The United Synagogue

Project Chesed


At the start of the new year, 5769, Project Chesed launched a campaign together with the National Blood Service, to encourage the Jewish community to make a different kind of new year pledge - a pledge to give blood.

'Our Father, our King, inscribe us in the Book of Life...'

On Rosh Hashanah we think about our mortality. We stand in shul and read about heavenly judgement. It's a great day to commit to doing one of the all time big mitzvot. It's a commitment you can make all year round - by donating blood you may give a newborn, a child, a mother or a father, a brother or a sister another chance of life.

Thousands of people everyday across the UK rely on blood transfusions for the treatment of life threatening conditions. There's never more than a few days worth of blood in stock, and without the 2.1 million units of blood voluntarily donated by the public each year, the NHS simply would not be able to manage.

Sharon Gold was diagnosed with breast cancer in April 2004. Her treatment left her depleted of white cells needed in the body to fight infection and she had to be given a blood transfusion. "If people are thinking about giving blood I would say to them 'just do it' as you never know what's around the corner. I was fortunate that blood was available when I needed it most and I know how important it is for people to give blood if they can."

Every year thousands of blood donating sessions are held, so finding a convenient place and time for you to donate is easy. Visit www.blood.co.uk and type in your postcode to see all the upcoming sessions taking place in your area. You can register when you get to a sessions but to save time, call 0845 7 711 711 to pre-register.

Click here to download a copy of the Project Chesed Blood Donation leaflet,




"Serving God and our fellow human beings are inseparably linked. The greatest gift is to be able to give, and the life we lead is measured by the good we do"- Chief Rabbi Sir Jonathan Sacks.

Project Chesed has been set up to challenge you to think about 'the good that you do', to inspire you to think about what you could be doing and to help you to make a difference to other people's lives. It is a joint initiative of the United Synagogue and the London School of Jewish studies http://www.lsjs.ac.uk generously supported by the Dr Benjamin Angel Foundation and a private donor. Project Chesed teaches the Jewish responsibility we have for our fellow human beings, encourages more acts of charity and kindness, and inspires our community to make a difference. It expounds part of the principle we learn in Ethics of the Fathers 1:2

"The world stands on three things: Torah (Jewish learning), Avodah (service of God) and acts of Chesed (loving-kindness)".

Project Chesed currently includes:

Chanukah and Chesed - see further material in the 'Chanukah' subsection Pesach food parcels - see further material in the 'support' subsection

Chametz collection and redistribution - see 'reaching out' subsection

Rosh Hashanah card and cake distribution - see further details in the 'support' subsection

Blood donor campaign

Educational resources

Work in communities and schools And much much more!

Please do contact us if:

You would like to receive Project Chesed information and materials

You need support to set up or run a Chesed project yourself

You would like to volunteer to help with any of our Chesed ideas

To tell us what you have been doing

At the very beginning it was God who created light, but in the end, it is the light we create in every act of goodness that we do that will make all the difference.


For more information please contact:

Candice Woolfson
Projects Director
Tel: 020 8343 5680
Email: chesed@unitedsynagogue.org.uk