Until the very last day, pollsters predicted the 2024 U.S. presidential election would be too close to call, with just a fraction of a percentage point separating Donald Trump from his Democratic rival, Kamala Harris. Many observers predicted a repeat of 2020, when Trump refused to concede, resulting in riots on Capitol Hill. But as the votes rolled in on Nov. 5, 2024, it became clear Trump was on pace to win a resounding victory for the Republicans and a surprise second term in the White House.

As of Wednesday night, Trump has been elected with 295 electoral collage votes, compared to Harris’s 226, complemented by a victory in the popular vote. Trump’s party also took control of the Senate and will likely control the House of Representatives, although those ballots are still being counted.

Political science professor Donald Abelson of McMaster University in Hamilton had an eye-witness perspective of the final hours of the election from his perch in Washington, D.C. Meanwhile, David Weinfeld, a Canadian-born professor of American Jewish history, was monitoring the election results from his home in the swing state of Pennsylvania, where he had previously been a volunteer canvassing for the Democrats.

Abelson and Weinfeld joined The CJN Daily‘s Ellin Bessner shortly after Kamala Harris called Trump to concede defeat Wednesday. Together, they unpack what Trump’s victory means for Jews, Israel, Canada and the world. Their take? While some pro-Israel advocates may be excited, Trump will almost certainly not be a reliable ally for Jews.

What we talked about

• Read more about professor Donald E. Abelson in The CJN, and learn about his new books on U.S. politics, here and here.
• David Weinfeld has been a columnist for The CJN, and most recently was a guest panelist on The CJN Daily’s Canada Day episode on why Canadian Jews feel vulnerable in a post-Oct. 7 world.
• Why the "Tree of Life" synagogue shooting in Pittsburgh in 2018 was a turning point for Jews in America and not in a good way, by David Weinfeld in The CJN archives.

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)

After the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023, Sharon Zohar wanted to take action. The serial entrepreneur, no stranger to kickstarting new organizations, decided to start a grassroots movement called EnoughTO, aimed at bringing civility back to the streets of Toronto. But rather than strengthen the city and its myriad communities, she says, "all I got was hate."

The response shocked her. She withdrew to her home and decided, instead, to try and express herself in a more personal way—through poetry. She immediately felt refreshed and invigorated. That led her to reach out to OneFamily Fund, an organization that helps Israeli victims of terror, which agreed to partner on a new poetry anthology that publishes writers from around the world reflecting on this new post-Oct. 7 reality.

That anthology, Proof of Life: An Exploration of Conflict, Survival, and the Human Spirit Post October 7th, was released last month, on the one-year anniversary of Oct. 7. To explain more about the book, Sharon Zohar sat down with Ellin Bessner for an intimate interview that dives deep into her creative process and how she recruited collaborators to make it happen.

Relevant links

• Buy the book at proofoflifeanthology.myshopify.com
• Learn more about OneFamily Fund
• Read about one of Sharon Zohar's earlier fundraisers, a lemonade stand that raised thousands of dollars to combat homelessness, in The CJN archives (from 2012)

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)

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)