Heroine of the Day

Today's Heroine of the Day is someone I've read about many times, and every new bit of information I discover about her continues to blow me away.

Rochelle Shoretz is a young, Orthodox Jewish mother, who grew up in the Orthodox enclave of Flatbush, NY. She attended Barnard College, and then Columbia University Law School, graduating Phi Beta Kappa. After completing a clerkship for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, she took some time off to be a full-time mother to her two sons. On this break, at the age of only 28, she was shockingly diagnosed with Stage II breast cancer after she found a lump in one of her breasts. She had surgery, followed by chemotherapy. During that difficult time, Shoretz looked in vain for advice and support from people who were going or had gone through a similar experience to hers. She came up blank. A young mother who is a cancer survivor understandably has some completely different issues from those of the most common breast cancer patient - a middle-aged or post-menopausal woman. In Shoretz's own words:

I had a medical team, and there were many offers to connect me with older women with cancer, but they couldn't identify with the issues I was facing: raising children, fertility, career, supporting a mother who had a daughter with breast cancer. More frightening than living with cancer is believing that you are the only person like you living with cancer.

So, while she was in the middle of treatment with chemotherapy, Shoretz started an organization she called Sharsheret. Her aim was to create a support system to provide for the unique needs of Jewish women in their 20's, 30's and 40's who were suffering from cancer. And it seems like she achieved tremendous success in those goals. Some of Sharsheret's programs (as outlined on their wonderful website):

* The Link Program, a peer support network connecting women newly diagnosed or at high risk of developing breast cancer with others who share similar diagnoses and experiences.
* Education and Outreach Programs, including community outreach events in private homes as well as health care symposia addressing the concerns of Jewish women facing breast cancer. Recent events addressed the subjects of breast cancer and fertility, parenting during breast cancer, breast cancer genetics, and survivorship.
* Quality of Life Programs, including the Busy Box for young parents facing cancer, Best Face Forward, a program to address the cosmetic side effects of treatment, and Embrace for women living with advanced breast cancer.
* Sharsheret Booklet Series, designed to raise awareness about issues many Jewish women face in their fight against breast cancer. Booklets in the series include: Facing Breast Cancer as a Jewish Woman, Facing Breast Cancer as an Orthodox Jewish Woman, and Breast Cancer Genetics and the Jewish Woman.
* Health Information about breast health and the genetic risks of breast and ovarian cancer for Jewish women.
* Resource Information on a wide range of topics for women facing breast cancer and their families, available in print and on our website.

In my research on the organization, I came across an item that I found particularly amazing:

With the help of a 2004 grant from Komen Greater NYC, Sharsheret launched its “Education and Support Initiative Targeting Hasidic and Ultra-Orthodox Jewish Women.” “While we have always welcomed a very diverse group of women from all walks of Jewish life, we realized that we were not doing a great job addressing issues faced by Ultra-Orthodox and Hasidic Jewish women. Komen’s generous grant was enough to create a successful program,” says Shoretz.

In today's day and age, with such an unfortunate disconnect between different segments of the Orthodox world, it is so heartening to see that Shoretz, who is clearly from a more Modern Orthodox walk of Judaism, recognize and embrace the needs of a different demographic of the Orthodox community.

This unbelievable woman is an example of someone who saw a void, and filled it. Instead of focusing on her own formidable needs in a time of great personal trials, she focused on and worked for the needs of the Klall. For me, her amazing story particularly hits home because of her identity as a Orthodox Jewish working mother. But I think Shoretz's husband, Tani Mirsky, summed it up best, as recounted by Shoretz:

"One night before the whole idea for the organization exploded, I turned to my husband and said, 'Do we want to do this as a family?' He responded that, 'I'm going to heaven on your coattails.'"

(hat tip for getting this into my head)