02-500-0755 matnatc@gmail.com

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02-500-0755 matnatc@gmail.com

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Like Mother, Like SonMarci Rapp and her son, Gershy, have stories that

are intertwined.

As a 19-year-old, Gershy had seen an advertisement seeking a kidney donor for a very sick young person. He wanted to help. Things didn’t work out, but the seeds were planted.

Meanwhile, he made aliyah to Israel from his native Toronto, served in the IDF, married and settled in Ramat Beit Shemesh, where he works in web design. His parents also made aliyah, moving to Jerusalem’s Katamon neighborhood. Not long thereafter, his mother, Marci, now 61, read an article on Aish.com by Lori Palatnik, in which Lori discussed her decision to donate a kidney. Marci was touched. “It just seemed like the right thing to do,” she explains. “A good, Jewish thing…” She sounds as casual as if she’s discussing any other mitzvah, like returning a lost wallet or hosting guests. “I started to think of it as something I wanted to do.”

Then came an e-mail from Chaya Lipshutz, of KidneyMitzvah in the US, searching for a kidney for a mother of a large family. Marci responded, figuring she’d see where things went – but also never imagining that she’d be a match or healthy enough to donate. The bureaucracy involved at the time was overwhelming, especially for a new olah. But the kidney recipient’s mother, Ronnie, took over, referred her to Matnat Chaim and helped her through it – she knew the system and was ready to do anything to help her daughter. She took on all the legwork and phone calls and even accompanied Marci to the appointments.

It turns out that Marci was a “rare and perfect” match for Shulamit, a 48-year-old mother of six – and also Canadian. “When I heard the match was rare and perfect,” Marci recalls, “I knew it was meant to be.” Marci never had second thoughts. The bureaucracy at the time was a bother, but she knew she wanted to go through with it. On the way to Beilinson Hospital to finally do the transplant, Marci was filled with joy and excitement, “like going to give birth.” When she shared her feelings with Ronnie, the recipient’s mother, Ronnie responded, “Well, in a way you are – you’re giving a new life to my daughter.”

That night in the hospital, the two kidney partners roomed together and had something of a pajama party. Marci was the first one back in the room after surgery, and though she was definitely feeling groggy, nauseous and uncomfortable, as soon as Shulamit returned to the room, Marci was filled with joy. “It’s such a miracle. I saw that my kidney was working in her, and I just started to cry.” The two roommates had a lot fun recovering together, trying not to make each other laugh too hard. They grew close, share each other’s smachot and meet for lunch and coffee – and to celebrate their kidney anniversary together every June 14th (this will be the fourth year).

As Marci says so succinctly, “It was little pain for a lot of gain.” Shulamit is able to lead a fully functional, healthy life now, and Marci has become an advocate for kidney donation. “You can’t lose from trying,” she

says. “Your health is fully checked, it’s easier now bureaucracy-wise, and I see it as one of my biggest accomplishments, other than marrying and raising a Jewish family.”

Besides, as she points out, life is so fragile – one never knows what can happen or when it will take place. “So you might as well do it while you can.” She’s

speaking from experience. Her son Gershy had three brushes with death – once as a child, when he was hit by a car; during the Second Lebanon War when he was working as madrich in northern Israel and a Hizbullah bomb struck nearby; and a third time, in 2008, when a terrorist tractor driver attacked the bus Gershy was on – on the day of his parents’ aliyah!

Gershy doesn’t mention those incidents as the motivation behind his decision to donate a kidney – he just credits his mother’s inspiring example – but they

surely made an impression. And he does hint to his past experiences, saying, “G-d has the power to give and take at any time. If it’s my time, it will happen whether I have one kidney or two.” The 26-year-old father of two called Matnat Chaim shortly after his mother’s surgery

and, before long, a match – a man in his 40s -- was found. Gershy’s wife was fully on-board, his rabbi was very supportive, and his medical investigations were reassuring. He donated a kidney in January 2013.

Gershy never had doubts. “It was an opportunity to save another Jew’s life,” he explains. “Even dialysis can only go on for so long. It was so, so worth it,” he says. “The feeling that you were part of saving someone’s life is incredible.”

Brothers’ KeepersWhen he worked as a paramedic for Magen David

Adom, Gavi Rebibo saw his share of heartbreak, tragedy and medical trauma. It pained him to witness the suffering of other Jews – after all, there’s so little that can be done to help some of those enduring chronic illness. But when he saw people with chronic renal failure, he knew there was something he could do: donate a kidney.

