Campus Jewish Groups Highlight Cancer Awareness by Going Pink

The pink tablecloths and plates at the local party supplies store had never particularly caught her eye before, but by the time Raizy Rubin noticed the donations from a local party supply store, the color had acquired a new significance.

The co-director of the Shabbos House Jewish Student Center, a Chabad-Lubavitch center serving the University at Albany, and her student board had already been thinking about hosting an event to highlight the plight of women suffering from breast cancer and the search for a cure. When the pink paper goods arrived, the die was cast. They held their Pink Shabbat late last month to coincide with the university’s Parents’ Weekend.

Thanks to the publicity campaigns of the Pink Ribbon Foundation, Sharsheret and other organizations, pink has become the unofficial color of a host of campaigns to raise public awareness about breast cancer. Nationwide last month – the unofficial Breast Cancer Awareness Month – campus-based Chabad Houses joined in the fight. In Albany, the pink-themed Shabbat lunch featured such items as mayonnaise tinted pink from the addition of a beet and horseradish condiment known as chrein, pink deli meats, and strawberry imitation ice cream.

More than 70 people attended the event, and students resolved to organize a relay team for their university’s annual Relay For Life walk-a-thon next March. The Chabad House’s student group, L’Chaim, partnered with Students at Albany Against Cancer to hand out brochures and other materials at the event, and two students made a short presentation about cancer awareness and prevention. The Chabad House also drew up its own list of facts and information, which included a list of Jewish organizations committed to helping find a cure.

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