Faiths Focus on Need for Organ Donors

Gearing up for the season of thanks and giving, religious communities across the nation will preach, distribute information and publicize the need for more organ donors in the third annual National Donor Sabbath, from Friday through the following Sunday.

More than 58,000 people are waiting for a healthy kidney, heart, liver, lung, pancreas or other organ, but only 20,000 received them last year. An estimated 11 people die daily waiting for organs, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

In Southern California, local organizations involved in the campaign include Transplant for Life, affiliated with the Irving Grant Service Center at Temple Kol Tikvah in Woodland Hills. Rabbi Steven Jacobs said the Jewish insight of pikkuach nefesh--the obligation to save people’s lives--should compel people of faith to offer the gift of life to others.

The group has set a goal of doubling the number of participants from last year. It has also sent priority faxes to 100 rabbis in Southern California encouraging such activities as giving sermons, inviting speakers, distributing donor cards and using relevant scripture.

Contact: Transplant for Life at (818) 591-1173. For free brochures and donor cards, contact (888) 907-4273.

CONFERENCES

Catholic and Jewish women will discuss gains by women in their traditionally patriarchal faiths in “The Rocky Road to Forgiveness and Reconciliation” at the 22nd annual Catholic-Jewish Women’s Conference on Wednesday from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Wilshire Boulevard Temple, 3663 Wilshire Blvd. Speakers include Rabbi Susan Laemmle of USC and Sister Gretchen G. Hailer of the Western American Province of the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary. Contact: (818) 349-2743.

* The future of Sikhism in North American will be explored at a conference today from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Multicultural Center Theater at UC Santa Barbara. A reception and dinner will follow to honor Dr. and Mrs. Narinder S. Kapany and the Sikh Foundation, which have established an endowed chair in Sikh studies at the university. Contact: (805) 893-2117.

LECTURES / EVENTS

Does God exist? That age-old question will be debated by a philosopher and a scientist Nov. 15 at 7 p.m. at the Church at Rocky Peak, 22601 Santa Susana Pass in Chatsworth. Facing off in the first of the church’s “Great Debates” series will be Doug Gievett, an associate professor of philosophy at Talbot School of Theology, who edited “In Defense of Miracles,” and Michael Shermer, an adjunct professor of the history of science at Occidental College and publisher of Skeptic magazine. Contact: (818) 709-0113.

* “The Art of Happiness” through the eyes of the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of the Tibetan people, will be explored Thursday at 6:30 p.m. in a Learning Annex class at the Best Western Gateway Hotel, 1920 Santa Monica Blvd. in Santa Monica. The instructor is psychiatrist Howard C. Cutler, co-author of a new book on the topic with the Dalai Lama, whom he met in 1982 while visiting India to research Tibetan medicine. Contact: (415) 788-5500.

* “East Meets West: Sephardic Contributions to Western Thought and Culture”--an exploration of the contributions made by Jews of the Mediterranean region, will be presented Monday at 3 p.m. at the Alfred Newman Hall at USC. The speaker is Jose Faur, an expert on the history and philosophy of Sephardic Jews and professor of Talmud at Bar-Ilan University in Israel. The lecture, part of a series exploring the contributions of Jewish thinkers to Western intellectual life, is hosted by USC’s new Institute for the Study of Jews in American Life. Contact: (213) 740-3405.

* Ananda W.P. Guruge, dean of academic affairs at Hsi Lai University, will present a lecture on Buddhism and world peace at the Administration Building on the Hsi Lai campus on Wednesday at 7 p.m. Guruge, author of 40 books on Buddhism, is a native of Sri Lanka and a former ambassador from that country to France. (626) 571-8811, Ext. 105.

* The Interfaith Relations Committee of the San Fernando Valley Interfaith Council is hosting two panel discussions on “How My Faith’s Traditions Inspire Me to Live a Moral Life” on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. at Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church, 5011 White Oak Ave. in Encino, and Nov. 17 at Temple Ner Maarav, 17730 Magnolia, also in Encino. (818) 718-6460, Ext. 3002.

* Marcus J. Borg, the Jesus Scholar in Residence at All Saints Church in Pasadena, will present two lectures on Nov. 14 on questions of theology and the Bible. The focus will be on the Gospel narratives of Jesus’ infancy. Borg, the Hundere Distinguished Professor of Religion and Culture at Oregon State University, is the author of nine books, including “Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time” and “The Meaning of Jesus,” which will be published next month. The lectures will be at 9 a.m. and 10:45 a.m. Tickets are $5; call (626) 583-2735.

* Pasadena First Church of the Nazarene will host a program on dealing with conflict from a biblical standpoint on Sunday at 6 p.m. at the church, 3700 East Sierra Madre Blvd. in Pasadena. The program will feature Gareth Icenogle, pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Bethlehem, Pa., and Mike Platter and Dick Pritchard, the pastor to singles and the executive pastor of First Church. (626) 351-9631.

* Dr. Paul Ford, professor of theology at St. John’s Seminary in Camarillo, will present two lectures on “Character and Faith: The Central Struggle of C. S. Lewis” on Monday at 10 a.m. and at 2:30 p.m. at California Lutheran University. November marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of Lewis, who went from being a militant atheist to one of the century’s most noted Christian writers. The lectures will be in Overton Hall on the university campus. (805) 493-3151.

* Valley Beth Shalom is hosting a series of six lectures by Rabbinic theologians on “The God I Believe In” on Thursday nights at 7:30. Rabbi Harold Schulweis of Valley Beth Shalom will be the speaker Thursday and Nov. 19. Rabbi Bradley Artson of the Southern California Board of Rabbis will speak Dec. 3 and 10. (818) 788-6000.

MUSIC

The Newport Mesa Irvine Interfaith Council presents a Thanksgiving choral festival Nov. 15 at 7 p.m. at the Newport Harbor High School auditorium. The festival features choirs and speakers from several area churches and faiths. (949) 660-8665, Ext. 3.

* Welsh tenor Geraint Wilkes, formerly with the Welsh National Opera, will lead a special gymanfa ganu--hymn singing ceremony--at the Welsh Presbyterian Church, 12th and Valencia Streets in Los Angeles, near the Convention Center, Sunday at 1:30 p.m. (310) 398-3924.

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Notices may be mailed to Southern California File, c/o Teresa Watanabe, Metro Section, L.A. Times, Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles, CA 90053, or faxed to (213) 237-4712. Items should arrive at least three weeks in advance of the event and should include pertinent details about the organization, address, phone number, date and time.