‘Pink challah bake’ help raise awareness about breast cancer

Palo Alto, October 29th, 2019 — More than 20 U.S. cities participating in this year’s international Shabbat Project will host “pink challah bakes” to raise awareness about the predisposition to breast cancer among Ashkenazi Jewish women.

The pink challah bakes will feature educational resources from the leading molecular diagnostic company Myriad Women’s Health and the Jewish breast cancer organization Sharsheret, as well as screening and testing by local physicians for BRCA1 and BRCA2, the most well-known genes linked to breast cancer risk. While about 1 in 400 people in the general U.S. population have a BRCA1/2 mutation, the mutation exist in approximately 10 percent of Ashkenazi Jewish women in America who are diagnosed with breast cancer.

“These pink challah bakes are more than just events,” says Nisa Felps, who is coordinating the initiative for the international Shabbat Project. “We are saving lives. Each person that is educated and understands their hereditary risk which is higher in the Ashkenazic community has an opportunity to be proactive and potentially change their destiny. In Jewish tradition, there is nothing more precious than life. ‘When you save one life, it is as if you have saved the world.’ Let’s change the world together and lower the hereditary risk in our community by getting tested.”

The Jewish Study Network as part of the Shabbat Project will host The Great Pink Challah Bake on November 14th, 6:45 PM at Mitchell Park Community Center. They will come together as one in strength and prayer through the tradition of making challah to honor Shabbat and raise awareness. Each participant will receive all the ingredients needed to make their own challah, as well as their very own apron to take home, and a delicious challah recipe. They will mix, knead and dance, creating an uplifting evening of unity and inspiration. Women of all ages and backgrounds are welcome.

Held just two weeks after the conclusion of October’s nationwide Breast Cancer Awareness Month in the U.S., the pink challah bakes are part of the Shabbat Project’s broader worldwide celebration of the Jewish Day of Rest. Participation in this year’s 7th annual Shabbat Project is expected to exceed last year’s numbers, which included more than 1 million participants in 101 countries across 1,511 cities and towns.

Shabbat Project challah bakes, havdallah concerts, family and community dinners, festive prayer services, and children’s activities will be coordinated this year by a team of more than 8,000 partners in participating cities as well as tens of thousands of volunteers on the ground.

“Our approach is predicated on the idea that the real energy of Shabbat — its transformative power — is wholly dependent on immersing oneself in the full Shabbat experience,” says South African Chief Rabbi Dr. Warren Goldstein, the founder and director of the Shabbat Project. “Over the past six years, through the power of that experience, we’ve seen individuals and communities do great things — things that before were not thought possible. We’ve seen walls torn down, families rejuvenated, deep feelings awakened, deep friendships formed.”

The Great Pink Challah Bake takes place on November 14th. To sign up visit: www.jsn.info

The 2019 Shabbat Project takes place from November 15-16. To sign up, find out how you can become a partner, or learn more, visit: www.theshabbatproject.org