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PROFILE

Rae Sharfman: To Russia With Love

CARLA JEAN SCHWARTZ

Local Columnist

PHILOSOPHY: "I've always felt it is
extremely important to help someone,
especially if they are Jewish."

BACKGROUND: Rae Jacknow Sharfman

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NAME: Raeann Sharfman
AGE: 57
OCCUPATION: Former teacher in Detroit.

Volunteer worker with Soviet Jewry for
more than 20 years.

RESIDENCE: West Bloomfield.
FAMILY: She is married to Donald, a

certified public accountant. Two
children: Saul, a computer consultant,
living in Union Lake; Andrea Sharfman
Switch, of West Bloomfield, a
veterinarian. Three grandchildren.

EDUCATION: B.A. degree from Wayne
State University in early elementary
education.

SYNAGOGUE: Cngregation Beth Shalom
ORGANIZATIONS: Board member of

Fashion, Services
(& Fabulous Treats!

Orchard Lake Rd. North of Maple. West Bloomfield

Congratulations!

LINDA BURNSTEIN

on Passing The
The California Bar

102

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 16, 1988

Holocaust Memorial Center,
Congregation Beth Shalom, Friends of
Soviet Jewry.

FAVORITE BOOK: As a Driven Leaf by
Rabbi Milton Steinberg. Also, Elie
Wiesel's books. "Elie Wiesel is a
disturbing author in a positive way. He
doesn't let people rest and he shouldn't?'

HOBBIES: Studying Hebrew and Jewish
studies. "When I can I study with a
Lubavitch rabbi — Rabbi Silberberg. I
also enjoy studying at Sol Lachman's
house?' She enjoys babysitting for her
grandchildren.

LATEST ACCOMPLISHMENT: "The
culmination of a dream, which isn't
finished. My trip to Russia. It was the
most difficult trip."

grew up in Windsor in a close-knit
Jewish community. She describes the
home of her parents, Sima and Hyman
Jacknow, as a "secular home and not
very religious."
Although Sharfman had no formal
Jewish education as a child, her
interests were Jewish. "There seems to
be a need for me to personally learn
more about Judaism. I love to study
anything Jewish."
In 1949 the family moved to Detroit,
where her father worked as a driver for
a fish company. Sharfman attended
Wayne State University and met her
husband, Donald. They married in 1952.
She then taught in the Detroit Public
Schools for five years. While raising her
children, she enjoyed studying Hebrew
as they learned.
For 20 years, she has been involved
as a volunteer in Soviet Jewry. Her
involvement began after listening to a
speech at Temple Emanuel-El in the
early '70s about a woman who had a
daughter in a Russian prison. Sharfman
recalls the woman saying that it was
just a quirk of fate that the woman's
parents stayed in Eastern Europe, while
others left. The woman pleaded for the
community to help save her daughter.
"It (the speech) really touched me,
and made me realize again that we are
responsible for one another." Sharfman's
focus became Soviet Jewry. She
describes the movement at that time as
piles of papers, a typewriter and a
telephone in someone's kitchen.
Sharfman was a leader in the
movement to free Soviet Jews.
Sharfman developed a telephone
network from coast to coast reporting on
the latest information that exists today.
During this interview, Sharfman
received several calls about the latest
article in the New York Times.
Many of the people she has helped
over the years are now in Israel.
Sharfman goes to Israel at least once
every year and visits them.
A few months ago, Sharfman, Linda
Bolton, Judy Granader, Shirlee and
Jack Iden all went to the Soviet Union
to meet with refuseniks. The trip was
independently planned. "We gave them
hope, encouragement, kosher food and
medicine."
On the trip Sharfman met with her
family in Leningrad. While visiting
with them on her birthday, the family
was notified that they could leave.
Sharfman describes the entire trip
as a culmination. "It was a dream."