The CJN Daily with Ellin Bessner

About The CJN Daily with Ellin Bessner

Newsmaker conversations from The Canadian Jewish News, hosted by Ellin Bessner, a veteran broadcaster, writer and journalist.

Publisher

The CJN Podcasts

Category

news · religion & spirituality

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

30 Apr 2021

Latest episode

16 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

873 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   16 Oct 2026

   Canadian Jewish military member takes legal action after nearly 30 discrimination claims rejected

   Note: This episode contains explicit and offensive language. When the Canadian Armed Forces issued an official apology in October 2025 for decades of racial discrimination and harassment experienced by its members, Toronto-based Capt. Rabbi Jonathan Jaffit, a Jewish officer, was one of many who subsequently applied to a Federal Court–approved claims process to receive financial compensation and restorative justice. The landmark $150-million class action lawsuit at the source of the compensation package was filed in 2016 by three military veterans who were released from their service early after years of bullying and harassment because they were Black or Indigenous. The military settled without accepting liability. Deloitte was mandated to process the claims. The claims portal closed Thursday, Oct. 15— and, as The CJN reported in our full-length investigative story (https://thecjn.ca/news/jewish-canadian-armed-forces-members-rejected-from-150-million-racial-discrimination-settlement/), nearly 30 Jewish claimants have had their applications rejected. Like Jaffit, they received the same form letter from Deloitte saying their racial identity made them ineligible. The court-approved Final Settlement Agreement uses a broad scope to define racial discrimination, including race, ethnicity, colour and/or Indigeneity. So why has Deloitte told the Jewish claimants it is applying only the narrower Employment Equity Act requirements, and adhering to the categories of “visible minorities” as per the national census? Capt. Jaffit has now taken legal action (https://thecjn.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/2026-10-15-Jaffit-Motion-Record-Leave-to-Intervene.pdf) on behalf of the Jewish members. His lawyer applied Thursday, Oct. 15, to the Federal Court to become an intervener in this class action case. He joins a second application, by a non-Jewish French Canadian officer whose claim was also rejected, which was filed earlier this fall. On today’s episode of The CJN’s North Star podcast, host Ellin Bessner brings you the latest developments and an interview not with Jaffit—who is not allowed to speak to the media—but with a second Jewish member whose claim was rejected. We have disguised their identity to protect their career. Related links Read our full length investigation in print on The CJN's website (https://thecjn.ca/news/jewish-canadian-armed-forces-members-rejected-from-150-million-racial-discrimination-settlement/). Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner (@ebessner (https://twitter.com/ebessner) ) Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Izzie Helenchilde (producer and video editor), Michael Fraiman (executive producer), Alicia Richler (editorial director) Music: Bret Higgins (https://www.brethiggins.com/) Support our show Subscribe to North Star. (https://thecjn.ca/north-star/)https://thecjn.ca/newsletters/ (https://thecjn.ca/newsletters/) Subscribe to The CJN newsletter (https://thecjn.ca/newsletters/) Watch our podcasts on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@TheCJN) Donate to The CJN (https://thecjn.ca/donate/) (+ get a charitable tax receipt)

2. 

