“We desperately need a kidney donor!”

This was what the director of “Chai Lifeline” in New York, Rabbi Sholom Meir, heard from a rather exciting caller. He explained that although his organization dealt with a wide variety of medical and social services in the Jewish community, it did not deal with transplant candidates.

After repeated calls from the same party pointing out the urgency of the situation, the rabbi suggested that he place an ad in the local Anglo-Jewish weeklies asking for kidney donors. Of the dozen responses the mot suitable candidate turned out to be a 60 year-old man. When asked what motivated him to make this offer, he gave the following explanation:

“I never succeeded in becoming a wealthy man and always felt sorry that I could not contribute enough to the various appeals for funds to have any real impact on the cause at hand. Now I feel that I can have a real impact on someone’s life and after discussing it with my wife I decided to offer my kidney.”

© 1995-2024 Ohr Somayach International - All rights reserved.

Articles may be distributed to another person intact without prior permission. We also encourage you to include this material in other publications, such as synagogue or school newsletters. Hardcopy or electronic. However, we ask that you contact us beforehand for permission in advance at [email protected] and credit for the source as Ohr Somayach Institutions www.ohr.edu