Canada's next generation of Jewish leaders is already making a difference

Canada's next generation of Jewish leaders is already making a difference

Over the past school year, The Canadian Jewish News' Local Journalism Initiative reporter, Mitch Consky, who covers education, has introduced readers to some exceptional students through his "Chai Achievers" series. He has profiled young Jewish Canadians making a difference on their post-secondary campuses or high schools, with leadership and community service. As exams come to an end this week, Consky brought six such leaders together for a roundtable conversation about their actions and inspirations. They discuss how young Jews are responding to challenges on campus and at home, and why building connections, volunteering and creating opportunities for others is crucial to ensure a strong future for Jewish Canadians. On today's episode of The CJN's North Star podcast, reporter Mitch Consky takes over the hosting duties, to interview: * Maya Fuerstenberg, a TanenbaumCHAT graduate, who founded the Dalhousie Jewish Society in Halifax * Anastasia Zorchinsky, founder of the StartUp Nation club at Concordia, in Montreal * Levi Moskovitz of Vancouver's King David High School, who recently completed his term as BBYO's international treasurer * Toronto twins Ava and Ezra Freiheit, and their friend Emma Rovner, who also attend TanenbaumCHAT, who founded "Chains for Change" to raise funds for Special Olympics athletes in Ontario Related stories * Read more about the students selected as The CJN Chai Achievers including: a trio who fundraises for Special Olympics [https://thecjn.ca/news/chai-achievers-making-change-one-link-in-a-paper-chain-at-a-time/] ,  a CHAT graduate who built a Jewish club at Dalhousie University [https://thecjn.ca/news/campus/chai-achiever-how-maya-fuerstenberg-brought-a-jewish-student-society-to-dalhousie-university/] , a Vancouver leadership official with BBYO Internationa [https://thecjn.ca/news/chai-achiever-levi-moskovitz-helps-lead-global-jewish-youth-philanthropy-as-bbyos-international-treasurer/] l, and the founder of the pro-Israel StartUp Nation club at Concordia University. * Hear our interview with Levi Moskovitz on The CJN’s “North Star” [https://thecjn.ca/arts-culture/this-vancouver-student-just-led-a-1-6-million-fundraising-campaign-for-bbyo/] podcast from Dec. 2025 on how he raised nearly $1 million for BBYO. * Meet Yair Shpiler, who built Jewnity Sports, a 2025 CJN Chai Achiever [https://thecjn.ca/news/campus/chai-achiever-why-yair-shpiler-built-a-jewish-sports-league/] . Credits * Host and writer: Ellin Bessner ( @ebessner [https://twitter.com/ebessner] ) * Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Izzie Helenchilde (producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer), Alicia Richler (editorial director) * Music: Bret Higgins [https://www.brethiggins.com/] Support our show * Subscribe to The CJN newsletter [https://thecjn.ca/newsletters/] * Donate to The CJN [https://thecjn.ca/donate/] (+ get a charitable tax receipt) * Subscribe to North Star [https://thecjn.ca/north] (Not sure how? Click here [https://thecjn.ca/arts/podcast-how-to/] ) * Watch our podcasts on YouTube. [https://www.youtube.com/@TheCJN] * https://www.youtube.com/@TheCJN https://www.youtube.com/@TheCJN Help others find this podcast by leaving us a review for “North Star” on Apple Podcasts [https://support.apple.com/en-ca/guide/podcasts/pod5facd9d70/1.1.0/mac/26] via your iPhone or iPad device, or with your Android. [https://podcasters.apple.com/support/852-ratings-and-reviews] (Spotify allows only starred ratings but you can do that, too!)

The Human Rights museum's only Jewish trustee wanted the Nakba Exhibit. He just quit

