by Robert Wiener
NJJN Staff Writer

September 16, 2009

Ephraim Simon may have saved a man’s life, but he still insists he is not a hero. “I just couldn’t let someone die and not step forward,” he said modestly as he sat at the head of a conference table at the Rabbinical College of America in Morristown.

On Aug. 13, the 41-year-old rabbi, who officiates at the Chabad of Bergen County in Teaneck, donated a kidney to a man he had never met.

“It was nothing I ever envisioned myself doing; to the contrary,” he told NJ Jewish News.

What made his mitzva even more unusual was that the 51-year-old recipient of his kidney happened to be a Satmar hasid — a member of a rival hasidic movement that has had deep theological and sometimes violent conflicts with Simon’s own Chabad-Lubavitch movement.

But, Simon said, the differences between him and the once dying man (who insists on remaining anonymous) “are very minimal. That which bonds us is much greater.”

It was not until a year ago that Simon considered becoming an organ donor. For years he had deleted frequent e-mails from a woman named Chaya Lipschutz, whom he described as a “kidney matchmaker.”

“Then a year ago she sent out an e-mail that ultimately changed my life,” said Simon. “There was a 12-year-old girl who was dying and needed a kidney. I simply could not close out that e-mail and go on to the next one. I have a 12-year-old girl named Chaya, and it could have been my daughter. And if it was my daughter I certainly would want somebody to step up and donate and save her life.”

The tall, slender rabbi grew up in a secular Jewish home in southern California “that stressed ethics and morals and values.”

After some research, Simon learned that for kidney donors, “long-term effects are nothing. The short-term effects are like any operation under general anesthesia. The risks of living with one kidney are extremely minimal and the rewards here are saving a life.”

Even as he volunteered, another person was chosen to become the girl’s donor. Simon was listed as a backup.

He was called on two other occasions, but each time his kidney failed to match the potential recipient’s.

Then, in March, Lipschutz, who runs a website called KidneyMitzvah.com, telephoned again. This time, the needy patient was a Satmar businessman from Williamsburg, Brooklyn, who is the father of 10 children.

“A father of 10? Of course. I’m the father of nine. I’ll absolutely test for him,” Simon told her.

Their kidneys were a match, as Simon found out “at a crazy time” — one hour before the start of a Passover seder at his Chabad house.

He urged Lipschutz to share the news with the needy recipient “so he should at least go into the holiday with a sense of comfort and joy, knowing that he has hope.”

For the next several weeks, the rabbi commuted to New York Hospital Cornell Medical Center in Manhattan for a battery of tests.

The doctors agreed to postpone the operations until after Simon and his wife, Nechamy, completed running a Chabad summer camp program in mid-August.

On the day of surgery, then a day later, the two men met briefly at the start of what Simon said is sure to become a close friendship.

“We speak almost every other day,” he said. “He calls me on the phone to make sure I’m all right. That’s his one concern.”

Both men are now recovering successfully. Simon said he “feels great,” and according to doctors, the other man’s new kidney “has been working phenomenally since the operation.”

Although rabbinic experts disagree on aspects of organ donation, especially when it comes to definitions of “brain death” and the status of patients on life support, Simon said he believes there is no controversy over donating or accepting a kidney between two living persons.

Simon said he hasn’t set out to encourage others to emulate his selfless act.

“My mission is to encourage people to be better, to bring goodness to the world and light to the world,” he said. “As I told my congregation, ‘I realize not everyone can do this. But certainly, you can reach within yourselves to do something for somebody else and help make the world a better place.’ That is much more my mandate.”

Back to top

Reader Discussion

Comment on this article

Your Name

Your Email

Comment

New Jersey Jewish News welcomes your comments on this article. New Jersey Jewish News reserves the right to edit or remove any comment that is deemed inappropriate, off-topic or otherwise violating the Terms of Service of the New Jersey Jewish News website.

--TOP--