Lotsa Helping Hands: Chesed in Action

Ohr Kodesh Chesed Committee's Lotsa Helping Hands website!


The Pledge 25 Committee is very happy to provide information on a new initiative of the Chesed Committee: Lotsa Helping Hands, which coordinates greetings and assistance for members welcoming a new child, going through an illness, or otherwise needing support. Primarily, this site coordinates dinners and services to help members get on the road to their new fuller life. What a terrific way to honor Rabbi Fishman this year!

Volunteering is simple: Sign up for a short-term commitment, with minimal effort, matching your availability with a congregant’s need. Meals can be home cooked, store bought, or taken-out from a restaurant respecting the kashrut requirements in the request. Coordinators are listed at the site. Do contact them with any questions.

Register at http://www.lotsahelpinghands.com/c/615958/.
You will receive an email confirmation with details about accessing the site, and you will be on your way.

Blood Platelet Donation - An Act of True Chesed

Our member, Marvin Szymkowicz, has decided to participate in platelet donation as an act of chesed for Pledge 25. He has allowed me to share this in the hope that others may also participate.



Blood platelet transfusions are used to treat people with certain serious illnesses (e.g., patients undergoing chemotherapy or radiation or patients with leukemia or aplastic anemia). Unlike whole blood, which has a "shelf life" of six weeks, platelets must be used within five days of donation. In other words, the supply has to be constantly and rapidly replenished. Because of advances in treatment, the demand for platelets is growing.

Although some platelets are extracted from whole blood donations, it is vastly more efficient to collect platelets from platelet donors. One can safely donate platelets every two weeks. The process takes about 2 to 2-1/2 hours: 90 minutes for the actual donation, plus time to review the written materials presented to any blood donor and time for a staffer to give the donor a mini-physical and interview the donor. The Red Cross has special centers for donating platelets. The nearest one to OKC is in the White Flint area.

The Red Cross also has a dedicated number for platelet donation: 1-800-272-2123. Call that number for more information or to volunteer or visit http://www.my-redcross.com/

This is -- in my humble opinion -- a good Pledge 25 project because of the time commitment (not trivial but certainly doable over one year) and the immediate benefits for the recipients.

Rabbi Fishman's Class for December: Yehuda Amichai

Topical Tuesdays with Rabbi Fishman got off to a great start on December 1. This month's classes will be held on December 8, 15, & 22 at 8:30 PM. The subject: Poetry of Yehuda Amichai. Considered by many as Israel’s greatest modern poet, this class will read (in English translation) and discuss many of Amichai’s illuminations of Israeli & Jewish life.

Please join in!

Jewish Science Fiction - A Hit!

Jerry Kiewe, Ohr Kodesh' executive director and science fiction fan, led off the first of three sessions on Jewish Themes in Science Fiction on Tuesday night with an excited group of attendees. This first session was mostly a backdrop of Jewish SF roots (the Golem) and  the portrayal of Jews in early sci fi.
The next two sessions will deal with: Jewish themes in more contemporary SF works; the Jewish future in Star Trek vs. Babylon Five; influences of Jewish writers & actors;  and what Star Trek has to teach us about canonization of the Torah!

"Future" sessions are scheduled for Tuesdays, Dec. 8 & 15 at 7:15 PM.