On Israel’s 78th birthday, Israelis are marking that moment during a very different reality—two years after the October 7 attack, and in the wake of a ceasefire from a widening regional conflict that includes the U.S., Iran, Hezbollah in Lebanon.

In 1948, the founders declared Israel’s independence with a manually typed paper invitation to a secret, hurried ceremony in a secure basement, with a sense of both triumph and fear. Modern Israel has a powerful army, but the country continues to sacrifice its young defenders, while Israelis have spent countless hours in recent months sheltering in their secure basements and safe rooms to hide from incoming enemy rockets and drones.

This Yom ha-Atzmaut, our guests say the Jewish State is both an idea fulfilled, and a story that is still unfolding.

On today’s episode of The CJN’s North Star podcast, host Ellin Bessner brings you her interviews with two guests who embody the story of Israel: Hadassa Kingstone, 89, who was an eye witness to the birth of her country, and David Matlow, The CJN’s “Treasure Trove” columnist.

• Follow David Matlow’s “Treasure Trove” columns about the history of Israel through his vast collection of Zionist and Herzl memorabilia, in The CJN .
• Our readers share their own memories of Israel on her recent 75th birthday, in The CJN from 2023 .
• Hear Israeli American writer Yossi Klein Halevi, who lives part time in British Columbia, speak for Israel’s 76th birthday on why Israelis are "still an enormously powerful people” after Oct. 7, on The CJN Daily .

Credits

• Host and writer: Ellin Bessner ( @ebessner )
• Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer), Alicia Richler (editorial director)
• Music: Bret Higgins

Support our show

• Subscribe to The CJN newsletter
• Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt)
• Subscribe to North Star (Not sure how? Click here )
• Watch our podcasts on YouTube.
• Help others find this podcast by leaving us a review for “North Star” on Apple Podcasts via your iPhone or iPad device, or with your Android. (Spotify allows only starred ratings but you can do that, too!)

In his new book, Out of the Sky: Heroism and Rebirth in Nazi Europe, Matti Friedman sets out to uncover the short life of Holocaust heroine Hannah Senesh and several of her comrades. It is the second book of late to revisit the story of the Hungarian-born Zionist who became a British-trained parachutist sent from Mandatory Palestine into Nazi-occupied Europe.

Friedman argues that after Senesh’s capture and execution in 1944, the young State of Israel helped shape her into a national icon because of a broader need for stories of heroism to inspire the next generation. His book is dedicated to the memories of two modern-day symbols of Jewish bravery after Oct. 7 whom Friedman knew personally: slain hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin, the young Nova Festival captive and Yuval Shoham, his friend who was an IDF tank corpsman and went searching for Hersh while on duty in Gaza before he, too, lost his life.

The book arrives ahead of Yom ha-Shoah, Yom ha-Zikaron—the memorial day for Israel’s war dead including victims of terrorism, which begins tonight—and Yom ha-Atzmaut, Israel’s Independence Day, which falls the day after.

On today’s episode of The CJN’s North Star podcast, host Ellin Bessner speaks with Matti Friedman about why, tragically, heroism is still being asked of the descendants of Senesh’s generation.

Related links

• Learn more about Matti’s Friedman and his new book “Out of the Sky: Heroism and Rebirth in Nazi Europe” by McClelland and Stewart Canada .
• Watch the new rap song about Hannah Senesh by Kosha Dillz, on YouTube .
• Hear Canadian author Douglas Century explain why he resisted Hannah Senesh’s life in his new book which came out in November 2025, called “Crash of the Heavens”, on The CJN’s North Star podcast.

Credits

• Host and writer: Ellin Bessner ( @ebessner )
• Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer), Alicia Richler (editorial director)
• Music: Bret Higgins

Support our show

• Subscribe to The CJN newsletter
• Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt)
• Subscribe to North Star (Not sure how? Click here )
• Watch our podcasts on YouTube.
• Help others find this podcast by leaving us a review for “North Star” on Apple Podcasts via your iPhone or iPad device, or with your Android. (Spotify allows only starred ratings but you can do that, too!)

Forgiveness is often framed as a moral ideal. But what happens when the wound is still open?

In his new book The Forgiveness Experiment, Rabbi Yisroel Bernath of Montreal makes the case that forgiveness is a form of self-liberation, not a gift to those who caused you harm.

After Yom ha-Shoah but ahead of Yom ha-Zikaron on Monday April 20, that idea collides with a painful reality: for many Jews, October 7 is not history: it is still happening. As is the war with Iran and Hezbollah.

Among the 30,000 soldiers and victims of terror being remembered is the name of Yotam Haim. The kidnapped Israeli hostage managed to escape his captors in Gaza but then was mistakenly killed by the IDF. His family has publicly forgiven the troops involved.

That story of grace despite horrific pain is part of Rabbi Bernath’s new book. Bernath is a relationship expert, leader with the Chabad community in N.D.G. and at Concordia University. He lays out his own personal path and tackles the question of how to move on from being a victim.

On today’s episode of The CJN’s “North Star” podcast, Rabbi Bernath sits down with our producer Andrea Varsany to reveal how he did it.

Related links

• Learn more about Rabbi Yisroel Bernath
• Find the book “ The Forgiveness Experiment” to read his lessons on forgiveness and on moving forward from trauma and pain to peace.
• Rabbi Bernath was one of The CJN’s relationship columnists before the pandemic and now runs a Jewish matchmaking service.

Credits

• Host and writer: Ellin Bessner ( @ebessner )
• Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Andrea Varsany (producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer), Alicia Richler (editorial director)
• Music: Bret Higgins

Support our show

• Subscribe to The CJN newsletter
• Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt)
• Subscribe to North Star (Not sure how? Click here )
• Watch our podcasts on YouTube.
• Help others find this podcast by leaving us a review for “North Star” on Apple Podcasts via your iPhone or iPad device, or with your Android. (Spotify allows only starred ratings but you can do that, too!)