The 63-year-old wife of a Center for Jewish Studies visiting scholar was killed Monday night in a traffic accident in front of the Kennedy School of Government.

Rachael Sarfatti was pronounced dead at about 8:30 p.m. at Mt. Auburn Hospital, police officials said. She was the wife of Gad Sarfatti, a professor of Hebrew at Bar Ilan University in Israel spending the year in Cambridge.

With visibility poor due to heavy rain and darkness, Mrs. Sarfatti was attempting to cross John F. Kennedy St. around 8:13 p.m.. As she stepped off the curb, the mirror of a passing cab struck the victim. She fell and was hit by a second car.

Mrs. Sarfatti was born in Trieste, Italy and moved to Israel in 1983. She was the principal of a Jerusalem school and worked with an organization to find homes for children of broken homes.

The Sarfattis visited the Boston area frequently and, while her husband has been pursuing independent research at the Center for Jewish Studies, Mrs. Sarfatti attended lectures at the Kennedy School and Graduate School of Education. Mr. Sarfatti described his wife as "very dynamic and very energetic."

Mr. Sarfatti will return today to Israel, where his wife will be buried.