When Israels renowned Beilinson Hospital performed its one hundredth kidney transplant last month, the occasion called for a special ceremony. The dedicated staff had the honor of the participation of Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau, the former Chief Rabbi of Israel and one of the countrys most sought after speakers. The patient that was the beneficiary of this hundredth transplant was Rabbi Laus niece, who had suffered for many years from renal fibrosis.

The Beilinson staff is quite accustomed to celebrity patients. A couple of years ago they planted into the body of United Torah Jewry Knesset Member Rabbi Avraham Ravitz a kidney taken from his oldest son. That transplant received a great deal of publicity not only because of Rabbi Ravitzs fame as a spokesman of Orthodox Jewry in Israel but also because of the drama surrounding the kidney donor. A major dispute among Rabbi Ravitzs many sons as to who would have the privilege of donating his kidney had to be settled by the decision of a leading halachic authority.