The Canadian Jewish News is a non-profit, national, English-language digital-first media organization that serves

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

‘s Jewish community. A national edition of the newspaper was published for 60 years in Toronto. A weekly Montreal edition in English with some French began its run in 1976. The newspaper announced its closure in 2013 but was able to continue after restructuring and reorganizing. It again announced its closure on April 2, 2020, due to the impact of the

COVID-19 pandemic in Canada The COVID-19 pandemic in Canada is part of the ongoing worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (). It is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). Most cases over the course of the pandemic have been in Ontario, Que ...

on its finances. Its final weekly print edition was published on April 9, 2020. In December 2020, it announced its return as a digital-first media company with a new president, Bryan Borzykowski.

History

The ‘’Canadian Jewish News’’ was founded by M. J. Nurenberger, a friend of

Menachem Begin Menachem Begin ( ''Menaḥem Begin'' (); pl, Menachem Begin (Polish documents, 1931–1937); ''Menakhem Volfovich Begin''; 16 August 1913 – 9 March 1992) was an Israeli politician, founder of Likud and the sixth Prime Minister of Israel. ...

and supporter of his

Herut Herut ( he, חֵרוּת, ''Freedom'') was the major conservative nationalist political party in Israel from 1948 until its formal merger into Likud in 1988. It was an adherent of Revisionist Zionism. History Herut was founded by Menachem Begin ...

party, and his wife Dorothy and was first published on Friday, January 1, 1960, and was the first exclusively English-language Jewish newspaper published in

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

. The CJN was considered a “provocative” paper into the 1970s but was later considered something of a “lapdog for the community”. The original CJN hewed a line that supported the right in Israeli politics and was critical of the liberal leadership of the Canadian Jewish community at the time as well as community institutions such as B'nai Brith and the

United Jewish Appeal The United Jewish Appeal (UJA) was a Jewish philanthropic umbrella organization that existed from its creation in 1939 until it was folded into the United Jewish Communities, which was formed from the 1999 merger of United Jewish Appeal (UJA), ...

, the latter for its secrecy in how it dispersed money. According to his daughter, Atara Beck, “He believed that a newspaper should be a thorn in the side of the establishment.” In 1971, following the death of his wife, Nurenberger sold the newspaper for $30,000 to a group of community leaders that included

Shoppers Drug Mart Shoppers Drug Mart Inc. (named Pharmaprix in Quebec) is a Canadian retail pharmacy chain based in Toronto, Ontario. It has more than 1,300 stores in nine provinces and two territories. The company was founded by pharmacist Murray Koffler in 1 ...

founder Murray Koffler and real estate developer Albert Latner and was led by philanthropist and businessman Ray Wolfe."Drawing the line: There are many subjects writers can discuss in The Canadian Jewish News. Criticizing the security policies of the Israeli government is not one of them"
, ‘’Ryerson Review of Journalism’’, Spring 2005 Though independent, the newspaper has been owned, since 1971, by a group of Jewish leaders allied with what was then the

Canadian Jewish Congress The Canadian Jewish Congress (, , ) was, for more than ninety years, the main advocacy group for the Jewish community in Canada. Regarded by many as the "Parliament of Canadian Jewry," the Congress was at the forefront of the struggle for human ...

. Nurenburger soon regretted his decision, discouraged by the new version of the paper’s reticence to challenge the community’s establishment, and started the ‘’Jewish Times’’ in 1974, which was decidedly more right wing than CJN under its new management, and continued publication into the early 1990s. In 1979, it adopted editorial guidelines that prevent articles from criticizing the state of Israel’s security policies. By 2013, the CJN had a circulation of 40,000 copies per week.

Suspension

On April 22, 2013, the newspaper issued termination notices to its 50 staff and announced that it will cease printing with its June 20 edition due to financial constraints. The publishers sought benefactors to provide funding that would allow the CJN to continue as an exclusively online publication less reliant on advertising.

