In the wake of Sunday’s terrorist attack on Australia’s Jewish community, Canadian Jews are feeling angry, scared, mournful and defiant, with some seriously considering moving to Israel.

As of Sunday night EST, the death toll in New South Whales had risen to 15 victims, including the host of the Bondi Beach candle-lighting event, Chabad Rabbi Eli Schlanger, who has deep ties to Toronto and Ottawa. Meanwhile, officials believe up to 60 other festival-goers were wounded, including the rabbi’s wife, a mother of five. One of the two shooters was also killed.

In Canada, rabbis and Jewish leaders urged their community to push back against terror, show extra pride and make an effort to attend public candle-lighting ceremonies this Hanukkah. But some fear Canada is equally ripe for an attack like Australia’s, due to the failure of public officials to stop hate speech and protests on our streets featuring chants like “Globalize the Intifada”.

On today’s episode of The CJN’s North Star podcast with Ellin Bessner, you’ll hear what Jewish Canada sounded like while mourning Jews on the other side of the planet. We’re joined by Richard Marceau, a senior official with the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, who just returned from an antisemitism conference in Australia six days prior to the attack; award-winning Canadian author Sidura Ludwig, who lined up early to buy special sufganiyot at a Thornhill bakery; Sara Lefton of UJA Federation of Greater Toronto; Rabbi Levi Gansburg of Chabad on Bayview, who knew the murdered rabbi; and political leaders, including Prime Minister Mark Carney, Toronto mayor Olivia Chow and cabinet minister Evan Solomon.

Related links

• Read more about how Canadian Jewish leaders and politicians have reacted to the mass terrorist shooting in Australia, in The CJN .

• Why Australia’s prime minister accused Iran of trying to destabilize their country, including by masterminding the arson at the Melbourne synagogue in 2024 and firebombing of a kosher deli, in The CJN.

• This Australian Jewish leader said his country and community are ignoring online hate, at their peril, during a visit to Winnipeg in February 2025, in The CJN .

Credits

• Host and writer: Ellin Bessner ( @ebessner )

• Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer)

• 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 )

This weekend, starting on Dec. 12, thousands of Jewish teens from nearly 70 countries, including Canada, will be participating in BBYO’s annual #GlobalShabbat weekend, featuring dances, Havdalah services and other meaningful Jewish events in between. These BBYO high schoolers can thank Vancouver student Levi Moskovitz for helping raise a lot of the money to pay for it.

Moskovitz, a Grade 12 King David High School student with a passion for finance, is halfway through his term serving as BBYO International’s treasurer. Elected in February, he’s the sole Canadian teen on the current leadership board of the century-old Jewish youth organization. As treasurer, a title known as Grand Aleph Gizbor, Moskovitz has many duties—among them, overseeing a global fundraising blitz last week, called #GivingBBYODay, where they raised $1.6 million in a single day.

But Moskovitz, 17, is equally proud of his success revitalizing BBYO chapters here in Canada and attracting hundreds of new teens to find community and a safe space after Oct. 7.

On today’s episode of The CJN’s North Star podcast, we hear from Levi Moskovitz in Vancouver to hear why BBYO is sort of a family business. His father, Rabbi Dan Moskovitz, himself a former BBYO international leader, also joins, and we’ll hear from BBYO’s regional director in Winnipeg, Jonah Posner.

Related links

• Read more about why Levi Moskovitz was nominated this fall as one of The CJN’s Chai Achievers

.

• Learn more about BBYO’s Canadian activities, including in the Vancouver area and Winnipeg's Global Shabbat Dec. 12.

• Discover when this Ontario teen was elected president of the international B’nai Brith Girls organization, in The CJN, from 2014.

Credits

• Host and writer:

Ellin Bessner (@ebessner)

• Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Andrea Varsany (producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer)
• 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)

Toronto police, investigating the suspected hate-motivated theft of mezuzahs from a seniors apartment complex over the weekend, now tell The CJN they have raised their original count of 20 cases to approximately 30.

But community leaders—including rabbis, political offices and some tenants—believe the true number is significantly higher, anywhere from 60 to 110. Police acknowledge their count is probably low, but they need the victims to report the crime before they can confirm it.

Beginning Sunday, Toronto police’s hate crime unit and other officers combed through the 14-storey West Don Apartment complex in the Jewish area of Bathurst and Steeles. By the following afternoon, volunteers from the Jewish Russian Community Centre and Unapologetically Jewish replaced more than 60 mezuzahs.

But the disturbing crime spree has left many residents shaken, including one who reportedly asked if the mezuzah could be installed inside their apartment, not outside, to avoid being targeted. The City of Toronto has stationed personnel from the public housing division’s Community Safety Unit at the seniors building for the next couple of weeks “for safety and security support”.

