior Columbia deans after their snide text messages full of antisemitic remarks were leaked to the public. Davidai is in Canada this week to rally the local Jewish community and share his advice about fighting antisemitism. He’s on a three-day tour organized by the pro-Israel Tafsik organization. On Oct. 21, he is set to attend a rally for Jewish students at the University of Toronto before leaving for Winnipeg, where he will speak on Oct. 22. Davidai sat down with _The CJN Daily _host Ellin Bessner in between Toronto events to explain why fighting hatred the old ways don’t work, and why he believes masked protesters are behaving like members of a cult.

What we talked about

• Read more about Shai Davidai, the Columbia University professor who fights antisemitism on his campus since October 7, 2023. Follow Shai Davidai’s new podcast “Here I Am” on YouTube.
• Tafsik also brought Maj. John Spencer to Canada on a speaking tour earlier this year. Read our interview with the West Point military officers about how Israel is waging war, in The CJN.
• Hear more about Shai Davidai's visit to Montreal to stand with the Jewish community outside Concordia University in September 2024, on The CJN Daily.

Credits

• Host and writer: Ellin Bessner (@ebessner)
• Production team: Zachary Kauffman (producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer)
• Music: Dov Beck-Levine

Support our show

• Subscribe to The CJN newsletter
• Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt)
• Subscribe to The CJN Daily (Not sure how? Click here)

On the night of Oct. 16, Jews around Canada will welcome the holiday of Sukkot, having erected temporary wooden or cloth structures outside their synagogues and homes. While celebrating in their makeshift shacks, many will tell stories of the huts that ancient Israelites lived in after their exodus from Egypt. Meanwhile, in modern-day Canada, a different kind of exodus is happening across the country: young Jewish families, along with Canadians of all stripes, are finding themselves priced out of the housing market, fleeing their native cities to find affordable homes in ever-farther destinations. While the cost of a sukkah kit may seem steep these days, in the hundreds or low thousands, it pales it comparison to the national average cost of a house: nearly $650,000.

As a result, housing organizations are stepping in to find creative solutions. One such company with deep Jewish roots is Ourboro, whose COO, Eyal Rosenblum, is the son of Israeli immigrants. The company essentially buys a stake in your house by lending you up to $250,000 for your down payment. Whatever the percentage of the down payment is, that’s what you’ll have to pay them back once you sell. The idea has caught on, with real estate developer Miles Nadal having joined Ourboro as a key investor. Eyal Rosenblum joins The CJN Daily to explain how this concept can help some Canadians afford homes sooner, and why his Jewish values align with the idea.

What we talked about

• Read more about Ourboro, and how it works to help homebuyers afford a 20 percent downpayment on their first home. (See the math).
• Learn why real estate investor Miles Nadal’s Peerage Capital backs Ourboro.
• Why strangers in B.C. are co-owning housing together, on The CJN Daily.

Credits

• Host and writer: Ellin Bessner (@ebessner)
• Production team: Zachary Kauffman (producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer)
• Music: Dov Beck-Levine

Support our show

• Subscribe to The CJN newsletter
• Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt)
• Subscribe to The CJN Daily (Not sure how? Click here)

On Oct. 7, 2024, more than a thousand anti-Zionist protesters marched through downtown Montreal toward McGill University as part of a “Week of Rage” to mark the one-year anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israel and Israel’s subsequent war in Gaza. Despite a heavy security presence at McGill, some protesters managed to storm onto the campus, smashing through barricades and vandalizing the Sylvan Adams Sports Science Institute on Pine Ave. The site—still under construction—is named for Adams, the Canadian-Israeli billionaire who, in 2022, donated $29 million to the Montreal university, then called the largest-ever gift to a Canadian campus. His philanthropy focuses primarily on athletics, both in his home province of Quebec and in Israel; in response, pro-Palestinian groups have accused him of “sportswashing” Israel’s treatment of Palestinians. As a major donor, Adams has been paying close attention to how McGill has managed the year-long campus protests, including the first tent city encampment in Canada, set up in April. He has harsh words for Montreal’s mayor, who he blames for letting Jew-hatred run rampant in the city. And, although he can’t take his money back from McGill, Adams is trying to influence the university’s actions in his own way. He joins The CJN Daily to discuss all this and more—including his criticism of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Adams' dreams of reuniting Pink Floyd (minus Roger Waters) to play in Israel one day.

What we talked about

• Read more about Sylvan Adams’ $29 million donation in 2022 to fund a sports sciences institute at McGill University, in The CJN.
• Learn why McGill won a 10-day court injunction to block protesters from disrupting campus, beginning on Oct. 8, 2024, in The CJN.
• How Concordia's Jewish students won an injunction that ended Oct. 12 blocking violent protests, on The CJN Daily.

Credits

• Host and writer: Ellin Bessner (@ebessner)
• Production team: Zachary Kauffman (producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer)
• Music: Dov Beck-Levine

Support our show

• Subscribe to The CJN newsletter
• Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt)
• Subscribe to The CJN Daily (Not sure how? Click here)

You may have heard recently about Samidoun, an extremist, anti-Israel, organization with a branch in Vancouver, ostensibly working to liberate Palestinian prisoners convicted of terrorism in Israel and elsewhere. This week, Pierre Poilievre, the leader of the federal Conservatives, demanded the government declare Samidoun a terrorist organization—as several other countries have already done. Doing so would block Samidoun’s ability to fundraise and would make it a crime for anyone to support it. Jewish leaders have long urged the same thing, citing evidence that Samidoun’s Canadian-based founders are members of a militant anarchist terrorist group known as the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). The PFLP is outlawed in Canada, the U.S., the U.K., Germany, Israel and many other countries for carrying out dozens of suicide bombings, assassinations and airplane hijackings. But Samidoun’s status in Canada fell under scrutiny this week, after the group organized protests to coincide with the anniversary of Oct. 7. Some supporters tried to set fire to a Canadian flag, calling, “Death to Canada, death to USA and death to Israel.” Meanwhile, authorities in British Columbia were forced to lift bail conditions that had prevented Samidoun’s Vancouver-based director, Charlotte Kates, from participating in any protests for a period of six months. Kates was arrested in April after giving an antisemitic speech that praised the Oct. 7 massacre. But charges had not yet been laid before the bail deadline expired on Oct. 8. Kates is married to Khaled Barakat, suspected of being a high-ranking member of the PFLP, who also was granted Canadian citizenship. On today’s episode of The CJN Daily, we’re joined by Gerald Steinberg, who founded the pro-Israel research institute NGO Monitor, to explain more about Samidoun’s terrorist ties and outline its operations on Canadian campuses.

What we talked about

• Read when Vancouver police arrested Charlotte Kates of Samidoun in May 1, 2024 after she praised the Oct. 7 massacre during a public rally in Vancouver, in The CJN.
• Read NGO Monitor’s fact sheet about Samidoun in Canada.
• Watch B’nai Brith’s video compilation of Samidoun director Charlotte Kates speeches in Toronto and elsewhere supporting convicted terrorists and suicide bombers, and sign a petition demanding Ottawa act.

Credits

• Host and writer: Ellin Bessner (@ebessner)
• Production team: Zachary Kauffman (producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer)
• Music: Dov Beck-Levine

Support our show

• Subscribe to The CJN newsletter
• Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt)
• Subscribe to The CJN Daily (Not sure how? Click here)