With so many Jewish cultural events happening in May—film festivals, literary celebrations and the Walk with Israel, not to mention the Israeli holidays of Independence Day and Yom HaShoah—it’s no accident that the Canadian government, in 2018, announced May would be Canadian Jewish Heritage Month. On the show today, Conservative senator Linda Frum and former Liberal MP Michael Levitt join to discuss how they helped usher this official designation into law.

The CJN Daily is written and hosted by Ellin Bessner, who you can follow on Twitter at @ebessner. Victoria Redden is the producer. Michael Fraiman is the executive producer. Our theme music is by Dov Beck-Levine. Our title sponsor is Metropia.

Welcome to the first episode of The CJN Daily. Today, host Ellin Bessner focuses on the tragedy that killed 45 people and injured more than 150 others during what was supposed to be a celebration for Lag b'Omer on Mount Meron. Ellin talks with Dr. Oded Oron, a visiting scholar with the Israel Institute, who explains what the event is supposed to be—and how it all went wrong. After that, Dr. Ira Robinson, director of the Concordia Institute for Canadian Jewish Studies, talks about the anti-Zionist Toldos Aharon Hasidic sect, which played a central role in the lethal events.

The CJN Daily is written and hosted by Ellin Bessner, who you can follow on Twitter at @ebessner. Victoria Redden is the producer. Michael Fraiman is the executive producer. Our theme music is by Dov Beck-Levine. Our title sponsor is Metropia.