Over the course of 2022, Sharsheret has distributed $446,000 in financial subsidies to improve the quality of life for 482 … Continue reading →

The poet Yehuda Amichai must not have been privileged to have an encounter with Rochelle Shoretz, the founder of Sharsheret, when he crafted the poem:

A man doesn’t have time in his life
to have time for everything.
He doesn’t have seasons enough to have
a season for every purpose.

Ecclesiastes was wrong about that.

Rochelle Shoretz, a woman who embraced her gifts and used them to navigate her challenges, was 28 years old and had just finished clerking for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg of the United States Supreme Court when she noticed an indentation in one of her breasts.  It was Stage II cancer, and she beat it.  While on chemotherapy, she opted to decline lucrative and prestigious legal jobs, and instead began Sharsheret, an organization that supports thousands of young women with breast cancer.

I think it best to help each of you understand exactly how incredibly special Rochelle was by sharing with you her own words from a journal she kept a few years later in the aftermath of receiving a diagnosis of advanced breast cancer.  One of many poetic entries read:

This morning I went to say Birchat Hachama – a blessing on the sun that is recited every 28 years-with my friends…I had heard about the blessing in Synagogue last weekend, but I didn’t quite recognize the significance of the event until my friend came to visit last night.  She insisted that I go this morning and taught me that at the end of the recitation of the blessing, you are supposed to turn to your right and to your left, and tell each person standing next to you, “See you in 28 years.”

I’ll take 28 years.

So this morning, as the clouds parted to make room for the sun, I recited the blessing with friends and we promised to meet back in the park in 2037.  Then we danced…It was cold, but the sun was shining and I was in the park with the people I love….”

Rochelle, otherwise known as Rochie, by those of us privileged to really know her, did not receive the gift of those 28 years.  But she knew how to make every single moment count, so her “years” were longer than most of ours.

Her secret was that she “stayed in the sunshine,” after all as she herself often cited, “It costs the same as staying in the clouds.”  A dear friend of hers who spoke at her funeral expressed that “Rochie’s life was painted in huge brushstrokes.  She always fired on all 6 cylinders.”

Testimony to that energy is that precisely when first undergoing chemotherapy and radiation therapy at age 28, she founded Sharsheret (Hebrew for “chain”), a national organization supporting young Jewish women facing breast cancer.

When diagnosed for the second time with metastatic breast cancer, Rochie wrote:

“As someone living with a sharpened sense of the value of time, I appreciate, that although I have done a lot of amazing things in 40 short years …..nothing has given my life more meaning than sharing Sharsheret’s unapologetically Jewish message worldwide.”

Sharsheret began as an organization of forging links between women who share a language of experience.  It offered peer support, and continues to do so, in a very real way, for so many women.  Rochelle herself was the first link.  The organization established educational programs; cosmetic support for young women undergoing chemotherapy with a “Best Face Forward” initiative; and Busy Boxes filled with age appropriate toys for the children of young women undergoing chemotherapy to help keep the children happy and occupied.

Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik expounded in an essay entitled Kol Dodi Dofek that when one is suffering: “I ask one simple question: What must the sufferer do so that he (or she) may live through his (or her) suffering? We ask neither about the cause of suffering nor about its purpose, but, rather, about how it might be mended and elevated.”

This is precisely the question Rochie incessantly asked herself.  And answered.

Rochelle Shoretz chose to “stay in the sunshine.”  She shared that “they often say when you lose one of five senses, your others are enhanced….I wonder if life feels so much more powerful and vibrant to me precisely because I lost some of my health.” 

She approached her illness not as fate, but as destiny, building Sharsheret and thereby forging close, critical relationships not only between herself and others but also forging critical connections for a multitude of women who otherwise would have remained so isolated by their illness.  What a powerful role model for each of us. 

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It’s true when they say time flies when you’re having fun.

This summer I had the privilege of interning at Sharsheret. I cannot believe that it has already been nine weeks, and my time at Sharsheret is almost over!

When I first heard about Sharsheret, I did not understand how breast and ovarian cancer were Jewish concerns. I did not understand genetic risk or culturally relevant support. However, over the past nine weeks, I have watched Sharsheret staff with inspiration as they provided individualized support to callers, matched peer supporters, worked with healthcare professionals to provide culturally relevant support to patients, worked on national outreach programs, attended conferences, organized teleconferences, webinars, and medical symposia as resources for survivors and tools to educate others about the most up to date cancer research, and worked with athletes and volunteers to raise awareness about Sharsheret’s mission.

Sharsheret is an extremely welcoming place. I remember how nervous I was my first day as an intern. However, Sharsheret staff went out of their way to make me feel welcome as a member of their team, even on my first day. The passion, dedication, and kindness of Sharsheret staff is contagious, as one cannot help but smile in awe when walking into the Sharsheret office. The office is always bustling with volunteers, students, and staff. The phone is constantly ringing in the clinical office, and the fulfillment center is always bustling with activity as Thriving Again kits, Busy Boxes, and Best Face Forward kits are being sent out to women.

Each day I am more and more amazed by Sharsheret. The callers, the volunteers, the impact, and the energy the organization has is unmatchable. But I am most inspired by the women. The links that keep Sharsheret’s chain growing. The women who debate undergoing genetic testing. The mother newly diagnosed who is already looking to serve as a resource for others. The wife who just finished her first round of chemo. Women at all different stages in their cancer journeys, diagnosed at various stages. The woman who called Sharsheret right before surgery to thank us for our support. We must thank these women for their bravery, courage, and constant inspiration because without them Sharsheret would not exist.

As I near the end of my time at Sharsheret, I want to thank all the women, volunteers, staff, and Sharsheret supporters that help make Sharsheret the incredible organization that it is. I am sad to be leaving, but I look forward to continuing to support Sharsheret and spreading the word about this amazing organization!

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After being diagnosed with breast cancer, some people want to keep the news to themselves or share it only with a small group of loved ones. I was the opposite. I wanted to tell all of my family and friends. I wanted to serve as a “cautionary tale” to prompt my friends in their 30’s and 40’s to perform regular self-exams and get annual mammograms.  I also wanted to surround myself with as many well-wishers as possible.
 
I am fortunate to have a wide circle of friends and family who are loving and supportive.  People from all over the country asked me, “What can I do?  How can I help?” I came up with the idea of making my mastectomy date “Wear Pink for Tammi Day”. I asked everyone to send me pictures of themselves, their family members, and even their pets wearing pink as a way to cheer me up after my surgery.
 
The response was incredible.  On July 14th, the day of my surgery, I received more than 50 photos from friends, acquaintances, and friends-of-friends I didn’t even know, all of them wearing pink and wishing me well.  When my parents and husband visited me in the hospital they wore matching t-shirts airbrushed with my name and a pink ribbon. When I came home from the hospital, our nanny had decorated the entire house in pink.  She and my young sons made a photo collage on pink construction paper of themselves wearing pink and hung it in my bedroom so I could admire the photos as I recuperated in bed. My neighbor’s daughter made a pink beaded bracelet for me and I wear it every day.

I understand that this approach might not be meaningful to everyone, but for me, it was the best I could ever ask for. I felt completely enveloped in love and support which kept me in a bright disposition even on days when I was in pain or scared.  I believe that this love and support helped fuel my recovery and I feel truly blessed to have such wonderful people in my life.  I am very grateful to Sharsheret’s staff for the care packages of literature and comfort items they sent, and especially for providing ongoing support and connecting me with peer supporters. I recently signed up to serve as a peer supporter for other women facing breast cancer and look forward to sharing the kindness and compassion I received with the women of Sharsheret.

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