Earlier this week, millions of people watched one of our own stand behind a podium on "Jeopardy!" — and win. Toronto lawyer James Hirsh, co-host of The CJN's long-running "Menschwarmers" podcast, became the latest Canadian contestant to compete and succeed on the iconic American game show. He's got three wins now and will keep going next week.

Hirsh says it was "the thrill of a lifetime" to be selected, to fly down to the Alex Trebek studio at Sony Pictures in Culver City, near Hollywood, where he taped several episodes of Jeopardy. It all happened about three weeks ago, but he's had to keep quiet about how he fared. Until now, as the episodes began to air this week on millions of television screens across North America.

Hirsh had decades to prepare for his small-screen debut: as a teenager, he was reigning champion at his summer camp's version of the game show, over four seasons. The prize money back then was enough to buy some beers. This time, his actual Jeopardy! winnings will help the father-of-three pay off his family's mortgage. He also won a custom Jeopardy! hat and a tote bag, but he says the best prize is a coveted tagline to his bio: he can now say "I was on Jeopardy!"

On today's episode of The CJN’s "North Star" podcast, host Ellin Bessner chats with James Hirsh about what it was like under the bright lights, what questions stumped him and–how he regrets wearing the wrong shoes.

Related links:

• Follow James Hirsh on The CJN’s “Menschwarmers” podcast and subscribe, for free.
• Missed watching his Jeopardy shows live? Catch all the episodes beginning Feb. 24, 2026 where James Hirsh was a contestant. The show streams on Crave TV in Canada. Tune in Friday in Canada on YES TV to find out how he does on Day 4.
• Read this Jeopardy fan page for a play-by-play of how James’ Feb. 24 game played out.

Credits

• Host and writer: Ellin Bessner ( @ebessner )
• Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior 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!)

Israel’s Supreme Court ordered the government on Feb. 19 to complete long-delayed renovations to Robinson’s Arch, the official egalitarian prayer section just south of the main Western Wall. For years, it’s where non-Orthodox Jews, including women, can pray together, and also read from a Torah scroll.

But what began as a ruling about construction permits has quickly become something bigger.

Members of Israel’s governing coalition are advancing legislation this week that would effectively bring the broader Kotel site, including Robinson’s Arch, under the authority of the ultra-Orthodox Chief Rabbinate. The law could mean prison terms of up to seven years for anyone deemed to be desecrating the holy site — and observers fear the new proposal could ban any alternative forms of Jewish prayer around Judaism’s holiest place.

This raises a deeper question: where does that leave millions of Jews, especially outside of Israel, who are not Orthodox?

On today’s episode of The CJN’s “North Star” podcast, Toronto Rabbi Elyse Goldstein joins host Ellin Bessner to explore what’s at stake. The Rabbi is a longtime advocate for pluralistic prayer, for women’s place in Judaism, and a supporter of the Women of the Wall movement’s decades-long struggle for equality at the Kotel.

Related stories:

• Read about the Israel Supreme court decision on Robinson’s Arch Feb. 19, 2026, and reaction, in The CJN
• Learn more about what Rabbi Elyse Goldstein experienced joining the Women of the Wall’s 25th anniversary prayer service in 2013, in The CJN .
• Hear what it was like in July 2023 at a Women of the Wall prayer service in this eye-witness account by The CJN’s producer Zachary Judah Kauffman , who was studying in Israel and produced this podcast for The CJN’s North Star Podcast.

Credits

• Host and writer: Ellin Bessner ( @ebessner )
• Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior 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!)

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 and real estate advice 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
• 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!)