On today’s episode of The CJN’s North Star podcast, host Ellin Bessner brings you her on-the-scene report, where you’ll hear from tenants including Lev Zaidel and Shoshana Pellman, and also from some of the volunteers, including local Rabbi Yirmi Cohen, Rabbi Mendel Zaltzman and Rabbi Shmuel Neft, who showed up to help.

Related links

• Read more about how the Jewish community came together to help the seniors who were victims of the mezuzah theft, in

The CJN

.

• Learn more about how to

donate mezuzahs

through the Jewish Russian Community Centre.

• This Toronto condo complex had 7 mezuzahs stolen in 2017. What did the victims say? In

The CJN

.

Credits

• Host and writer:

Ellin Bessner ( @ebessner)

• Production team:

Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Andrea Varsany (producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer)

• 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 )

Over the last two weeks, the Polish government has been doubling down on its official narrative that, during the Second World War, its own people were the victims of the Germans—not responsible for collaborating in the murder of millions of Jews during the Holocaust.

That policy has been law since 2018, and has led to strained relations with Israel, Holocaust survivors and academic scholars, including award-winning Canadian professor Jan Grabowski. Grabowski, a historian at the University of Ottawa and the child of a Warsaw Holocaust survivor, has spent years researching how ordinary Poles denounced, betrayed and helped carry out the murder of 200,000 Jews—mostly without any prodding from the Nazis.

That’s why Grabowski, who has been sued by the Polish state over this issue, has been closely monitoring the recent flare-ups involving Poland, Israel, and even Germany, which began at the end of November.

It started on Nov. 19, when the new U.S. ambassador to Poland—an observant American Jew who used to run the Jerusalem Post—told a startled Warsaw conference that it was “a grotesque falsehood” and a “historic injustice” to blame Poland for Holocaust crimes committed by others.

After that, a popular far-right member of the Polish parliament stood outside the gates of Auschwitz to oppose the country’s plan to adopt a new antisemitism strategy. He called for Jews to be kicked out of the country.

Then, on Nov. 25, the Israeli ambassador to Poland was summoned over a social media post from Yad Vashem.

On today’s episode of The CJN’s flagship news podcast North Star, Grabowski joins to unpack why his native country continues distorting the truth about its past involvement in the Holocaust, and how Polish officials are dismissing the historical records he’s unearthed, which tell a more nuanced story of who killed Poland’s Jews.

Related links

• Example

Credits

• Host and writer:

Ellin Bessner (

@ebessner

)

• Production team:

Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Andrea Varsany (producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer)

• 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

)

“We had a beautiful wedding. Wish you could have been there!”

That’s what Shawna Magence quipped to her new husband, Steven Weiss, about three weeks ago, after a freak accident marred their joyous marriage ceremony in Florida.

Magence, 55, from Toronto, had just stood under the chuppah on Nov. 16 with her husband-to-be, an American from the Five Towns area of Long Island, New York, for the traditional breaking of the glass. Suddenly, people noticed puddles of blood on the floor. It turns out, the broken wedding glass had pierced the groom’s right foot, causing a deep gash. Paramedics arrived soon after. Weiss, 59, was strapped onto a gurney and wheeled out to a waiting ambulance. But he didn’t depart for the hospital right away—the rabbi had the couple complete the next stage of their wedding inside the emergency vehicle.

Eventually, the groom got nine stitches, while the bride returned to the reception, alone, to tend to their guests. And the wedding? It took another day to complete. Meanwhile, the couple is taking the accident in stride, considering it just one more memorable challenge they’ve had to overcome after the pair, both in their 50s, met in 2024 and embarked on their unexpected, late-in-life romance.

On today’s episode of The CJN’s North Star podcast, we hear the whole incredible wedding story with Shawna Magence—while her groom recuperates.

Related links

• Learn more about

“After Forever”, the support group and resources for separated, divorced or widowed Jewish people, co-founded by Shawna Magence.

• Watch the video of the newlyweds’ bloody wedding mishap, on The CJN’s YouTube channel

Credits

• Host and writer:

Ellin Bessner (

@ebessner

)

• Production team:

Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Andrea Varsany (producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer)

• 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

)

Nearly 40 handwritten letters by a group of Ottawa seniors have made their way into a unique new publication documenting the impact of Oct. 7 over the last two years.

The project is by a group called “Active Jewish Adults 50+”, and grew out of a call-out by The CJN in mid-October, following the Israel-Hamas ceasefire and subsequent release of the remaining 20 living hostages. The CJN asked readers to send in their reactions—and these seniors took that request to heart.

They meet each Tuesday at the Kehillat Beth Israel synagogue in Ottawa for programming and lunch. Upwards of 50 regulars, between the ages of 70 and 100, took part in this special letter-writing project. But they didn’t just send their reactions to The CJN—they decided to publish the letters themselves.

The result is a new booklet called Reflections on the Release of the Hostages, launching the week of Dec. 1, just as Hamas handed over more unidentified remains to the Red Cross. Israel hasn’t confirmed whether they belong to the final two deceased hostages, still considered missing since Oct. 7.

