Israeli, U.S. drives aiming to increase number of non-Ashkenazi bone marrow donors

A non-Ashkenazi Jew at best has a 40 percent chance of finding a donor, compared to nearly 70 percent for Ashkenazim, said Jay Feinberg, founder and executive director of Gift for Life, a bone marrow, blood stem cell and umbilical cord blood registry dedicated to recruitment within the U.S. Jewish community.

This discrepancy is due in part, Feinberg said, to the low number of non-Ashkenazi donors in the international donor registry -- in particular Jews from the Iraqi, Persian, Georgian, Bukharian, Lebanese, Syrian, Yemeni and Ethiopian communities.

The LifeCyclist: Electronic invitations a growing trend, but many still want traditional paper keeps

My bat mitzvah invitation had bright purple embossed text on a hot pink card with my name enlarged in decorative script at the top and daisies adorning the bottom.

Twenty-plus years later, I remember eagerly waiting for my friends to receive the invitations and running home weeks later to check the mailbox for the return of the RSVP envelopes. Secured in a scrapbook, the invitation is a treasured memento.

Today, however, a rising trend in simcha invites may be changing the run to the mailbox into a dash for the email inbox and the card stock mementos into computer printouts.

No longer for holiday parties and happy hours only, electronic invitations are becoming an acceptable way for some to announce major life-cycle events, including b’nai mitzvah celebrations and weddings.