Shannie Goldstein used her creativity to outsmart the KGB, bringing information to and from refuseniks in the Soviet Union. Goldstein’s work with refuseniks began in the 1970s, helping immigrants from the USSR relocate and adjust to life in Baltimore. With her husband, Rabbi David Goldstein, she made three trips to the Soviet Union, smuggling Hebrew music into the country in her guitar case and bringing out vital contact information disguised in gift boxes. A resourceful woman of deep compassion, Goldstein connected with the refusenik community through music and brought media attention to their struggle in the US. She is an adjunct professor of Hebrew language in the Jewish studies department at Tulane University and also works as a licensed clinical social worker in private practice.

Shannie Goldstein was honored at the 2005 Women Who Dared event in New Orleans.