Mark Berlin initially supported the Canadian Museum for Human Rights creating a Nakba exhibit on the experiences of Palestinian Canadians displaced during the Israel War of Independence in 1948. But the Ottawa human rights lawyer and professor who served for years as the only Jewish member on the Winnipeg museum’s board of trustees, resigned abruptly on Monday June 22. His letter [https://thecjn.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Mark-Berlin-letter-of-resignation-June-22-2026-courtesy-Bnai-Brith-Canada.pdf] was sent just days before the controversial exhibit is scheduled to open this weekend. Berlin says he spent months in a fruitless effort to push the museum from the inside to tell a more complete story. He alleges that the museum never showed the board any of the exhibit’s content materials. He fears the Nakba exhibit, which opens June 27, will be a one-sided, anti-Israel “ideologically political-oriented story”, which he calls “curation by omission”. The museum website exhibit material blames [https://humanrights.ca/exhibition/palestine-uprooted-nakba-past-and-present] the Israeli military for the expulsion of 750,000 Palestinians, but doesn’t give any wider context that five Arab countries invaded the fledgling Jewish State at the time. Museum officials tell The CJN that while the board was not given specific details of exhibit wording, photos and the like, trustees have been “regularly briefed” since 2021, “with a high-level overview of the schematic design and interpretive plan for the exhibit, as well as with reports on how the Museum was managing its relationships and risks. There were lengthy conversations on these matters.” Berlin also decried what he calls an “institutional anti-Zionism bias” at the museum, not just with this exhibit but he cites numerous examples including anti-Israel messages on public display inside the building, and on social media channels, and pro-Palestinian protesters permitted to do a die-in after Oct. 7 while Jewish groups were denied a chance to hold a similar event. Prominent Canadian Jewish community leaders and philanthropists were invited to the museum recently for a meeting to discuss the exhibit, but Berlin and a second source described what happened May 13 as “egregiously, outrageously dismissive of us”. On today’s episode of The CJN’s flagship podcast North Star, host Ellin Bessner sits down with Berlin for his first broadcast interview to hear what he’s experienced these past two plus years that made him realize it was time to leave. They also talk about what he wants the federal Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture to do next. Related links * Read Mark Berlin’s letter of resignation [https://thecjn.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Mark-Berlin-letter-of-resignation-June-22-2026-courtesy-Bnai-Brith-Canada.pdf] to the Canadian Museum for Human Rights and the Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture. * Why Gail Asper, the daughter of the museum’s founder, and law professor Bryan Schwartz, called for the Nakba exhibit to be paused and revised, on The CJN’s North Star [https://thecjn.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Mark-Berlin-letter-of-resignation-June-22-2026-courtesy-Bnai-Brith-Canada.pdf] June 1, 2026. * Criticism [https://actionhub.ca/alert/nakba-exhibit/#module] of the planned exhibit’s storytelling and lack of transparency began back in November 2025 after the museum announced the show would go ahead, in The CJN. [https://thecjn.ca/news/museums-decision-to-host-an-exhibit-about-palestine-leaves-winnipeg-jewish-groups-concerned-over-a-lack-of-consultation/] **** Credits * Host and writer: Ellin Bessner ( @ebessner [https://twitter.com/ebessner] ) * Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Izzie Helenchilde (producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer), Alicia Richler (editorial director) * Music: Bret Higgins [https://www.brethiggins.com/] Support our show * Subscribe to The CJN newsletter [https://thecjn.ca/newsletters/] * Donate to The CJN [https://thecjn.ca/donate/] (+ get a charitable tax receipt) * Subscribe to North Star [https://thecjn.ca/north] (Not sure how? Click here [https://thecjn.ca/arts/podcast-how-to/] ) * Watch our podcasts on YouTube. [https://www.youtube.com/@TheCJN] * https://www.youtube.com/@TheCJN https://www.youtube.com/@TheCJN Help others find this podcast by leaving us a review for “North Star” on Apple Podcasts [https://support.apple.com/en-ca/guide/podcasts/pod5facd9d70/1.1.0/mac/26] via your iPhone or iPad device, or with your Android. [https://podcasters.apple.com/support/852-ratings-and-reviews] (Spotify allows only starred ratings but you can do that, too!)

What we know about the deadly Montreal shootings that shook a Jewish neighbourhood

