Thanks to Ben Israel’s initiative, we had a Sharsheret #PinkDay2014 at Torah-Tuesday complete with pink papergoods for Jewish breast cancer awareness. The class that night was Part II about the chain of Jewish history, from “Sinai to SUNY” that touched upon the Ashkenazi-Sephardi divide that began about 1,000 years ago. We did 1500 years of Jewish history in 45 minutes, a birds-eye nutshell view.
Sharsheret (an organization that does breast cancer awareness and support specifically for the Jewish community) means chain in Hebrew. And it is an unfortunate fact that Ashkenazi women have a much higher likelihood of developing breast cancer than other populations. Each participant got a Sharsheret pen and we talked a bit about Sharsheret’s effort to raise awareness and generate support for those dealing with this issue in the Jewish community. The pink cups were to raise a “glass” of L’chaim in tribute, support and filled with well-wishes.