The Jewish News Weekly of Northern California
Readers will forgive us for taking personally one particular story in this week’s issue.
We recently learned that former j. editor and publisher Marc Klein, who stepped down last October, has been diagnosed with stage 5 renal failure, and must undergo a kidney transplant or endure dialysis.
Thankfully, he’s in great spirits and generally feeling well. But the urgency of finding a suitable donated kidney grows with every passing day. The wait for a transplant can take years.
Donating a kidney so that someone else might live is a mammoth mitzvah.
Understandably, one might balk at the prospect of undergoing major surgery and then living life with one kidney. But the vast majority of donors live full, healthy lives. So as a mitzvah-minded people, Jews should consider answering the call.
And not just for kidneys. Everywhere, people languish on transplant lists — waiting for hearts, lungs, livers and corneas — transplants made possible only when another person dies.
Unfortunately, some Jews choose not to donate their organs, either while alive or after death. Much of that hesitation may be due to a belief that Jewish law forbids organ donation.
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