Chabad Houses Go Pink For Breast Cancer Awareness
Chabad Houses are going pink. October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, dedicated to raising awareness of the disease and many Chabad centers from the Bronx, New York to Austin, Texas, will be joining the campaign, hosting Pink Shabbats at college campuses across the United States.
Organized together with Sharsheret, an organization dedicated to helping Jewish women with breast cancer, “Shabbat Pink raises awareness through a fun and meaningful Shabbat experience,” Elana Silber, Director of Operations at Sharsheret, told Lubavitch.com. “One in forty Jews of Ashkenazi descent, have BRCA1 mutation which increases the risk. Therefore these events are important to raise awareness, so they are aware and they could speak to their doctors and learn about how to detect the tests early.”
Malka Werde, Chabad representative at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) in New York City, is going all out to make Pink Shabbat feel very pink with pink cutlery, salads and desert. “Professors on campus, parents of students, are survivors of the disease, our goal is to teach students to detect the sickness in its earliest stages and save lives,” says Werde. The Shabbat dinner will take place at FIT on evening of October 24th.
At Tulane University in New Orleans, partnering with the local AEPhi, students were encouraged to bring their friends and pledge towards every student who attends. The funds collected are donated to Sharsheret. “It is a meaningful experience for the students to celebrate Shabbat and raise awareness for the disease,” says Sara Rivkin, Chabad representative at Tulane.
“In addition to the awareness, the event destigmatizes the cancer for the attendees and makes families of survivors more comfortable to speak about their experience,” Werde says.
wow1
Amazing cause! So happy to see Chabad giving such support. :)
dismayed
Tznius! There’s a certain concept of aydelkeit in language which is expected from a yid and especially a chosid – this is regardless of the importance of the cause. Some of us who have sadly becomes numbed to this refinement will indignantly protest my comment, yet ask any Lubavitcher the over 40 of such language was heard in their home while they were growing up.
Please no pink
Why pink?? This is indeed a worthy program. There are few families who have not had a female member not affected by breast cancer to some degree, even if only a scare of begnign nature. However, pink has become too comercialized. As a two time breast cancer patient and sister and friend of others who have confronted it and as a Jewish woman and a Chassidiste of the Rebbe I find that the fearmongering is unwarranted. Please realize that too much money is being used for advertising and merchandising rather than going toward actual patient needs. Wearing a pink garment, using a pink can opener, eating pink cupcakes, etc. do little to help either individuals or those working to eliminate this affliction. Progams with neither fearmongering nor tears can teach the signs and means of detecting this and other diseases and encourage informed and sensible direction of dollars – individual and corporate – are better than all the pinkness. The most important asset we as Chabdniks can contribute to a progam on breast cancer awareness is the positive attitude of our tradition both as Jews and as Chassids.
און וועלכער קאליר
און וועלכער קאליר וועט זיין דעם שבת פאר’ן פראסטייט יענער מחלה אֵווערנעס וואך?
אדער פאר זכרים איז קיין פאליטיקעל קארעקטנעס נישטא
און אפשר גאר שעמט מען זיך צו ריידן וועגן פראסטייט, אויב מען ווייס אפילו וואס דאס איז, אבער ריידען וועגן ברעסט איז שיון גאר ערלויבט