DETROIT
JEWISH NEWS

COVER STORY

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Page 6

A 2000 winner of Michigan Press Association

and American Jewish Press Association awards

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Vol. CXVIII, No. 20

This Week

16 Defending Har HaBayit

American Jews on offensive
to halt Temple Mount "surrender."

20 Owning Up

Orthodox Union pledges change
after sexual abuse report.

Editorials
31 Barak's Balagan

Should lame-ducks direct
Israel's peace initiatives?

Community
35 Mutual Respect

JARC client teaches students
they have much in common.

45 Unity

Deadline nears to register
for solidarity mission to Israel

Spirituality

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DEPARTMENTS

Alefbet'cha 5
Anniversaries .... 50
AppleTree 81
Ask Wendy
89
Births
48
Business
86
Calendar
46
Community
35
Crossword
98
... Answer
104
Cyber Spot
100
Danny Raskin
66
Editorials
31
For Openers
5
Insight
29
Marketplace
87
Mazel Toy!
48
Obituaries
108
Spirituality 51
Sports.. MMMMM •••78
The Scene 76
Torah Portion .... 54
Weddings 49

51 Our Family To Yours

Chanukah made more meaningful
for those who give, those who receive.

Arts
Entertainment

Candlelighting
Friday, Dec. 29, 4:50 p.m.

Shabbat ends
Saturday, Dec. 30, 5:57 p.m.

Cover:
Photography, Krista Husa
Page design, Debbie Schultz

58 A Novel Approach

Scholar attempts to document
enduring works of Jewish fiction.

AppleTree
81 The Gift Of Giving

JN Classifieds Online

December 29, 2000

Tevet 3, 5761

Lifesaving Legacies

ometimes. the thread of life linking all humanity
becomes visible.
Diane Burnstein of West Bloomfield knows she
lives today because of the kidney she
received from a gunshot death.
Jane and Jesse Polan of Franklin know
the tragic loss of their 23-year-old
daughter Jennifer from brain hemor-
rhage allows three people to continue
their lives.
And Sheldon Benis of West
Bloomfield thinks about that miracu-
lous thread of life every day, but time is
running out as he waits for a new kid-
KERI GUTEN
ney.
COHEN
For most of us, however, organ
Story Development donation after death is a topic we don't
Editor
think about until necessity forces it
upon us. Maybe we should think about
it earlier. Donating organs — and therefore saving lives — is
considered an ultimate mitzvah.
In the conclusion to the series begun last week about
organ donation and transplantation, Copy Editor David
Sachs explores, beginning on page 6, the gift of life given
after a person has died. In many cases, surrounded by myth
and misconception, organ donation after death evokes fears
of violating Jewish burial laws. These attitudes are keeping
Jews from signing donor cards and saving lives.
Nationally, Hadassah, has launched public awareness pro-
grams aimed at increasing Jewish organ donation. On a
more grassroots level, Jewish individuals touched by the mir-
acle of organ donation — such as Jerry Cook of Farmington
Hills and Jeremy and Beth Kahn of Royal Oak — are spear-
heading their own private campaigns.
Yet controversy about organ donation after death does
exist, mostly among the Orthodox, who debate the finality
of the medical term "brain death." Edwin Posner, a Young
Israel of Southfield member, was thrust into the halachic
debate when his daughter-in-law's liver failed and she was
saved by a cadaver donation. Now he's encouraging more
Jewish donors from the Web site he created to explore the
issue halachically.
Other strong proponents are born when the miracle falls
short. Dr. Jeffrey Devries of West Bloomfield spoke out
about the need for organ donors after he and his brother-in-
law Steve Traison donated sections of their lungs to save the
life of his wife, Sheri Devries. Despite a successful transplan-
tation operation, Sheri lost her fight for life on Dec. 21, one
day before her story was told in the first installment of this
series.
Jeff Devries put it poignantly: "If everyone who was in a
position to donate did so, there would be no waiting list."

.11N

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©COPYRIGHT 2000
DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

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12/29
2000

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