Call to Australian rabbis to seek community help
The Gift of Life is appealing to all rabbis throughout Australia to ask suitable members of their congregations at Yom Kippur services to donate blood in an effort to save six Jewish lives.
Shula Endrey-Walder
There are six Jewish leukaemia patients who will die unless matching stem cell donors are found for them within the worldwide Jewish community. Sadly, no one in their families has been found to be matching. Amongst the patients is a 6 year old girl whose parents called a few weeks ago from the United States to say that their daughter is dying and her only chance of survival would be to find a stem cell match. A 56 year old ex-South African living on the North Shore is in most urgent need of a match. In addition, a Jewish leukaemia patient in Dallas is also in need of an urgent match.The American Association of Synagogues decided that these life saving requests will be conveyed to all congregations during the High Holiday services. I am hoping that all the Rabbis in Sydney, Melbourne and Australia wide will follow suit and announce this mitzvah on during the highest attendance of Jews in synagogues, this coming Yom Kippur services.
All it takes to see if you could be the one to perform the ultimate mitzvah of Pikuach Nefesh is to complete the Red Cross/Australian Stem Cell and Bone Marrow Donor Registry (ABMDR) forms and medical questionnaire and give a small sample of blood. In addition, donate blood now at any Red Cross Blood Donor Centre such as Chatswood and join the Registry at the very same time. See the attached flyer for details.
All Jewish healthy 18-45 year olds who are 50+kg, neither pregnant nor breastfeeding and willing to help save a life are invited to enrol onto the ABMDR in Sydney at Wolper Jewish Hospital by appointment, Shula 0414 780 444 or shula@giftoflifeaustralia.org.au and in Melbourne on Tuesday 7 October at the Caulfield Blood Donor Centre from 4-7.15pm. Appointments are essential. Call Mordi Joseph 0490 332 415 or http://www.trybooking.com/DHUZ