Resumption of publication and second closure

On June 14, 2013, the CJN’s board announced that it would resume publication of its print edition in August 2013 after moving to smaller offices and pending the results of a subscription and advertising drive and various changes to the newspaper’s business model. Among others, editor Mordechai Ben-Dat and senior staffer and columnist Sheldon Kirshner were let go. The newspaper was subsequently reorganized under new leadership, and with a drastically reduced staff, beginning in January 2014, with Elizabeth Wolfe, daughter of Ray Wolfe, becoming president and former

Jerusalem Report ''The Jerusalem Report'' is a fortnightly print and online news magazine that covers political, security, economic, religious and cultural issues in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world. Founded as an independent weekly publication in 199 ...

National Post The ''National Post'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet newspaper available in several cities in central and western Canada. The paper is the flagship publication of Postmedia Network and is published Mondays through Saturdays, with ...

and

Maclean's ''Maclean's'', founded in 1905, is a Canadian news magazine reporting on Canadian issues such as politics, pop culture, and current events. Its founder, publisher John Bayne Maclean, established the magazine to provide a uniquely Canadian pers ...

journalist Yoni Goldstein becoming the newspaper’s editor. Goldstein subsequently introduced a more diverse range of contributors to the newspaper. The content of the newly revamped paper was described as “racier” and was more reliant on freelancers. By 2016, the newspaper’s subscriptions remained mostly unchanged at 31,000, but Wolfe reported advertising and subscription revenues were enough to invest in new projects. The paper announced that it would cease publication with its 9 April 2020 issue, with its final circulation estimated at 32,000. It had suffered from financial shortfalls for years, which were exacerbated by the impact of the

coronavirus pandemic in Canada The COVID-19 pandemic in Canada is part of the ongoing worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (). It is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). Most cases over the course of the pandemic have been in Ontario, Que ...

on its finances. CJN president Elizabeth Wolfe stated that “The CJN suffered from a pre-existing condition and has been felled by

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quick ...

.”

Revival in digital form

In May 2021, The CJN resumed publication once again, for the first time without a physical weekly newspaper. Instead, it returned at a new website, thecjn.ca, which resumed its reporting tradition. In addition, a new email newsletter was created, as well as several weekly podcasts, including ''Bonjour Chai'', hosted by Rabbi Avi Finegold and actors Ilana Zackon and David Sklar; ''Menschwarmers'', about Jews and sports; ''Yehupetzville'', hosted by CBC veteran Ralph Benmergui; ''A Few of My Favourite Jews'' and ''Shticks & Giggles'', interview shows by Yuk Yuks comedian Laura Leibow; and ''The CJN Daily'', a daily newscast hosted by Ellin Bessner, author of Double Threat. In March 2021, The CJN printed their first magazine for past subscribers. It will continue publishing on a quarterly schedule in 2022.

Contributors

Notable contributors to the newspaper have included Jacob Elbaz, J. B. Salsberg, who was a featured columnist in the newspaper for several decades until shortly before his death in 1998, and Rabbi Gunther Plaut, who also contributed a weekly column for many years. In its final years,

Bernie Farber Bernie M. Farber (born 1951) is a writer, commentator, and the former chief executive officer of the Canadian Jewish Congress and a social activist. He has testified before the Canadian courts as an expert witness on hate crime. He was appointed ...

and Barbara Kay were weekly columnists. The main Toronto edition of the CJN had a rotating group of guest columnists: among them were academics Norma Baumel Joseph and Norman Ravvin of Concordia University; Sarah Horowitz of York;

Gil Troy Gil Troy (born 1961) is an American presidential historian and a popular commentator on politics and other issues. He is a professor of history at McGill University. Troy is the author of nine books, and the editor of two. He writes a column for '' ...

of McGill;

Gerald Steinberg Gerald M. Steinberg. a professor of politics at Bar Ilan University, is an Israeli academic, political scientist, and political activist. He is founder and president of NGO Monitor, a policy analysis think tank focusing on non-governmental or ...

of Bar-Ilan University, as well as Jean Gerber in Vancouver, and Rabbi Dow Marmur and Avrum Rosensweig in Toronto. (The Montreal edition featured some others.)

References

{{Reflist

External links

Canadian Jewish News