A police officer and a Jewish civilian have been killed after a gunman opened fire in a deadly ambush that unfolded Monday mid-morning June 22 in one of Montreal’s busiest Jewish districts. The shooting appears not to have targeted Jews, although many community members initially worried it was antisemitic terrorism. Nevertheless, the “nightmare” event, as police have called it, has left the Jewish community reeling because of the loss of life and because it happened in Snowdon, a community hub in Côte-des-Neiges where many Montreal Jews live, shop and gather. Media reports say the shooter was part of the “incel” community, and left behind a manifesto about how he hated women, but investigators have not confirmed this to The CJN. The chaotic day had residents and hotel guests either in lockdown or scrambling to safety in a nearby Jewish social services agency, MADA. Wide swaths of the city were shut down as hundreds of police tried to locate other possible suspects, although by day’s end the chief said there was only one shooter and he was killed. As the investigation continues, the identities of the slain policeman and also the slain Jewish bystander have now been released. The CJN’s Quebec correspondent, reporter Joel Ceausu, has been following developments since the first emergency alerts were issued. He knew of both of the victims. And like so many Jewish Montrealers, he also has a personal connection to the neighbourhood where this tragedy unfolded. Joel joins host Ellin Bessner on today’s special breaking news edition of The CJN’s North Star podcast to help us understand what happened, who the victims were, and how this devastating event has affected Montreal’s Jewish community. Related links * Read The CJN’s continuing coverage [https://thecjn.ca/news/montreal-police-officer-civilian-and-suspect-confirmed-dead-in-shooting-incident-in-jewish-neighbourhood/] of the June 22 Montreal ambush and shootings in the Jewish neighbourhood of Côte-des-Neiges, at thecjn.ca [http://thecjn.ca] * Watch what it was like for shoppers trapped inside the PA Supermarket as Montreal police stormed through searching for suspects, on The CJN’s YouTube Channel. [https://youtube.com/shorts/LsnsVVY-i2Q?si=Z0XxGGppxITMfNPX] * Learn more about Montreal’s Jewish community from the latest Canadian census data, in The CJN. [https://thecjn.ca/news/montreal-jewish-population/] Credits * Host and writer: Ellin Bessner ( @ebessner [https://twitter.com/ebessner] ) * Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Izzie Helenchilde, (producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer), Alicia Richler (editorial director) * Music: Bret Higgins [https://www.brethiggins.com/] Support our show * Subscribe to The CJN newsletter [https://thecjn.ca/newsletters/] * Donate to The CJN [https://thecjn.ca/donate/] (+ get a charitable tax receipt) * Subscribe to North Star [https://thecjn.ca/north] (Not sure how? Click here [https://thecjn.ca/arts/podcast-how-to/] ) * Watch our podcasts on YouTube. [https://www.youtube.com/@TheCJN] * https://www.youtube.com/@TheCJN Help others find this podcast by leaving us a review for “North Star” on Apple Podcasts [https://support.apple.com/en-ca/guide/podcasts/pod5facd9d70/1.1.0/mac/26] via your iPhone or iPad device, or with your Android. [https://podcasters.apple.com/support/852-ratings-and-reviews] (Spotify allows only starred ratings but you can do that, too!)

A synagogue heard local schoolchildren were hungry. They've delivered 7,000 lunches

“I didn’t know there was a need.” Two years ago, Dr. Irv Siegel, a past president of Beit Rayim Synagogue in Vaughan, Ont., heard about growing food insecurity in York Region, one of Canada’s wealthiest suburbs, where one in five families faces food insecurity. He was surprised to learn that hundreds of public school kids in Thornhill and Richmond Hill often come to school without lunch. So for the past two years, volunteers from the synagogue have shown up every Thursday morning with fresh produce and bagels to feed students they will never met. Siegel’s successful Feed the Children School Lunch program hit a milestone last week: it’s now provided 7,000 nutritious lunches to students in four York Region public schools. They don’t write a cheque: instead they bring all the food, wash and assemble all the lunch bags on site, and deliver the meals to the school office before the bell rings. School staff say these meals are sorely needed. The program doesn’t operate anonymously. For organizer Irv Siegel, the Star of David on every lunch bag is intentional. He wanted students, families and educators in York Region’s diverse public schools to know that a Jewish community was reaching beyond its own walls to help its neighbours. On today’s episode of The CJN’s North Star podcast, host Ellin Bessner takes you inside this noteworthy response to childhood hunger. And full disclosure: she volunteers there, too. Related links * Learn more about Beit Rayim synagogue’s Feed the Children School Lunch program [https://www.beitrayim.org/feed-the-children---school-lunch-program.html] and how to donate or volunteer. * Read how memorial and yahrzeit plaques have now moved into the digital sphere with a portable kiosk at Beit Rayim, in The CJN from 2023 [https://thecjn.ca/podcasts/synagogue-yahrzeit-memorials-are-going-digital/] . * Discover how rising cost of groceries was impacting Jewish families in the Greater Toronto Area at Passover, in The CJN. [https://thecjn.ca/news/requests-for-passover-food-boxes-grows-as-the-cost-of-living-spirals/] **** Credits * Host and writer: Ellin Bessner ( @ebessner [https://twitter.com/ebessner] ) * Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Izzie Helenchilde (producer), Michael Fraiman (Director of Digital Content), Alicia Richler (Editorial Director) * Music: Bret Higgins [https://www.brethiggins.com/] Support our show * Subscribe to The CJN newsletter [https://thecjn.ca/newsletters/] * Donate to The CJN [https://thecjn.ca/donate/] (+ get a charitable tax receipt) * Subscribe to North Star [https://thecjn.ca/north] (Not sure how? Click here [https://thecjn.ca/arts/podcast-how-to/] ) * Watch our podcasts on YouTube. [https://www.youtube.com/@TheCJN] * https://www.youtube.com/@TheCJN Help others find this podcast by leaving us a review for “North Star” on Apple Podcasts [https://support.apple.com/en-ca/guide/podcasts/pod5facd9d70/1.1.0/mac/26] via your iPhone or iPad device, or with your Android. [https://podcasters.apple.com/support/852-ratings-and-reviews] (Spotify allows only starred ratings but you can do that, too!)