To Gavi, there was never a question about whether it was the right thing to do. After all, giving a kidney meant he was literally saving someone’s life. He knew he would donate a kidney to any family member, neighbor or community member. So why not give one to any other Jew? After all, all Jews are brothers…

The choice simply seemed logical. Gavi reached out to Matnat Chaim, an organization that facilitates kidney donation and transplant partnerships, and began the process. Almost unbelievably, they found someone on the transplant list who was a 100-percent match. He went through the rigorous approval process, which involves extensive physical and mental health checks and more. And thus began the relationship between Gavi and his “kidney partner,” Lior.

Gavi, a 35-year-old father of six, came to Israel as a child when his family made aliyah. Lior was a born-and-bred Sabra, 34 years old and a father of three. Gavi was working, active, healthy and living in Peduel, a yishuv in the Shomron. Lior, from northern Israel, was suffering from kidney failure, enduring a grueling dialysis schedule three times a week, unable to lead a normal life. Gavi had two healthy kidneys and was completely prepared to give one to Lior. He kept thinking about how this “small” act could let Lior live like anyone else, and he knew it was absolutely the right thing to do.

His family was very supportive. When Gavi explained everything to his kids, they thought it simply made sense. Gavi’s 13-year-old daughter’s reaction was most poignant: “Until today, I thought only women could bring life to the world.”

When one relative argued that perhaps Gavi was taking unnecessary risks, he asked if she had not done the same to bring children into the world. “I’m also bringing life into the world,” he explained, “by saving someone and giving him a chance to really live.”

“How can we ever repay you?” Lior and his wife kept asking Gavi. But Gavi felt he had gotten the best reward a Jew could ask for: knowing that he had been the shaliach to save someone’s life.

“What makes a person feel good?” Gavi asks. “A higher salary? A bigger house? Vacation?” To him, the answer was clear -- and he never looked back.

Before the surgery at Haifa’s Rambam Hospital was even complete, Gavi’s kidney was already working in Lior’s body. It was an emotional period -- and one for which Gavi is probably just as thankful as Lior.

Gavi was recently honored to serve as sandak at Lior’s new baby’s bris, and they speak frequently. Gavi’s only regret is that he doesn’t have another spare kidney to give – although he has continued giving, albeit in a different way. Gavi’s example inspired his brother Dovi to donate a kidney, too.

When Dovi, 32, of Petach Tikva, came to visit his brother in the hospital after the transplant, he witnessed Gavi and Lior’s first meeting post-surgery. The atmosphere of love and brotherhood was awe-inspiring. “I knew I was going to do it, too,”Dovi says. “There are so few times in life when you can go through something so big. It takes your breath away.

There’s your wedding, having a child … and donating a kidney.”

He called Matnat Chaim and a match was quickly found. Dovi thought a transplant wouldn’t take place until this summer, but time was running out for the recipient. Dovi’s match was a 34-year-old father who had been born with only one kidney and was in very bad shape.

Having had a brother already go through the process definitely paved the way for Dovi. His family was encouraging and he truly felt there was no reason not to do it.

The surgery took place in Petach Tikva’s Beilinson Hospital right before Pesach, and Dovi’s transplanted kidney began to function immediately. While Dovi was only in the hospital for a short stay, his kidney partner was supposed to be hospitalized much longer. However, everything went so smoothly and quickly that the recipient was released before Seder night.

Dovi’s only regret? “It went too fast,” he says, explaining that there are times in life when you want to take everything in and absorb what’s happening. Things went so quickly he wasn’t able to savor the moments enough. Dovi is so thankful for the experience – and for his new friend.

Two brothers, two kidneys, two lives saved – and four families sharing something absolutely incredible.

All in the Family:Giving Kindness - and Kidneys - Family-Style"My only regret is I can’t do it again." It's a sentiment often echoed by the amazing people who do this tremendous act of loving-kindness. What chessed

can only be done once in a person's lifetime?

Giving a kidney

Meet four incredible individuals whose hearts - and kidneys -extend far beyond themselves.

By Malka Winner

Gavi as sandak at the bris of his kidney recipient's son.

Gershy Rapp and family.

Marci (R.) and her kidney recipient, Shulamit.

One of the major themes of Shavuot, brought out in Megillat Ruth, is chessed. Ruth’s chessed for her mother-in-law, Naomi, is at times difficult to comprehend - the example she set may seem out of reach. But there are those doing tremendous chassadim in our times, too – like the Rebibo and Rapp families. And as Gavi Rebibo’s 12-year-old son so innocently - and sagely -- pointed out, “Kidney waiting lists could be completely erased -- if only 700-800 people would donate, no one would need a kidney in Israel.” Simple as that? Well, for these families it is.