NEW YORK — As the year 2025 draws to a close, the international Jewish community is marking a poignant milestone: the tenth anniversary of the passing of Rochelle Shoretz, the visionary founder of Sharsheret. What began in 2001 as a small support group gathered around a kitchen table has evolved into a global powerhouse in the fight against breast and ovarian cancer. Today, her sons, Shlomo and Dovid Mirsky, are leading a national year-end campaign to ensure that the organization their mother built continues to serve as a lifeline for the hundreds of thousands of families facing hereditary cancer.
The year-end appeal, titled "Carry Forward Our Mother’s Legacy," serves as both a retrospective of the organization’s unprecedented growth and a strategic roadmap for the future of Jewish communal health support.
Main Facts: From a Kitchen Table to a Global Movement
Sharsheret, the Hebrew word for "chain," was founded on the principle of interconnectedness. In 2001, Rochelle Shoretz, then a 28-year-old former law clerk for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and a mother of two young sons, was diagnosed with breast cancer. At the time, the intersection of Jewish identity and cancer was a landscape defined by silence and stigma.
Today, the organization’s scale is a testament to the necessity of its mission. According to internal data released this month:
- Annual Reach: Sharsheret now provides individualized support and education to more than 275,000 women, men, and families each year.
- Scope of Services: The organization has expanded from simple peer-to-peer matching to a comprehensive suite of programs including genetic counseling, mental health support, financial assistance, and specialized kits for children.
- The 2025 Campaign: The current year-end drive aims to secure the funding necessary to expand Sharsheret’s "Busy Box" program and its outreach to underserved Jewish populations globally.
The Mirsky brothers, who were only three and five years old at the time of their mother’s diagnosis, now stand as the faces of this legacy. Their appeal emphasizes that while the medical landscape has changed significantly since 2001, the emotional and communal needs of those diagnosed remain as urgent as ever.
Chronology: The Evolution of Sharsheret (2001–2025)
2001–2005: The Breaking of Silence
In 2001, cancer was largely a taboo subject within many segments of the Jewish community. When Rochelle Shoretz began her journey, she struggled to find resources that addressed her specific concerns: how to navigate chemotherapy while raising Jewish children, how to maintain a career, and how to reconcile her diagnosis with her religious faith.
The turning point came when she met Lauryn Weiser, another young Jewish mother who was slightly further along in her treatment. This connection became the blueprint for Sharsheret. Along with four other women, Shoretz launched the organization from her dining room table, focusing on "peer support" long before it became a standard of clinical care.
2006–2014: Professionalization and National Recognition
Throughout the mid-2000s, Sharsheret transitioned from a grassroots volunteer effort to a professionalized non-profit. It gained national attention for its focus on the BRCA genetic mutation, which disproportionately affects those of Ashkenazi Jewish descent. Shoretz became a prominent advocate, appearing before the CDC and other national health bodies to demand better resources for young women and minority populations.
2015: A Legacy Defined
In May 2015, Rochelle Shoretz passed away at the age of 42. Her death was a seismic loss for the advocacy community, but she had spent the final years of her life ensuring that Sharsheret was not dependent on a single individual. She institutionalized the "chain" she had started, ensuring that the support system would outlive her own battle.
2016–2025: The Decade of Expansion
Over the last ten years, Sharsheret has undergone a massive expansion. Under new leadership and with the continued involvement of the Mirsky family, the organization moved beyond breast cancer to include ovarian cancer and expanded its focus to include Sephardic and Mizrahi communities, as well as men carrying the BRCA mutation. The introduction of digital health initiatives and international partnerships has turned the "dining room table" project into a global standard for culturally sensitive healthcare.
Supporting Data: The Biological and Social Imperative
The necessity for Sharsheret is backed by stark clinical data. Research consistently shows that women of Ashkenazi Jewish descent have a 1 in 40 chance of carrying a BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene mutation—nearly ten times the rate of the general population. These mutations significantly increase the lifetime risk of developing breast and ovarian cancer.
Furthermore, Sharsheret’s internal metrics highlight the holistic nature of their impact:
- The Busy Box Program: Designed to help parents explain cancer to young children, this program has distributed tens of thousands of kits containing toys, books, and resources. Shlomo and Dovid Mirsky frequently cite these boxes as the primary reason they were able to cope with their mother’s illness as toddlers.
- Genetic Education: Since 2015, Sharsheret has increased its genetic counseling consultations by 400%, reflecting a shift toward preventative care and early detection.
- Community Reach: The organization now partners with over 500 synagogues, JCCs, and Hillels across the United States and internationally, ensuring that the "taboo" of 2001 has been replaced by a culture of proactive health awareness.
Official Responses: Voices of the Legacy
In their joint statement for the 2025 year-end campaign, Shlomo and Dovid Mirsky reflected on the duality of their mother’s life—as a public pioneer and a private parent.
"She has missed so many milestones—from our graduations to the birth of grandchildren," the brothers stated. "But seeing Sharsheret reach these incredible heights, helping 275,000 people every year, provides a sense of peace. What started with five women in our home has become an international movement. We are asking the community to help us ensure that no family has to face this journey alone."
Leadership at Sharsheret has also emphasized that the year-end donations are critical for maintaining the organization’s "no-barrier" policy. Unlike many health advocacy groups, Sharsheret provides its core support services, including the Busy Boxes and peer matching, free of charge to all participants.
"The generosity of our donors during this window determines our capacity for the coming year," a spokesperson for the organization noted. "As we look toward 2026, our goal is to further integrate genomic medicine education into our peer support models."
Implications: The Future of Culturally Competent Care
The success of Sharsheret has broader implications for the field of public health. It serves as a gold-standard model for "culturally competent care"—the idea that medical advocacy is most effective when it understands the specific religious, social, and dietary nuances of the population it serves.
The Shift to Prevention
As Sharsheret enters its 25th year of operation (approaching in 2026), the focus is shifting from "surviving" to "thriving" and "preventing." The organization is increasingly involved in the conversation around "previvorship"—supporting those who know they carry a genetic mutation but have not yet developed cancer.
Philanthropy as Continuity
The 2025 year-end drive highlights a growing trend in the non-profit sector: the transition of leadership and advocacy to the "next generation." By having the Mirsky brothers lead the campaign, Sharsheret is signaling that its mission is intergenerational. This ensures that the lessons learned by the "founding mothers" are not lost but are instead adapted for a new era of digital connectivity and advanced oncology.
A Healthier Future
The ultimate implication of Sharsheret’s growth is a measurable decrease in the stigma surrounding hereditary cancer in the Jewish community. Where once there was silence, there is now a robust network of survivors, caregivers, and medical professionals.
As the Mirsky brothers concluded in their appeal: "Mom is looking down with pride as we build a healthier and brighter future for the next generation." With the 2025 year-end campaign, Sharsheret isn’t just honoring a legacy; it is ensuring that the chain remains unbroken for decades to come.
How to Support:
Donations to the Sharsheret Year-End Campaign can be made online at link.Sharsheret.org/EOY. The organization is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, and all contributions are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.
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