jns writer

Carin M. Smilk

Carin M. Smilk is managing editor of JNS.

news
Pittsburgh Synagogue Massacre
Grief into action: Fundraisers, volunteering, Shabbat programs, even therapy pets, on Pittsburgh college campuses
Carin M. Smilk02.11.2018
Hundreds of Jewish students attending Pittsburgh-area colleges face the aftermath of a violent attack that has put their city on the 24-hour news cycle.
A prayer vigil at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh on Oct. 29, 2018, two days after the shooting at the Tree of Life*Or L’Simcha Synagogue that left 11 Jewish worshippers dead. Credit: Chabad of CMU.
brief
JNF-USA Gaza border-crisis tour in 11 major cities puts spotlight on civilian needs
Carin M. Smilk31.08.2018
Three Israeli speakers told powerful stories of resilience in the face of Hamas protests and arson terror since March 30, the beginning of the Palestinian “March of Return.”
More than 200 people attended a JNF-USA presentation on “Gaza Border Crisis: The Trauma, The Damage, The Needs,” at Temple Beth Hillel-Beth El in Wynnewood, Pa., outside of Philadelphia, Aug. 29, 2018. Credit: Alex Raskopin/Master Studio Photography.
feature
Longtime Boston Federation president Barry Shrage looks back, forges ahead
Carin M. Smilk24.08.2018
A veritable encyclopedia of Jewish history and events, he’s had his hands—and those of his organization—dug deep into nearly every major issue in contemporary Jewish life.
Barry Shrage, president of Combined Jewish Philanthropies in Boston for three decades, now at Brandeis University. Summer 2018. Credit: CJP.
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High Holidays 2018
Tapping into the ‘Golden Age’ of cantorial music for the 21st century
Carin M. Smilk13.08.2018
Ordained Chabad rabbi and cantor Aryeh Leib Hurwitz has traveled the world honing his voice and performing skills, and is now part of an effort to revive the classic tradition of “chazzonus,” the quasi-operatic Jewish music of more than a century ago.
With jazz backup, Cantor Aryeh Leib Hurwitz sings “Sheyibone,” a fundamental Jewish prayer beseeching G-d to rebuild the Beit Hamikdash (Holy Temple), ushering in a period of global unity and harmony. Credit: Courtesy.
column
Rabbi Abraham Cooper and Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein13.07.2018
Peace in the Mideast cannot be built with platitudes
When religious leaders—in this case, the pope himself—offer nothing but bromides instead of practical ideas that can work, many of the faithful tune out or just check out altogether.
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Providing economic, spiritual and emotional support to those afflicted by terror
Carin M. Smilk18.05.2018
The Chabad Terror Victims Project regularly coordinates all kinds of relief for Israeli terror victims and their families, including hospital, rehabilitation-center and home visits, and arranging bar and bat mitzvah ceremonies for orphaned children.
Rabbi Menachem Kutner, director of the Chabad Terror Victims Project, brings a gift to Ural Yelizarov, who was wounded in the head by a Grad rocket in Beersheva during “Operation Cast Lead” in 2014. Credit: CTVP.
news
Jewish groups praise Iceland committee’s proposal against banning circumcision
Carin M. Smilk30.04.2018
If passed, it would have represented the first official ban on brit milahs in Europe.
Parliament Building in Reykjavík, Iceland. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.
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‘Everybody’s Birthright Experience’
Carin M. Smilk24.04.2018
Annual trip to Israel inspires and empowers young adults with special needs, many of them away from home for the first time.
White-water rafting in Israel was a highlight for participants on a Birthright Israel trip for young adults with special needs. (Courtesy of the Friendship Circle)
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Chabad heads to Iceland as 3,000 women emissaries celebrate at ‘day of strength for all the Mushkas’
Carin M. Smilk12.02.2018
At a gala banquet Sunday marking the 30th anniversary of her passing and the closing event of the annual conference of Chabad-Lubavitch Women Emissaries (Kinus Hashluchos), it was revealed that a young couple will soon be moving to Reykjavik to open Chabad of Iceland—meaning every major capital in Europe now has a Chabad center.
A shot of all the participants of the International Conference of Shluchos at the Chabad-Lubavitch World Headquarters in Crown Heights, NY. Credit: Chavi Konikov.
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