   14 Oct 2026

   After 22 years at the TDSB, Shelley Laskin has a message for her successors

   After six terms and 22 years of public service, Shelley Laskin is stepping away (https://thecjn.ca/news/two-jewish-trustees-reflect-on-their-time-on-the-toronto-district-school-board/) from the Toronto District School Board. The board's longest-serving active trustee has decided not to run again on Oct. 26, when Ontario voters head to the polls and choose their next local leaders. In doing so, one of Toronto's most prominent Jewish advocates at the school board level leaves during a sensitive time. The TDSB has been mired in issues surrounding antisemitism and anti-Zionism ever since Oct. 7, 2023. Last year, the board was commandeered by the provincial government (https://thecjn.ca/news/tdsb-trustees-muzzled-by-provincial-takeover-during-busy-back-to-school-period/), which, Laskin says, left trustees without resources and parents without elected representatives who can properly act on their concerns. But Laskin can point to significant accomplishments, too. She's proud to have helped usher in citywide Holocaust education and her work with the TDSB's Jewish Heritage Committee, which built resources and partnered with other heritage groups on cross-cultural programming. On today's episode of North Star, The CJN's education reporter Zenith Wolfe speaks with Laskin about public education, Jewish inclusion, local democracy and what she wants the next generation of trustees to understand. Zachary Kauffman sits in for Ellin Bessner. Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner (@ebessner (https://twitter.com/ebessner) ) Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Izzie Helenchilde (producer and video editor), Michael Fraiman (executive producer), Alicia Richler (editorial director) Music: Bret Higgins (https://www.brethiggins.com/) Support our show Subscribe to North Star (https://thecjn.ca/north-star/)https://thecjn.ca/newsletters/ (https://thecjn.ca/newsletters/) Subscribe to The CJN newsletter (https://thecjn.ca/newsletters/) Watch our podcasts on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@TheCJN) Donate to The CJN (https://thecjn.ca/donate/) (+ get a charitable tax receipt)

3. 

   9 Oct 2026

   Grieving Out Loud: Inside Toronto’s new open mic for loss

   When Rachel Carmela’s mother died just before the COVID pandemic, her family was able to sit shiva. But the sudden lockdown in March 2020 curtailed communal gatherings where she could say Kaddish for the rest of her year of mourning. At the time, Carmela was working as a music and mindfulness teacher. She began writing songs to help cope with her grief and immersed herself in books and courses on the subject. When pandemic restrictions ended, Carmela found there were few spaces where young adults like her could publicly express grief through song and poetry after the initial loss. So she created one. She calls it Grieving Out Loud, a series of pay-what-you-can gatherings in Toronto that launched in late August. The second session, on Oct. 1, sold out, with about 75 people registered, although only a few performed at the microphone. Carmela is now trained in expressive arts therapy. Over two hours, with yoga mats and tea available, she helps people living with grief find community without requiring them to talk about a specific loss, whether a person, pet or life circumstance. While most participants have not been Jewish, Carmela plans to expand the open-mic gatherings to include events specifically for Jewish audiences, including opportunities to process collective grief over Oct. 7. She joins host Ellin Bessner on today’s episode of The CJN’s North Star podcast to discuss the open mics where grief takes the stage. Related links Learn more about Creative Grieving, and follow founder Rachel Carmela, the therapist, through her Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/creativegrieving/). Read a new op-ed by Ezra Shanken about Canadian Jews being denied even their own Oct. 7 grief in The CJN (https://thecjn.ca/opinion/letters/letter-is-nothing-sacred/). A new book by a Canadian Rabbi Avraham Plotkin, who is also a bereaved father, on how to cope with the death of a difficult parent, in The CJN (https://thecjn.ca/podcasts/zoom-funerals-socially-distanced-shivas-one-rabbis-guide-to-coping-with-death-during-covid-and-beyond/). Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner (@ebessner (https://twitter.com/ebessner) ) Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Izzie Helenchilde (producer and video editor),l Michael Fraiman (executive producer), Alicia Richler (editorial director) Music: Bret Higgins (https://www.brethiggins.com/) Support our show (https://thecjn.ca/north-star/) (https://thecjn.ca/newsletters/) Subscribe to North Star (https://thecjn.ca/north-star/) Get our free newsletter (https://thecjn.ca/newsletter/) (https://thecjn.ca/newsletters/) Watch our podcasts on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@TheCJN) Donate to The CJN (https://thecjn.ca/donate/) (+ get a charitable tax receipt)

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

6 ratings

Spotify

4.7 / 5

17 ratings

Contact The CJN Daily with Ellin Bessner

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

Shows with a similar audience

• 

  Wondering Jews with Mijal and Noam

• 

  For Heaven's Sake

• 

  Call Me Back - with Dan Senor

• 

  Ask Haviv Anything

• 

  Boundless Insights - with Aviva Klompas

• 

  Being Jewish with Jonah Platt