Former Supreme Court Law Clerk Founds National Breast Cancer Organization For Young Jewish Women

Former Supreme Court Law Clerk Founds National Breast Cancer Organization For Young Jewish Women

Teaneck, New Jersey (November 29, 2001)–Rochelle Shoretz, former Law Clerk to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg of the United States Supreme Court, has founded Sharsheret, a national not-for-profit organization of cancer survivors dedicated to addressing the unique challenges facing young Jewish women living with breast cancer. By pairing those in their 20s and 30s who share similar life experiences as well as diagnoses, Sharsheret aims to provide support and resources for young Jewish women fighting breast cancer.

Ms. Shoretz, age 29, is a graduate of Barnard College (Phi Beta Kappa ’95) and Columbia Law School (Kent Scholar ‘96), where she served as an editor of the Columbia Law Review. She has worked as a law clerk for a federal Court of Appeals judge, as a litigator in a large New York law firm, as a speechwriter intern for former Mayor David Dinkins, and as a reporter intern for Business Week Magazine. In 1999, Ms. Shoretz became as far as it is known the first Orthodox Jewish woman, and the first woman raising two children, to clerk for a Supreme Court Justice. This year, Justice Ginsburg selected Ms. Shoretz to be named an American Jewish Congress Fellow and to receive a $10,000 stipend to facilitate advancement in the field of law.

At the age of 28, Ms. Shoretz was diagnosed with breast cancer and, inspired by a conversation with another woman newly diagnosed, recognized the unique support young Jewish women could offer each other in addressing the challenges of life with cancer. Common concerns include relationships and intimacy, pregnancy after diagnosis, child rearing, community outreach, genetic risks (particularly in the Ashkenazi Jewish population), and the role of religion in daily life with cancer. While undergoing chemotherapy treatment, Ms. Shoretz began work on Sharsheret, which aims to connect young Jewish women, recently diagnosed, with volunteers who can share their experiences, both personal and medical, to support and inform others. The name Sharsheret, Hebrew for chain, was selected to symbolize the bond between women, united in experience and strengthened by one another as links in a chain.

For more information about Sharsheret, please contact Amy Mines Tadelis, Director of Outreach and Public Relations, at (973) 438-7800.