Extremist settlers 'threaten' Israeli society, President Herzog warned. This Canadian activist flew to witness for herself

---------------------------------------- Last month, during a ceremony to award the Jerusalem Unity Prize, Israeli President Isaac Herzog greeted the audience with a warning [https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/24/world/middleeast/israel-herzog-violence.html?unlocked_article_code=1.rFA.TK6a.SM-Dm78OtIy_\&smid=nytcore-ios-share] about “a terrible process of brutalization” that has been threatening Israeli society. He singled out extremist Jewish Israelis living in the West Bank, who he called an “anarchist mob,” and whose ongoing attacks against Palestinians “defiled every moral, legal, and Jewish norm.” Herzog isn’t alone in criticizing the current situation on the West Bank. Israel’s military chief recently issued similar warnings, as did the Israeli defence minister. The Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has [https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/netanyahu-condemns-west-bank-attacks-by-small-extremist-group-of-settlers/] called it vigilantism. Earlier this month, Canada joined several European countries in announcing a fifth round of sanctions against extremist settlers, slapping financial and travel bans on two Israelis and five groups whom Canada says are enabling Jewish settler violence. Yet the violence continues. Last year, the Israeli Defence Forces reported 867 such attacks in the West Bank. Extremists have set fires to Palestinian homes and mosques, and also near Christian sites including a church [https://www.timesofisrael.com/palestinians-accuse-israeli-settlers-of-impeding-firefighters-near-west-bank-village/]. They’ve destroyed orchards, stolen livestock, drained water tanks, and beaten—and even killed—Palestinian civilians. Last year, on June 29 [https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/israel/defense/artc-defense-minister-katz-convenes-emergency-meeting-after-settler-violence], the extremists turned against their own army: an IDF battalion clashed with a group of Jewish settlers in the West Bank, who threw stones and beat the soldiers.   One Canadian wanted to take action. Ronit Yarosky is a Montreal-based peace activist who flew to the region this month, as part of a mission of volunteers who oppose the recent escalation in attacks. For a week, she stayed with Palestinian Bedouin families’ homes on the outskirts of Taybeh, a mainly Christian village near Ramallah, in the hope that her presence—together with other Jewish and Israeli peace activists—might deter attackers from setting up new illegal Jewish outposts.  Yarosky joined The CJN’s North Star podcast from Taybeh to share what she’s seen. We also speak with Maytal Kowalski, the executive director of JSpace Canada, from Vancouver, who has done similar volunteer work herself. Related stories: * Hear Ronit Yarosky on her struggle to hold on to her friendship with a Muslim man post-October 7 on The CJN’s In Good Faith [https://thecjn.ca/news/their-jewish-muslim-friendship-was-destroyed-after-oct-7-until-they-found-a-way-to-reconcile/] podcast, from Nov. 2025. * Hear more from Maytal Kowalski of JSpace Canada, when she joined The CJN’s North Star podcast in May 2025 [https://thecjn.ca/news/canada-rebukes-israel-over-gaza-conflict-threatening-concrete-actions-even-sanctions/] to explain why Canada brought in its first round of sanctions on Israel, over the humanitarian aid situation in Gaza. * Learn more about Torat Tzedek [https://www.torat-tzedek.org/] , the Israeli NGO supported by New Israel Fund, that is sending observers such as Ronit Yarosky to provide “protective presence” to Palestinians in the West Bank who are facing home demolitions, dispossession and Israeli settler violence. Credits * Host and writer: Ellin Bessner ( @ebessner [https://twitter.com/ebessner] ) * Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Izzie Helenchilde (producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer), Alicia Richler (editorial director) * Music: Bret Higgins [https://www.brethiggins.com/] Support our show * Subscribe to The CJN newsletter [https://thecjn.ca/newsletters/] * Donate to The CJN [https://thecjn.ca/donate/] (+ get a charitable tax receipt) * Subscribe to North Star [https://thecjn.ca/north] (Not sure how? Click here [https://thecjn.ca/arts/podcast-how-to/] ) * Watch our podcasts on YouTube. [https://www.youtube.com/@TheCJN] * https://www.youtube.com/@TheCJN Help others find this podcast by leaving us a review for “North Star” on Apple Podcasts [https://support.apple.com/en-ca/guide/podcasts/pod5facd9d70/1.1.0/mac/26] via your iPhone or iPad device, or with your Android. [https://podcasters.apple.com/support/852-ratings-and-reviews] (Spotify allows only starred ratings but you can do that, too!)