On today’s episode of The CJN’s flagship news podcast North Star, host Ellin Bessner asks some of the creative seniors to read their submissions and share how the war has affected them. Plus, we hear from Sheila Osterer, the group’s executive director, who initiated the project.

Related links

• Learn more about AJA 50+ and their activities in Ottawa.

• Read the new booklet containing letters and poems about Oct. 7, written by the Ottawa Jewish seniors “Creative Connections” group.

• Hear when Ottawa native Jacqui Rivers-Vital and her husband shared the story of their murdered daughter Adi with the AJA 50+ members, in February 2024, on The CJN Daily .

Credits

• Host and writer: Ellin Bessner ( @ebessner )

• Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Andrea Varsany (producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer)

• 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 )

Former Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren, a diplomat and former member of the Israeli Knesset, says he has always refused to do public “gladitorial” debates when it comes to representing Israel these last two decades in public life. But the American-born statesman and author changed his long-standing practice to come to Canada this Wednesday Dec. 3 to headline the Munk Debates on stage in Toronto. Organizers are mounting what they admit is their thorniest topic ever: be it resolved that supporting the two-state solution is in Israel’s best interests.

Oren is on the “no side” together with right-wing former Israeli politician Ayelet Shaked. They’ll take on a former Israeli prime minister Ehut Olmert former cabinet minister Tzipi Livni, who will be arguing for the “yes” side.

The debate is already attracting controversy for several reasons: there were no Palestinian voices invited on the program, and organizers are expecting protests, so security has been ramped up. They also had to move from their traditional venue, Roy Thomson Hall, for the first time in 15 years. But despite the side show, Oren believes the Munk Debates are important to reach a massive online audience with reasoned arguments, including why most Israelis oppose the so-called two-state solution in any near future. He calls the proposal “deranged”, especially after Oct. 7, even though most Western countries, including Canada, are doubling down on the idea. And says the two-state solution is a tragedy for Palestinians.

So what’s in store for Israel, the Palestinians, and the Middle East? Oren joins The CJN‘s “North Star” podcast host Ellin Bessner on today’s episode, for his take.

Related Links:

• Learn more about watching the Munk debate on Dec. 3, 2025.

• Follow Amb. Michael Oren’s columns, his Israel 2048 organization and his books, at his website .

• Read Amb. Michael Oren’s praise for former Canadian prime minister, Stephen Harper and foreign minister, John Baird, during a 2013 speech in Montreal, from The CJN archives

Credits:

• Host and writer: Ellin Bessner ( @ebessner )

• Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Andrea Varsany (producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer)

• 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 )

After Hamas terrorists gunned down Rabbi Leo Dee’s wife Lucy and two of their daughters, Maia and Rina, during a family outing in the West Bank in April 2023, the tragedy made international headlines. Thousands attended the funerals, where the bereaved rabbi and his three surviving children quickly became public figures. The Dees are officially considered by Israel to be the first victims of the Oct. 7 attacks, despite their murders happening six months before.

Rabbi Dee, 53, has since become a sought after speaker and an activist on behalf of other grieving families. So when he announced in June that he was getting remarried, to Aliza Teplitsky, a Canadian formerly of Toronto, the news prompted an outpouring of well wishes. Fans rejoiced that Rabbi Dee had found happiness again, two years after his family was shattered.

The new couple had intended to spend two weeks in Canada in July. But Iran had other ideas. Israel’s brief war with Tehran broke out just before their trip, forcing it to be postponed until after their high profile marriage, which took place in August in their West Bank community of Efrat.

Now though, the newlyweds have arrived in Canada, for what they jokingly refer to as their “workingmoon”, because the private visit also includes meetings and speeches to the Jewish community, and others. The Dees hope to inspire people with his story about how he rebuilt his life, and balances his sorrow with his newfound happiness. It’s also why he’s written a new book entitled “The Seven Facets of Healing.”

On today’s episode of The CJN’s North Star podcast, Rabbi Leo Dee and Aliza (Teplitsky) Dee join host Ellin Bessner to talk about their self-described rom-com, and about healing, but also to share some harsh criticism of Canada’s recent declaration to unilaterally recognize unilateral Palestinian State.

Related links

• Hear Rabbi Leo Dee and Aliza Dee in Toronto Nov. 28 and 29 at Shaarei Shomayim synagogue. or in Whitby on Nov. 30 a local church.

• Learn more about Rabbi Leo Dee’s new book “The Seven Facets of Healing” available now on Amazon.

• Read about the murders of Rabbi Dee’s late wife Lucy, and their daughters Maia and Rina, in this tribute by former Montreal Rabbi Mark Fishman, from April 2023, in The CJN..

Credits

• Host and writer: Ellin Bessner ( @ebessner )

• Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Andrea Varsany (producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer)

• 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 )